Love them or loathe them, Dummies have become a must have item in 53% of parents bag of tricks and if you are now finding yourself in the position of trying to negotiate the dummy away from your dummy lover, fear not – you are in good company!
Many suggest that around a year old is the best time to wean your baby away from the dummy habit. However, this age is notorious for bugs, teething, developmental leaps and for one reason or the other, your child might go beyond the recommended age of weaning, but do not worry, there are ways to painlessly and kindly transition away from the dummy.
The first thing to decide is the method that you are going to use to ditch the dummies, for more detailed information on recommended dummy weaning methods please visit our website at www.fairiesaway.com/pages/the-dummy-fairy but which ever method you decide to use; Perseverance, Patience and Consistency are the keys to success.
Like most of parenting, giving up the dummy can be such a different experience from one child to the next. Some children will willingly hand back their dummies without a second glance, whilst other more persistent dummy users can seem to never want to part with their beloved soothers. For these children, giving up the dummy can be a huge source of anxiety and this is mostly for the parents – it’s always worth reminding yourself that your children are not reading these articles and parenting books alongside you and therefore have no real concept about what is about to happen, but the parental anxiety about how you will cope without your most reliable parenting tool can be very real. What you must remember is that whatever anxiety you might have about this time will be passed on to your child, so whenever you are talking about giving up the dummy, try and see it as a positive childhood milestone and make it feel magical rather than a time to dread! And don’t worry, one of the biggest questions that we get asked at Fairies Away is “Will my child ever sleep without them?, the answer is Yes, they will find a new way forward, so have a soft comforter or a teddy at hand to let them cuddle for reassurance and you will even find that they start sleeping better as they no longer have anything to wake up for. Fairy Promise!
Once you have successfully weaned your child from the dummy, there might be a period of transition where both of you are going to have to learn to deal with some emotions in a new way. Remind yourself that this is a period where your child is going to be experiencing new and real emotions ANYWAY and they are just starting to learn how to express themselves, so why not use this time as a way to implement some positive changes that will help you all to find some new ways of communicating. These tools will always be valuable and will set the tone for your future negotiations, so start as you mean to go on and set your boundaries now! For more ideas on how to navigate this period, you can find ideas and resources at: www.fairiesaway.com/pages/the-dummy-fairy
And finally, this can be a very positive time and a time of real growth and bonding for the whole family, you just have to find the magic and if you need any help with that, we are on hand to help!
Love and Fairy Dust
The Dummy Fairies of Fairies Away!
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