Working together with parents to help children give up their dummy
Dummies can affect a child’s speech and language development, but they can be very hard to remove once a child has become attached to them. Parents do not want to see their child upset or struggle to see it through to the end. It is important to ensure every adult works together to help the child give up the dummy and adheres to the same routine. Here are some useful ways to encourage your child to give up their dummies for good.
Creating a Dummy Tree
Dummy trees can encourage a child to give their dummy away. The tree can be created using junk modelling or parents can use a real tree outside. The child is then introduced to the dummy tree and told that the dummies are hung onto the tree for the ‘dummy fairy’ to collect. Dummies can be attached to the branches of the tree using ribbon and left overnight. The adult will then remove the dummies and leave a present for the child as a ‘thank you’ from the fairy. This idea encourages children to leave their dummies in order to gain a new toy, and helps them accept their dummy has gone.
New Baby
Children can be encouraged to give their comforter up for a new baby, helping them to understand that now they are older, a dummy is no longer needed. Adults can explain to the child that now they are much older, they do not need a dummy. If there is a baby in the family, children can be encouraged to donate their dummy to the baby or adults can explain that the dummy will go to the hospital to help the newborn babies. Adults can help children to wraps their dummy up as a present to give to the baby. This will help children to understand that the dummy is no longer needed, and that it is needed by someone else.
Father Christmas/Easter Bunny
Children can be encouraged to give their dummies up in exchange for presents, much the same as using a dummy tree. When leaving a mince pie out for Father Christmas or carrots out for the Easter bunny, children can also leave their dummies out too. The excitement of receiving a present or an Easter egg will help children to forget about their dummy and accept that it is no longer available to them.
Read stories
Children can relate to characters in a story and this can help them to understand that they no longer need dummies. There are many stories about giving up dummies available and these can be used to prepare your child to throw their dummy away. Children are able to assess the situation from an outsiders point of view, and make decisions for themselves.
Once the children’s dummies have gone it is important to remove them all. Some parents will want to keep one “for emergencies” however this is not helpful to supporting the child as it offers mixed signals. Keep patient and stay consistent, children will often stop asking for their dummy after a short period of time.
Some moms have success using reason with their toddlers. You could explain to your child that she is now a big girl and that there is a baby out there who needs her pacifiers to stop crying. Engage your little one in decorating a box for the baby, then gather up all of the pacifiers and place them in it. If you have a friend with a baby, make a big deal about handing over this box for the baby, or take it to a pediatric dentist who will distribute the binkies to babies (wink, wink). Be sure to offer a lot of praise and a small gift to your toddler for being such a kind and generous “big kid.”