Sunday, September 14, 2003 |
Are you strong enough to give up their dummy?
Even before I had kids, I always knew I never wanted to be one of those parents who walked their 3 or 4 year old kids around the shops with a dummy in their mouths.
Now that I have 3 year old and 21 month old children, I understand what the parents of these latex dependant kids go through.
Kids that have dummies get VERY attached to them for a number of reasons. Firstly, the dummy is by design a substitute for their Mother's nipple. Secondly, the dummy or pacifier (as they say in America) is used for just that purpose. To pacify them when they are upset.
The problem is however that the stress of parenthood can sometimes lead to the dummy being misused. Usually when your baby cries you will attempt to find out the reason behind the crying and fix that problem which in turn should stop the crying. The problem however is that when babies are very young it is sometimes very hard to determine what the problem is. Are they hungry? Is their nappy full? Do they have nappy rash? Do they have a tummy ache? Are they about to throw up your wife's breast milk all over your best work clothes?
This leads to frustration and instead of going the extra yard to find the cause you just stick the dummy in their mouths and get back to the more important issues like wondering how you are going to function at work in the morning with only 3 hours sleep.
As your baby gets older it will be easier for you to distinguish the different cries they have for different things. It is however too late by then. Your baby is addicted to dummy.
Dummies are not all bad however. In fact they are sometimes very beneficial as they bring peace and quiet, which is sometimes impossible by other means. They settle the baby and therefore the parent and provide a less stressful environment for everyone concerned.
The question is then how old is too old? Possibly when they are able to ask for it themselves. Not their baby names for it i.e. di di or other such baby talk but when they are able say "Mummy I want my dummy."
This is the tough part. How do you kick their synthetic nipple habit?
You could try to ween them off it, only allowing them to have it for a few hours a day but let me tell you, this does not work.
The only real option is to go cold turkey. It is not good enough to hide the dummy away and tell yourself "we'll just take it off him for tonight and see how it goes". You have to destroy that thing and any other "spares' you may have lying around the place. Leaving any behind will only lead to failure as your will power gives in to their anguished screams.
Will you be strong enough?
Even before I had kids, I always knew I never wanted to be one of those parents who walked their 3 or 4 year old kids around the shops with a dummy in their mouths.
Now that I have 3 year old and 21 month old children, I understand what the parents of these latex dependant kids go through.
Kids that have dummies get VERY attached to them for a number of reasons. Firstly, the dummy is by design a substitute for their Mother's nipple. Secondly, the dummy or pacifier (as they say in America) is used for just that purpose. To pacify them when they are upset.
The problem is however that the stress of parenthood can sometimes lead to the dummy being misused. Usually when your baby cries you will attempt to find out the reason behind the crying and fix that problem which in turn should stop the crying. The problem however is that when babies are very young it is sometimes very hard to determine what the problem is. Are they hungry? Is their nappy full? Do they have nappy rash? Do they have a tummy ache? Are they about to throw up your wife's breast milk all over your best work clothes?
This leads to frustration and instead of going the extra yard to find the cause you just stick the dummy in their mouths and get back to the more important issues like wondering how you are going to function at work in the morning with only 3 hours sleep.
As your baby gets older it will be easier for you to distinguish the different cries they have for different things. It is however too late by then. Your baby is addicted to dummy.
Dummies are not all bad however. In fact they are sometimes very beneficial as they bring peace and quiet, which is sometimes impossible by other means. They settle the baby and therefore the parent and provide a less stressful environment for everyone concerned.
The question is then how old is too old? Possibly when they are able to ask for it themselves. Not their baby names for it i.e. di di or other such baby talk but when they are able say "Mummy I want my dummy."
This is the tough part. How do you kick their synthetic nipple habit?
You could try to ween them off it, only allowing them to have it for a few hours a day but let me tell you, this does not work.
The only real option is to go cold turkey. It is not good enough to hide the dummy away and tell yourself "we'll just take it off him for tonight and see how it goes". You have to destroy that thing and any other "spares' you may have lying around the place. Leaving any behind will only lead to failure as your will power gives in to their anguished screams.
Will you be strong enough?
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