Hi
I agree with the last post from Bristolbased, my daughter is now 13 months and until recently she was waking up to 6 times a night and needing her dummy to get back to sleep. Then we had 3 nights on the trot where the dummy was making no difference at all and not helping, she was just standing up in her cot and screaming and crying nearly all night long so I decided enough was enough! We got rid of her dummy and put them all in the bin!! She's gone nearly 2 weeks without it now and with very little fuss. She's sleeping so much better at night now because she's not relying on it to get back to sleep when she wakes in the night. We also tried to swap the dummy for a toy cat that she really loves before we got rid of the dummy, but now she's not bothered about the cat either!! I think it depends on their age, sometimes you can go cold turkey and other times you need to wean them off.

I didn't actually wean my son I just did it cold turkey (mean mummy). He was about 6 months and waking about 20 times a night as everytime he lost it he would wake up crying. We started giving him a blanket comforter for a week to sleep with as well as his dummy then ditched the dummy and just gave him his comforter.

Within 2 nights he was sleeping much better and had forgotten about his dummy.

Jinty691, my daughter has become very dependant on her dummy, whilst she is only 7 months, I have been wondering about this for some time. That is the best suggestion I've heard, will try it next year! Thanks! Sorry Matildas ma for stealing your thread!

It's up to you really, my eldest children both had their dummies(just for bedtimes) till they were about 3 and it didn't have any adverse affects on their development...my youngest is now 31 months and still has his dummy and his bunny for bed, but some nights he will fall asleep without them so I intend to just wean him off gently. My friends son is the same age and he threw his dummy in the bin himself a couple of weeks ago and hasn't had it since! My personal view is that if it gives them some comfort and doesn't affect their development then there's no rush, they'll get rid of it when they're ready.

Depending on how old your child is and your beliefs but here is a suggestiion. My daughter and son both had dummies and I managed to wean them off by leaving them for Santa and he would leave them some presents. So depending on how old your child is you may be able to explain to her and she may accept it. My two were both about 18 months old at this point and seemed to accept it fairly well. Whenever they asked where it was, I just reminded them that Santa had it and they were fine. Hope this helps.

My daughter has a dummy to go to sleep with but I'm getting nervous that she' s become dependent on it. how and when should I wean her off it?