Dummies – do you love them or loathe them (or a bit of both)? Regardless, dummies are popular with many families as a way of soothing unsettled babies, and are often a comfort for toddlers when experiencing separation anxiety from families. As a guide, dummies can be offered from birth if your child is bottle-fed. For breastfed babies, it’s best to wait 4-6 weeks – until feeding has been established.
Our Educators get a lot of questions about dummy use, so we’ve compiled some practical tips for families.
- Ensure that your child’s dummy isn’t tied around their hand or neck, which poses a risk of strangulation – the dummy chain should not be long enough to catch around their neck, especially when they’re sleeping in their cot.
- Don’t dip your child’s dummy in anything sweet, like honey or fruit juice, as it can have a negative effect on their teeth.
- Check the condition of your child’s dummy regularly. If it’s looking worn out, broken or the teat has a tear in it, it poses a safety risk.
- Give your child their dummy only when you know they aren’t hungry. This helps to ensure that using it doesn’t interfere with feeding.
- Keep a spare dummy handy! Dropping dummies happens all the time without families noticing, and it’s best to avoid the inevitable upset if it gets lost without a replacement.
Keeping dummies clean:
Sterilised dummies should be used for babies under six months old, whereas from six months onwards, children are more resistent to infections. Soap and water is all that is needed – just make sure water doesn’t remain inside the dummy when you’ve finished cleaning!
When to ditch the dummy?
Children can become very attached to their dummies. Touching and sucking on a dummy can comfort and soothe them. And dummies can also help young children manage everyday stress and soothe themselves when you’re not around. But there are some disadvantages to dummies. For example, your child might be waking a lot at night when they lose the dummy.
Sometimes children decide to give up their dummies by themselves. Most often, parents are the ones who decide it’s time to give it up. As a parent, you know your child best. You’re the best one to decide whether your child is ready to move on from the dummy. Try not to feel rushed or pressured by the reactions of family, other children or even strangers.
Your child probably won’t find it easy to part with the dummy. So if you feel it’s time for the dummy to go, a gradual approach is the fairest and easiest.
When you and your child are ready to begin, try these ideas:
- Try using the dummy less for comforting during the day. One way to do this is to put the dummy away in a special spot, then get it out only as part of the sleep routine. This will help things go faster.
- Limit dummy use to certain times and places – for example, the car or cot. This gives your child a chance to get used to being without the dummy.
- Gradually use the dummy less and less when re-settling your child during the night. For example, give the dummy to your child every second time they cry in the night on day two, then every third time on day three, and so on.
Once your child is coping for longer periods without the dummy, set a time and date – then take away the dummy. These ideas might help:
- Mark the occasion of becoming dummy free with a celebration or special reward.
- Try not to turn back. No matter how well you’ve prepared your child for this change, expect some discomfort and protest.
- Good luck!!
