If they usually use the soother to sleep, then you will need to plan for more broken sleep which might feel like the newborn days again! As a result, it’d be best to plan this change at a time when you have the time and headspace to be able to make this change.’ Start weaning your child by not offering a dummy when they are in stress-free situations and use only at night the few days leading up to the Dummy Fairy. But ask yourself this: If it doesn’t work, does it really matter? If you have to wait a little longer for your child to give up their dummy, does it really matter? If your sweetheart is happy and comforted, does it really matter?

Why It’s So Important To Teach Your Baby Good Sleeping Habits How to remove the dummy from a baby 6 months plus The general advice is that you should aim to get rid of the dummy at approximately 6-12 months. After 12 months, it could start to affect their speech and also cause dental problems. However, many children tend to still have them into early toddlerhood, pre-school and beyond. They have offered advice on when to take the dummy away and signs to look for that indicate it might be time to make the change. There are also suggestions for weaning little ones off their pacifiers. These are detailed below. After your little one falls asleep, replace their bag of dummies with treats, toys or another source of comfort such as a new teddy bear or special pillow – as a gift from the Dummy Fairy.The poster and newspaper in this set help bring the story right into your own home. Then you can use your hamper to exchange the Dummies for sweet gifts of thanks from the Fairies, including the sparkling pot of Fairy Dust. And where do you find this story and printable letters? Need to wean your toddler from their beloved pacifier or dummy? Enter the dummy fairy! A magical fairy who takes your toddler’s dummy in the middle of the night and replaces it with a new special cuddly or toy. For babies that love their dummy, it brings them comfort, and it’s likely with that comfort they can soothe, calm and drift off to sleep. Fab! However… as they enter the deeper stages of sleep, their muscles relax and the dummy is likely to fall out. Ok, so, what does this mean in reality? Typically, one of two things will happen, they’ll stay asleep (amazing), or wake (not so amazing). If they wake, it may be either immediately or after their first sleep cycle. If the baby doesn’t notice, great! It’s likely to be a helpful sleep aid. However, if they wake either immediately or soon after it falls out then we need to rethink how ‘helpful’ it actually is.

As with all children growing up, the way we go about things depends on their age and level of understanding. If they’re less than 6 months old then if I’m honest with you, it’s often better to go cold turkey when it comes to taking away the dummy. Yes, they may need a little extra help falling asleep for naps and your nights may be a little disrupted for a few days but then it’s gone. We would reasonably expect any broken sleep caused by the change to gradually improve over a period of a few days to a few weeks,’ Trent explains. But there are some disadvantages to dummies. For example, your child might be waking a lot at night when they lose the dummy.

She’s learning ways in which to soothe herself and we’re no longer getting up what feels like 100 times a night to replace lost dummies. It was the right decision made easy by a visit to the dentist and knowing ourselves that it was just time. She seems happier as well in general (probably due to better sleep). It’s the end of another era in parenting this little one and on to the next chapter. We’d used the dummy fairy for our eldest so decided to use it with our youngest too. We talked about it for about a week before and read “Bea Gives Up Her Dummy” by Jenny Album. Bea’s dummies go to the dummy fairy and the fairies use the dummies as boats, roundabouts and umbrellas which our youngest thought was great.’ On the day the dummy is going, you could hang the dummy on a tree, then go and have some quiet time or an outing while the dummy fairy comes to take away the dummy for another baby who needs it. Equally the dummy can be put in the bin by the child and they can watch the waste collectors take it away in the big lorry. Either works. The aim is for them to understand it’s gone away and not at home any longer. Positive reinforcement of the message The loss of the dummy in the daytime went just fine, however at night in the first week or so it was a different story. Our little girl had trouble settling and quite often mentioned wanting her dummy. However, we knew we had to be strong and find her other ways of self-soothing. Of course we don’t like to see our daughter upset, but know too that anything that could potentially cause harm should also be taken away. If the dentist advises it, then we should definitely listen (in my opinion). As with all the techniques, build up to a point where you have told your baby or child that the dummy fairy will be visiting. A week should be enough time to send them the message that the dummy will soon be gone but that the really exciting bit is still to come.

If your baby’s dummy isn’t causing a problem, then there is no urgency to get rid of it, and it’s entirely up to you when you do so. Nevertheless, if your baby is developing a dependency, especially when it comes to sleep, then you might need to consider a dummy intervention. If it isn’t getting better you might want to reach out to your health visitor for support.’ Be consistent Have you heard of the Dummy Fairy? It might be a complete fairytale, but that’s the language of children, and it might do wonders! The challenge ahead may seem simple at first however, may babies and indeed toddlers become very attached to their dummies, some rely on them for comfort throughout the day, others may need them during naps or at bedtime and throughout the night. Many babies and young toddlers love their dummies and use them as comforters to help them settle and sleep. There are a number of approaches that you may want to consider. The important thing is to take your child’s personality into account and use an approach that your child can relate to.

Have you heard the story that goes with this Dummy Fairy set?

First, would you take a little advice from a seasoned Fairy Godmother? Approach this magical milestone with a very light tread. Your child is so very young, blessed with a brand new heart full of hopes and dreams and trust. Take care that all that hard work you have done so far to keep that heart in tact is not dashed away just yet by a heavy footed Fairy on a mission.

If you want to start weaning your baby off early on, you can take a gradual approach. Start by reducing the time your baby uses the dummy each day. You can take off five minutes or more every couple of days or so until they no longer need it. If it’s easier, you can limit its use to specific times, such as nap time or bedtime. That way you’re adding more structure to the process. Asking your little one to give up their dummy seems such a terrible, but necessary task. But in this blog I am going to show you how you can make this milestone truly magical. Together, let us invite the Dummy Fairy to visit. I’m going to talk through exactly how to stage this tiny intervention in four easy steps. The best time to wean from the dummy is when things are already going well with your toddler’s sleep and no major changes have been introduced to their life such as a new sibling or starting preschool. If the dummy is causing problems, such as damaging your baby’s gum, you can replace it with another object that will serve as a soother but won’t cause damage. Try offering a soft blanket or a stuffed animal that your baby can cuddle instead of their dummy. These newborn essentials will provide them a much-needed soothing and comfort to aid the process.Suzy Standon, owner of We Made A Wish, talked to us about getting her little one to give up her dummy. Our daughter would be the first to tell you she loves / loved her dummy. One was never far behind wherever she was. We decided sometime between 24 and 30 months we should try and stop using it, and first started weaning her off it. She got to the point where she used it for naps and bedtime only, as well as for long car journeys. It also came into play should she need the extra comfort in scary or upsetting situations. If something happened, or she was tired, she always used to call out for ‘Biggins (her comforter) and Dummy’. A dummy was also useful in taming toddler tantrums! A visit from the Dummy Fairy can provide a magical solution to this most testing of problems. It speaks to a child’s growing sense of wonder and imagination and it gently eases them on to the next stage of their childhood. It’s sympathetic and lots and lots of fun. Parents may find it challenging to get rid of the dummy, especially if their baby is dependent on it to fall asleep or stop crying. However, baby brand Nuby has shared some tips to make the transition smoother.