Midnight 1st August 2023, I woke up in a world of panic. I had felt this feeling before but nothing quite as intense as this. Since Mr Moo was born, I had experienced a multitude of horrific thoughts, normally as I am just falling asleep or after a nighttime feed whilst trying to fall asleep.
It started with horrible thoughts of people coming into my home and taking Mr Moo, to people speaking to him via the baby monitor but tonight it was amplified by a real life sound.
It was the distinctive sound of my baby sucking on his dummy. You might be thinking WHAT! The sound is so cute and normally I would agree, but not tonight.
A thought entered into my head and it never left, “What if the teet comes away and he chokes. There’s will be no way of getting the lodged plastic out of his throat.”
That was it, I was up. Passing the floor trying to figure out how I would remove the dummy without him screaming 24/7.
I read a lot of blogs and articles and watched hours of YouTube on how to get rid of my baby's dummy but everyone said, take it one step at a time.
For me, this was not an option. The next day, I called Mr J and I said that we were getting rid of the dummy. His first reaction was, “Are you mad?” It was so hard as it was. At this moment, Mr Moo would cry instantly when his dummy fell out when he was asleep. When we lost the dummy, it was sheer panic, but I was ready to take on the challenge.
After we both agreed, I removed the dummies (all 17 of them) and chucked them all in the bin. Why? Because I knew when times got tough, it would be me who reached for the dummy, not Mr Moo.
That day, I was mentally prepared for torture, but I was pleasantly surprised. Mr Moo didn’t once cry for the dummy because it wasn’t in sight or offered to him perhaps. When he was sleepy, I offered him milk or warm water and it worked. That night, Mr Moo slept for 6 hours solid. This was absolutely unheard of up until this point. I must admit, this was the only night it happened; for around 7 days after, he cried in the middle of the night and Mr J and I altered sleeping on his bedroom floor to ensure reassurance, but we persevered and it worked.
As I am writing this blog, I feel as though I have found a pattern and hopefully this will help you.
I have found that once you have made your mind up on a situation or how you feel you wish to parent, make the decision and your little one will follow you.
Cold turkey worked for me, but do what feels right for you and stick to it! Let me know what you think and if it works for you.
Good luck, B x
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