dummys

[oxymoron]

what age should a child stop having a dummy?

[tamborine]

when it can be replaced with a lolly.....there's no harm in the comfort of a dummy.

[sara3]

while they're young enough not to ask for it back.

[redcrx]

Father Christmas took my sons when he was 3. Another child somewhere needed one and swapped it for pressies :)
Easter bunny takes them too!

[zzxxee]

my eldest was around 2
my youngest around 3

[cazzz1975]

the harm is in the crookedness it causes to the teeth when they are growing tamb

[oxymoron]

thanks for the answers tried saying father christmas needed it but when she was tired or upset it was the only thing that helped. do you ignore the tantrums and throw it away.

[ljdksa]

My friend's daughter was still using one at six! My friend learnt with the second child and threw them all away in a busy week, telling her daughter that you didn't use them when you where three. I never used them for mine, just another hassle to give up!

[tigwig]

The 'experts' say around 12 months but I personally think that is way too young. My daughter had hers til she was 4 and a half! Only for bed mind. I think take them away when they are old enough to understand. I said Santa was taking hers for a baby and in return he gave her an early present. Then no going back! I do think as long as they dont have them in their mouths all the time there is no harm.

[zzxxee]

told my youngest that mummy birdie in the tree flew in, whilst she was asleep and took it for the baby bird and left her a special chocolate egg in return.
My youngest was older so i snipped the teat end off when she wasnt around and told her it was broken bshe cried for a few hours but had lots of cuddles and was ok after :0).

[ummmm]

Mine was the easiest way...I went on holiday and my sister had the kids. When I got back no dummy, no bottle...tears done and dusted. Result :-)

[k8bailey]

my 2.5 year old gave hers up a month ago....she only had it for bed, until one day she rubbed coleslaw into the arm of the sofa. We fell out and I told her she needed to do something to make it up to me, I asked if I could have her dummy and chuck it in the bin. She agreed, after that she only asked for it once or twice and was reminded that I wasn't amused about the coleslaw - can't quite believe it happened like that, I know it sounds a bit mean but we had talked about her giving up quite a few times, and I think her teeth were beginning to look a little crooked.


Every child will be different though, perhaps offer a reward if she can go a week without it. Try not to make a big deal out of it but once its gone don't go back!

[milly143]

Ha, Red, that's exactly what happened to my nephews dummies. It worked really well.

[tamborine]

no cazz...mine had them & lots of lollies; all have perfect teeth.

[momcj]

i think some children you see are way too old, in my opinoin i would say 3 max- its best if they are off them before go to nursery i think ( nursey grant at 3- not private nurseries). i told my daughter that because she was now a big girl we had to give her dummies to the fairies for the other babies so one night she placed them out for fairies, we wrote a little note/scribble and in the morning they had took them! It worked suprisingly well. Main thing is in what ever you do, need to stick to it and not give in if you get fed up of the crying.

[karenmac60]

My daughter never had a dummy - her dad bought her one at 6 days old and she spat it out so I threw it away (I hadn't wanted to get her into the habit cos I knew it'd be left up to me to get her out of it, but daddy knew best). She still ended up with crooked teeth though....

[B00]

Mini Boo was just over 3, and like most people we passed on the dummy to Santa, and it went surpisingly well considering she'd take 3 to bed (one for mouth, 2 to rub against her face) However I'll never forget taking her into our local chemist about a week later, and watching her lovingly stroking a row of dummies on a stand- it broke my heart ,and I nearly caved!

[sherrardk]

I would have caved Boo. The youngest still have them but not when we are out and about. My feeling is that I gave them to them so it's unfair for me to take them away. They will give them up when they are ready. The others all had dummies and there is not a crooked tooth in sight.

[cazzz1975]

tamb, I got my details from a dentist friend who said that a lot of children that had dummies up to the age of 4/5 often went on to need braces at 9/10.

obviously in the case of your children there are always exceptions :)

[B00]

lol, you wouldn't believe how close i was to caving Sherr, I had tears in my eyes watching her stroke that row of dodis I can tell you!

[4getmenot]

I hope to god when I have a baby I dont cave in and give them a dummy. I dont think they look nice either