A PHOTOGRAPH of famous preschooler Suri Cruise sporting a dummy at age four attracted much comment this week. It inspired this week’s poll and sparked a bit of a conversation on our Facebook page.
One of my favourite contributors, Barb, joined in on the conversation and had me crying from laughter. So we had to share it. “I knew of a girl (school age) who had a dummy and would carry it in her pocket at school and go to the loo for a quick suck a few times a day.’’ Hmmm, I’ve heard of people hiding out in the toilets to feed some strange habits, but dummy sucking?!
Feli from My Life In Mono also had a cute tale to tell. “Mum told me that I was on the dummy at age four. She weaned me by telling me the dog ate my dummy and that was that’’.
Exactly when your child loses the binky is really a personal choice. For Princess Ella, who was only ever allowed her dummy at bedtime, it was two and a half years due to the seed of Baby Holly being sown. It happened pretty easily, thanks to flagging the idea with her weeks in advance and being positive about it. But every child is different.
If you’re in the midst of losing the pacifier or about to, here’s some suggestions. We had success with a combination of the first two.
- Tell them how the Dummy Fairy will come and get it one night to take it to a li’l baby who needs it more than they do. This idea makes them feel like they’re helping someone else.
- Provide them with a gift (either from mum and dad or from the Dummy Fairy) in return for the pacifier. It’s always fun for them in the weeks leading up to it to guess what the gift might be.
- Just go cold turkey. Yes, surprisingly this sometimes can work, especially when they’re really young.
- Cut the tip off the pacifier. The child is unable to suck and loses interest. Prepare for the fact they may carry it around with them for a while though.
- Tie it to a helium balloon and release it into the sky or pop it in the post (addressed to grandma, maybe) so it can be delivered to a baby who needs it more.
Getting rid of the dummy can be tough. Share with us your story of losing the binky.
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