The Dummy Fairy Comes to Visit
Those of you who have experienced the attachment that some children have to their dummies will really appreciate our story. It’s more than an attachment, its essential for the child to get to sleep, and therefore really hard for them to give up.
We have had so many sleep issues with Kayla that we have been fairly relaxed with Georgia’s prolonged dummy use (Georgia is 3 and a half). We were happy to have a child that slept so it really wasn’t too much of an issue.
Last Christmas we had tried to explain to Georgia that Santa was going to take her dummies to babies in need, and leave her presents. She didn’t seem ready for the transition so we didn’t push it.
With Easter around the corner, I thought I would try again using the Easter bunny to take her dummies and leave Easter treats in place of her dummies. And then it happened Georgia agreed that she was a ‘big girl’ and didn’t need her dummy any more. So that evening her fell asleep without her dummy, I comforted her for a little bit, and that was all. I woke up at 2 pm and realised she was still sleeping without the dummy and that I needed to channel my alter ego (dummy fairy) and get a gift ready before morning.
I raided the shed for gifts that I had put away for a rainy day, and even wrote the following card;
Dear Georgia,
Thank-you for giving up your dummies. I have given your dummies to babies that need them and have left you some gifts to share with your sister.
Lots of love,
The Dummy Fairy
I had even sprinkled the area with fairy dust to make it look authentic. …… and then imagine my shock when I had been woken by my alarm at 6am only to see Georgia sound asleep with her dummy. I quickly got rid of the evidence of the dummy fairies visit, and got ready for work. Apparently Georgia had kept a dummy in the bookshelf that I didn’t know about.
Lesson learnt, next time I had to make sure that the house was completely dummy free, especially now that I knew that Georgia could go to sleep without it.
We tried again on the weekend, and I again become the dummy fairy, but guess what, this time it worked. She was slightly distressed, but she’s now been dummy free for a week.
Our eldest daughter ditched the dummy at 6 weeks without a problem, but having said that she really didn’t sleep, and those of you who have been following our posts will know the sleep issues we have faced. So I guess that means now that we have successfully weaned both our girls off the dummy, we are experts in the field.
On a serious note, it can be tough at the best of times, persevere, persevere & persevere! Some great tips and advice.
Please feel free to share your stories of how you child gave up the dummy, or even what your plans for your child to ditch the dummy.
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