Dummies or pacifiers can be a contentious subject.
Pacifiers certainly have a place, especially for babies 3months and under who suffer from reflux or colic. The non-nutritive sucking that a dummy provides soothes and calms babies.
If you use a dummy beyond this age and you have concerns about your baby becoming reliant on the dummy to settle themselves, use the dummy to settle and calm baby but slip it out as they are dozing off.
For toddlers, limit dummy to bedtime only.
Some parents have had success with not replacing dummies when they get “lost”, putting a hole in the dummy “oh no, it’s broken now” and having a little burial ceremony to farewell dummy.
Toddlers and Pre-schoolers can be unsettled for a day/night or two when dummy is finally removed. Encouraging attachment to a favourite toy or similar can help ease their transition to life without dummy.
