As regular readers will know, Sam is almost always attached to his dummy. 24/7 it is either in his mouth, or hanging down while he has a drink or something to eat. I realised yesterday that Sam is using it out of habit now, not need.

Sam is 16.5 Months old now, and not talking. At all. Not even MAMA. I know for a fact when he hits 18 months, the health professionals will blame this on his dummy. So I figured that I need to take action now, so they can't pin all of the blame on his dummy IF I have to seek help.



This morning, I took it off him at breakfast time, and "Forgot" to give it back to him.
He got a bit moany, and a bit grumpy to begin with, but I soon distracted him.

I took the kids out for a walk at Sam's nap time, and he eventually fell asleep. I was shocked he wasn't crying for his dummy to be fair. At bedtime, he was pretty upset, so I decided he isn't ready to give it up completely yet. I am happy enough for him to have it at night time, as long as he ditches it during the day.

I found help and advice in the most unexpected place tonight - the Red House bookstore have a help and advice section, and one of the categories is full of information on weaning your child off their dummy, and a couple of book suggestions, perfect for reading to kids to encourage the huge step. I decided to go for the cold turkey and distraction approach. I have to say, Sam has been much more loving today - lots of cuddles, laughing and interacting.

If day one is anything to go by, I think this might be easier than anticipated*







*I am well aware I may have to eat my own words in a day or two.

This is not a sponsored post. I found the information interesting, so I shared it!