The dummy dilema...

The lastest dilema in our household is the removal of the dummies. Sometimes they feel like a god send other times they are the bain of my life.

Some people agree with using them and some people are very against them. Before I was a parent I didn't have any strong feelings other than that my child wouldn't have one once they were walking. In realitly it's a whole different board game. Joshua has been walking since before he was 11months so he was still a baby. Even now at 16months he's still small enough to get away with it. He'll certainaly
not have it by the time he's at school lol!!

I think Joshua was about a month old before we gave him a dummy, he'd never really needed one and I was worried it would interfer with breastfeeding. However as a sufferer of colic I had to find something to soothe him. I'd gotten to the point where I couldn't take being used as a dummy for hours on end any longer. Where i wanted to pass him to daddy so i could take ten minutes to myself. We actually tried
3 types of dummies before we found one he'd take and well he's had one since.

Part of me wonders if we should have taken them away when he was still a little baby... But they were and still are actually a sleep aid and we dreaded trying to get him to sleep without his dummy.

Joshua would have a dummy in his mouth all day every day given half the chance. Generally out of sight out of mind though, but sometimes he just whines and whinges and points to where we sometimes put them and he will continue to whine until we give in. It's really hard to stand your ground when he's upset. Added to the fact he has a tooth coming through, so I feel rotten if I take his comfort away from him. You wouldn't take a comfort toy/blanket away at this age so I feel maybe we shouldn't remove his dummy.

One part of my though wants to hunt them all out and throw them all in the bin.. Face a battle for a week or however long it will take him to forget about them, but then we'd be free. A nightmare week this close to squid being due doesn't seem fun in the slightest, certainly not if it affects his sleep. I'm stocking up and banking some hours sleep now in prepartion I don't want two babies not sleeping when one of them is easily recified. Another problem we could face is that if we remove joshuas dummies and squid had a dummy then he'll just steal the babies.

He's not really old enough to understand 'your a big boy, only babies need dummies'. He's still my baby, he's not even a year and a half old yet. The solution I'm swaying towards at the moment is letting him carry on using them.. With monitored use. He's not allowed them all day no matter how much he whines. Then once he's old enough we get rid of them together. Leave them for Santa to take away for the new
babies. Leave them for the faires at the bottom of the garden.. Who will leave a present in exchange of them. Take them to the zoo and leave them for the baby monkeys. Or simply just get him to throw them in the bin. He'll probably still ask for them but least I can remind him what we've done.

Saying that he has actually gone to bed tonight with out a dummy, he didn't ask for one. He drank his milk then snuggled down to go to sleep, so I gave him his kiss and left. havent heard from him since but it's only been 30 minutes. Knowing Joshua though he had a secret dummy hidden in his bed and is up there sucking away on it now.

Anyone got any advice or experience?