Pacifier

Give him some time, my LO stopped by herself when she was about 8 Months. I mean dont let it go till they are 7, but most children dont use them longer than 2.

HI Zodwa, I agree with Hayley.. also remember that the reason a baby uses a dummy is for emotional reasons - not just the sucking reflex.. The ladies from baby sense also once replied to a mom wanting to take one away from a 1 year old and they said be careful because it can cause emotional problems as well.. if you feel strongly you can try, but rather wait a while longer - a 4 month old who relies on a dummy instead of you to fall asleep is doing really well.. I asked camerons nursery school if i should take his away from him at 16 months - he also only uses it to sleep, and they said, no way! they said they have overtired babies who battle to fall asleep, but with Cam, you give him his dummy and teddy and he is happily sleeping within 5 minutes on his own. If you say or baby sometimes falls asleep without it, then try it sometimes and see what happens. If he or she give it up really easily then great. If he or she is distressed, then wait a bit longer. Good luck!

Hi

I would suggest not taking it away at the moment. Wait until after he is a year old. Children that have their dummies taken away usually end up sucking a finger or thumb. Fingers and thumbs usually cause authodontic problems. I have a friend whom took their daughters dummy away when she was a baby. She screamed for nights and eventually replaced her dummy with her finger. They now have about R90 000 worth of authodontic bills that they are facing.

It is not a bad thing for a baby to have a dummy. It is meant to assist with soothing and are authodontically designed to ensure proper teeth formation. Although not good for the child to have their dummy for too many years, it is better for them to suck a dummy than a finger or thumb.

At least when child gets to two or so you can actually take a dummy away but you can't take a finger or thumb away.

True that it is hard to get rid of the dummy when they are older but lets face it how many 10 year olds do you see running around with a dummy. They eventally give it up.

Some Mom's will not agree so this is just my opinion.

But really your 4 month old is just a baby and if he does not replace the dummy with a finger or thumb then he replace it with sucking on a bottle permantly. So carrying a bottle around. Let him have his dummy and look at taking it away at a much later stage.

Ruru is 4.5 months, am thinking of getting him off the pacifier at 6 months...
When is the nicest/safest/earliest,etc time to wean them off it. I dnt want him on it for too long coz as he gets older he might b more attached to it. he uses it mostly during nap time & bed time. Also after he gets his immunisation shots.
When does the sucking reflex go away? 4 months, 6 months or 10 months?
Thing is there are times when he falls asleep without it, it doesnt happen often, just sometimes. I dnt want to traumatise/stress him by taking it away too soon.