We managed to get her down to just having it at night but when Lucas became more mobile his dummies starting getting lost so we'd get another one out and inevitably Freya would find the lost one and hide under a blanket or table with it in her mouth.
You can generally tell when she's up to something by the look on her face, the best hiding place to date is lying across the chairs while they're pushed under the table as mummy can only see you if she gets onto the floor!
It felt we were going backwards as she starting whining for the dummy every time she was tired and I admit sometimes I didn't have the energy to argue with her.
I was also very aware that one of her sensory needs involves mouthing things, so I was reluctant to take it away if it was going to cause her genuine distress and I couldn't think of a suitable replacement.
I've never bought that it affects their talking as all my kids had dummies and only 2 out of 6 had speech delay. Also we've all seen kids out with dummies in who just talk with them in.
I can't say why I decided one day I'd just had enough and I simply told her that at bedtime today we weren't having a dummy anymore because she was a big girl now. I've tried this before and it hasn't worked and she has mimicked more and more of Lucas's baby behaviour lately.
When she gets out of the bath she asks to be carried like a baby down the stairs and she goes round going goo goo gaa gaa which is nearly as annoying as the meowing!
Anyway, she was fairly tired on the ditching the dummy day and she went to sleep without making much fuss. I was expecting more fuss the next day but again she was very good and told me "not having dummy anymore cause I big girl" and when she got out of the bath she asked to be carried like a big girl.
I guess it doesn't seem like such a big deal but when you have a child who insists on the same things every day you kind of stop noticing how much you do to please them and you just automatically do the things they need, so when one changes it throws you a bit and being an over thinker myself I wonder why it's changed all of a sudden.
There was quite a fuss on the 3rd night and she even tried to pinched Lucas's dummy a few times but I'd prepared for that by only giving him one and putting the rest in my handbag on the coat hooks so she couldn't reach them.
It was easier to say no despite the fussing as she'd gone 2 nights without it and eventually she went off looking like she'd been slapped with a wet fish!
Happily since them she has only touched Lucas's dummy to give it to us or him and hasn't asked for hers again. Occasionally I can see her looking for it in bed when she gets up and it takes her a while to remember it's gone and she has said to me "I don't need dummy cause I'm a big girl" it's always with an enquiring tone like she's just checking that's still the case and I confirm yes that's right.
I've made a point of telling everyone in front of her that she's given up the dummy and I think she enjoys the praise she gets from them too.
So if like me you're thinking that dummy will never go it may just turn out to be easier than you thought, so keep trying :)
One of the biggest rewards is seeing more of that beautiful smile
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