What to do with the D

We are going dummy free.

Seriously, we are. 

I know I might have said it before, but this time we really are.

The thing is that Munchkin relies so strongly on his dummy to calm and sleep, and as I don’t get enough sleep as it is I’ve been putting off depriving him of it as I don’t want any  more sleep deprivation than what I’ve already got.  I know in theory it might only take a couple of weeks for it to all be okay again.  And yet I am reluctant.  I keep trying to find a time that is good.  Ha ha ha.  A time that is good?  With a toddler, two students, part-time work, coughs and colds, and everything else that goes with all of the above?!

Well, I am now convinced that it must happen.  And it must happen now. 

What changed my mind?

Realising his dummy might actually be making him SICK.

What an awful thing to realise, that as a parent you might have been contributing (perhaps largely) to your child’s poor health.  We thought it was hereditary asthma (which it quite well could be).  We thought it was the awful mould on the walls and ceiling of his bedroom (which it possibly could be too).  But now we also think the dummy might be a large co-conspirator in the quest to keep poor lil Munchkin sick.

Mum found a rather interesting article recently which she passed on to me.

It says that dummies harbour all manner of nasties, from thrush to things that cause respiratory illness, and others impairing immune response (hmm, I’ve had thrush a lot since having Munchkin too, after never having it before).  Apparently, by two weeks, the bacteria embed their roots so strongly into the dummy that even sterilising, bleaching, scrubbing, or boiling don’t completely remove them.  The researchers recommended replacing dummies every TWO WEEKS.  Now while this is a once-off study, so might not be completely accurate, for us it is enough to create LARGE warning bells.  Munchkin has had a dummy since a week old when we couldn’t settle him.  He also had bottles.  No one mentioned that bottle teats are often made of the same material as dummies, and you’re not even told to replace them regularly so we didn’t.  Arghhhh!!!!  Help, I may have poisoned my own child, however unintentionally! 

The full article - see next 3 pics for close-ups you can hopefully read if you so desire!

Ok, so I tried, and it's still pretty small...right click and save image if you like, then  you can  enlarge it on your computer!  Or message/email me for a copy...

The problem is HOW to get rid of the D???

Munchkin winds himself into such a state.

He does, however, sleep at kindy without one.  Hmmm, interesting.

I have decided that bribery is a sound option in a case like this.

Today, we bought a bag of jelly beans.  Jelly beans because that’s what Daddy offered Munchy baby when he went through a “I’m not going to poo in the toilet” phase a few months back.  Worked a charm.  When they ran out, we replaced them with dried apricots.  When they ran out, with nothing.  Poo-ing is still going strong.  Grin.

Munchkin helped put them into a jar, and got to eat one.  Only ONE.  Then he was later put to bed without his dummy.  Much to his horror and grief and the despair of this mother.  He cried.  A lot.  I had to go in and cuddle.  But then I had a brain-wave.  We negotiated the use of the stereo.  (When he’s sick, I put ‘sleep music’ on and leave his door ajar – it works when nothing else will to get him to sleep without me having to be there with him – which I don’t like because he insists on rubbing his hands all over my face, tugging my hair, pummelling my legs with his feet…you get the idea).  So I’ve just been blasted by Jack-in-a-box, Old MacDonald’s Farm, and If I Were a Butterfly (had to be loud enough to hear in his room with door locked as stereo is in the lounge).  I think he is now asleep!!!  Three jellybeans.  That’s what I promised.  He gets to choose.  It is highly unlikely he will choose any colour but blue.  Grin.

Now the question is, how long do we have to go through this?  And do I do it at night too, or just during the day until he’s ‘got’ it?  What about when he wakes screaming in the middle of the night?  The stereo isn’t really appropriate then!

**It is now two days later. We haven’t done night times.  So I’m a wuss (how exactly do you spell woos/wuss?).  But I figure that we can do day time rests, and then tackle nights after we’ve done days for a bit – it should be easier then, shouldn’t it???  I’m guessing that we might need to accept the use of the stereo for at least thirty minutes every evening to help in the first week.  We’ve also concluded that a note book and bunch of truck/digger/etc stickers will be a really good idea – perhaps to use for other discipline related rewards too, and we’re considering the purchase of a good quality dump truck for when Munchkin has thrown out  his dummies.  His current two cheap ones both have wheels that now fall off every thirty seconds, creating a great deal of frustration for Munchkin and both his parents, so it’s not like it will be a wasted resource!  What I’m really worried about though, is getting him to settle in the middle of the night when the D is not there!!!

Okay, my son has just helped himself to my last mouthful of toast while I’ve been busy typing.  The little sneak.  There he is, calmly sitting on MY chair, eating MY toast.  He who has already had breakfast today, and helped himself to some slightly over-done toast earlier already.  How am I going to keep up with feeding this child???!  “Munchkin’s hungry.  It’s dry…and wet… (a pretty good description of avocado on toast if you think about it)…Munchkin were hungry.”  He’s now helped himself to my pen and is doing some drawing on a bit of paper…after I removed the plate from under the pen!

Amy