How do I get my daughter to stop having her dummie at night?She is 4 yrs old

Anna - posted on 06/03/2012

I just put them in the bin! she cant have what you dont have! This may seem un helpful but it really worked for me with my daughter, it was a case of tough love im afraid. Good luck

Jenn - posted on 03/18/2011

My daughter was the same way and had to have a tooth filled! By four, we had put many rules in place with the final being she could only have the pacifier for a nap or bedtime. Then I would wait until she was asleep and pop it out of her mouth. Then I cut the tip of it off and told her it was broken. That she was a big girl and pacifiers just don't work for big girls! THEN I told her about the Paci Fairy. Not sure if you are into make believe but one night she decided she was ready to see if the Paci Fairy would come. Put the paci under the pillow and the next morning there was fairy glitter dust and a lovely note from her (she is the Tooth Fairy's little sister, you know) praising her for being such a big girl and giving her the pacifier. The note had glitter on it and still hangs in her room, framed and proudly displayed. Now six years old, she still loves to tell her little sister about the Paci Fairy. Fortunately, the littlest one never took the pacifier!

Deborah - posted on 03/16/2011

Hi Esther there is no easy way to do this and there is lots of whinging,tears and tantrums but if you want her to get rid of her dummie then you have to remove them all let her go cold turkey so to speak! Darcie had her dummy until she was 3yrs and we did it at christmas time as she gave them all to Santa who i told her would recycle her old dummies and give them to babies! We started by rounding up all the old chewed ones leaving her only one which was the favourite then posted all the other ones to Santa in the post which she did,God knows what Royal Mail made of that! and on Christmas Eve she hung her remaining dummy on tree and Santa came and took it away!
She was ok about at first thru day but when bedtime came she kicked off big time wanting to give all her presentsack to Santa in exchange for her dummies and she cried herself to sleep bless! But i stayed strong and by the third night she didn`t ask for them anymore but it was hard to listen to her crying but for the sake of her teeth you have to try and get her off them!
Try suggesting that she gives them for babies at the hospital or swapping them for a special present from the "fairies" perhaps whatever you decide be strong,ride out the tantrums and get rid of the dummies!!!
Good luck