dummies

[stephen2504]

how to get my 3 year old son off a dummy

[B00]

Oooooo, you missed your chance by a few weeks!

I got my eldest to leave her's for Santa in exchange for presents.

Why don't you tell him that Santa forgot one of his presents and that his dummy will need to be exchanged for it? It doesnt need to be expensive, more a 'token' gift really.

Good luck.

[spudqueen]

My son left his for the baby birds, so maybe you need to wait a few more weeks!

[ljcunningham]

I had the same dilmena but decided in the end to let nature take its course and my daughter gave it up of her own accord. Is there a reason you need him to stop using a dummy? If it only to satisfy other peoples' expectations, why go to that trouble.
No kids go to school sucking a dummy - maybe when he starts preschool other children will comment and he will giveit up quick smart.
If the dummy sucking really bothers you why not make a deal that it's for evening use only( for instance) - your son will find something to replace it when the time is rigjht for him. Too often we place adult expectations on little ones.

[BlueHeaven]

Maybe I'm just cruel, but when my daughter was 2 I just threw it out when she was asleep one night. She didn't even miss it! And she didn't replace it with thumb-sucking or anything either.

[HJT40]

Well much like the first and second answer I told my daughter that the easter bunny needed them all for the new baby bunnies and in return she would leave some nice eggs. It did the trick and she never asked for it again - of course now she is 12 she can't believe that she fell for it, just like she did when the ice cream man came and I told her if the van was playing a tune he had run out!

[dee5]

I used a smiliar on on my godson. I told him that his new baby brother needed them and that big boys didnt need them any more. it worked until he kept putting every dummy he could find in my handbag and i ended up going home with them all and having to go back at 10-11 at night as the baby wouldnt settle!!

[Mammar]

It is a good idea to get him off it as soon as possible, mainly to give his teeth their best chance of developing well. He's unlikely to revert to thumb sucking at this age but rather the dummy than the thumb. You can't throw those away.
I was a rotten mother and made mine go "cold turkey" one night when I'd given them a really busy energetic day and they were so tired they couldn't object for too long. I sat and cried beside them till they went to sleep but after a couple of days they forgot all about it and, best of all, they didn't pinch the baby's out of her mouth.
I like the bribery techniques mentioned but you've got to be firm and make sure he knows that once it's gone, it's gone.
Good luck! When you've done it you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner!