Getting Rid of the Doody

CheerLouth

Looking for some advice on how to wean our little girl off her doody? She'll be 3 at the end of the month & we have been talking about getting rid of it. She knows that 3 year olds don't have doodies but I just don't think she understands what that means.

At the minute, she only has it for naptime & bedtime! I'm very consistent with taking it off her first thing in the morning & generally, it's a case of out of sight, out of mind. But she is really attached to it for sleeptime - any suggestions on how to get rid of it?

Her little brother still has one - but he's only 9 months so his won't be going anywhere just yet.

Kimbot

Why not get her to give it to Santa to show she has been a good girl?

My 3 year old lad is giving his up to Santa and he is excited by it now.

georgewickstaff

Why do you feel the need to take away something that provides comfort to your child?

She won't be using it when she's 15.

optogirl

Hi there - I had 2 boys who very much loved their soothers and with both I was dreading the weaning but actually it was a lot easier than we thought. We just let them get a bit raggedy & as they broke, threw them away, in sight of kid explaining that it was broken and no more dodie! It worked with both of them. Eldest did used to sometimes steal the baby's soother & we'd catch him like a secret smoker behind a door having a quick suck but the length of time between this happening stretched and stretched and he soon found other things to occupy his time.

I know cold turkey sounds hard & even maybe a little cruel but it worked for us. I know some people use a Dodie Fairy who comes & leaves a gift in return for dodies & there is a place in Ireland where you can go and tie the dodie to a tree (?!) for the fairies but I'm not sure where.

Mainly, plenty of extra attention & cuddles around the transition & explain that there is no dodie to be had - it's gone. They might whimper for a while but they will find other things like teddies/blankies to soothe them at night. Good Luck!

Dravokivich

My son threw his in a bin because it got dirty and that was the end of it with him. He would have been going on 3 when that happened.

Have a nephew who's 3 1/2 and he's giving his up for Christmas, so "other kids can have soothers."

It seems to be a common idea to suggest they get something, for giving it up, but also passing it on.

CheerLouth

Thanks everyone! The one she has is actually started to split a little so I think I'll show it to her at the weekend & explain that we have to get rid of it. Hopefully she'll be ok. Maybe the elf on the shelf will bring her a little present to say well done for getting rid of it.

optogirl

georgewickstaff wrote: »

Why do you feel the need to take away something that provides comfort to your child?

She won't be using it when she's 15.

Pediatric dentists recommend limiting pacifier time once a child is 2 and eliminating it by age 4 to avoid dental problems.

CheerLouth

optogirl wrote: »

Pediatric dentists recommend limiting pacifier time once a child is 2 and eliminating it by age 4 to avoid dental problems.

This is why we are getting rid of it, I can see that her bottom teeth are becoming crooked & I'd prefer to limit that.

super_furry

Push it out until Christmas and tell her that Santa is going to collect it for the babies that need it, and now that you're a big girl you don't. Everytime there's any talk about Christmas, mention how good she is to give her doodie to the babies that need it and how happy Santa will be with her.

bladespin

jonnycivic wrote: »

Why not get her to give it to Santa to show she has been a good girl?

My 3 year old lad is giving his up to Santa and he is excited by it now.

That's what we did, absolutely brilliant idea (of my mam's), more than happy to give santa a pressie.

georgewickstaff wrote: »

Why do you feel the need to take away something that provides comfort to your child?

She won't be using it when she's 15.

Emm, you'd think not but we know a 12 year old that still uses hers, better to get rid early.

georgewickstaff

optogirl wrote: »

Pediatric dentists recommend limiting pacifier time once a child is 2 and eliminating it by age 4 to avoid dental problems.

I actually never knew that. :eek:

drunkmonkey

CheerLouth wrote: »

This is why we are getting rid of it, I can see that her bottom teeth are becoming crooked & I'd prefer to limit that.

Will they recover as it's their first teeth, our little lads front ones are curved in from it already it's also giving him a rash all around his mouth.
I'm stressed about it, health nurse had to call my wife specifically about the damage it's doing to his teeth but can't get her on board with stopping giving it to him. I'm really concerned with the damage it's doing or am I overreacting.

khaldrogo

Not sure if it relevant but we went cold turkey with our two. Just stopped giving them 1 day. Few days of crying at bedtime and sorted.

They were about 6 months old though.

seamus

Our first was nearly five before it went at bedtime. She really loved it as a comfort thing and she didn't really have any older cousins to set an example for getting rid of it. She was a bad sleeper as well, so we had a tendency to avoid rocking the boat and try to keep the bed routine. As a result my wife had a little trove of spares that pulled out when a soother become damaged.

Cold turkey is kind of the only way. Weaning it out only works to a point, but you won't get them to go to bed some nights with it and some nights without it.

We had been planning to be rid, but then it went missing one day and that was kind of it. She had to go to bed without, we had no spares, I promised I would keep looking. After 3 or 4 days she stopped asking if we'd found it yet (we had). About a week later it "turned up" and she was happy to "ceremoniously" put it in the bin.

I'd go with optogirl's approach. Stop buying them. Decide that the current soother is the last one and once it's damaged, explain to the child that the soothers are finished and let her throw it out. You may have a night or two of whinging, but that'll be it.

CheerLouth

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Will they recover as it's their first teeth, our little lads front ones are curved in from it already it's also giving him a rash all around his mouth.
I'm stressed about it, health nurse had to call my wife specifically about the damage it's doing to his teeth but can't get her on board with stopping giving it to him. I'm really concerned with the damage it's doing or am I overreacting.

I'm not sure tbh. I'm concerned about it but I said it to my dentist and he wasn't overly concerned. His opinion was that they are "only" her baby teeth. I'm taking her to the dentist with me in Feb so will see what he says then.

We have already eliminated the doody stash and she is down to just one & have been telling her that this is the last one. I think cold turkey is the only option as well! Just need to work up the guts to do it lol! She just loves it. But need to be cruel to be kind (to her teeth)

Neyite

CheerLouth wrote: »

I'm not sure tbh. I'm concerned about it but I said it to my dentist and he wasn't overly concerned. His opinion was that they are "only" her baby teeth. I'm taking her to the dentist with me in Feb so will see what he says then.

We have already eliminated the doody stash and she is down to just one & have been telling her that this is the last one. I think cold turkey is the only option as well! Just need to work up the guts to do it lol! She just loves it. But need to be cruel to be kind (to her teeth)

A paediatric dentist will tell you for sure. Problems with baby teeth can sometimes lead to problems with adult teeth but a paediatric dentist will know more about it than a dentist who usually only works on adult teeth.

Once our lad got his teeth properly he loved to gnaw through them so one by one they gradually got binned. We purposely didn't replace the last one then we put it under his pillow one night for the dodie fairy in exchange for a small car. He was delighted. He had one nap time where he cried for it but that was it, surprisingly.

CheerLouth

She was doing the same but then she copped on that she was ruining them so she's stopped that!

We had her convinced at the weekend that she was going to give it to the elf on the shelf to give to Santy because it was broken & all was going well until mid-afternoon on Saturday when she found one she had lost ages ago So now we are back to one doody still on the go! Am going to try and get rid of it next weekend!

mitresize5

our fella was 5 in November and still uses his at bedtime.

He knows he's a big baby, he hides it when his cousins and friends are around but you cant shame him when he puts it in every night, he just laughs at us.

we tried once or twice to wean him off it, did the whole gave it to santa thing etc ... but you know what, we said **** it, his only a child once, its doing him no harm, its offering him comfort at bed time and he's a good kid,

I'm sure he'll stop it in his own time

mirrorwall14

We were away during the summer and accidentally had no soother at bedtime (he was about 2.5). Reassured him that we would have to find it tomorrow. He went off to sleep and we never used a dodo again

Daisy 55

In our house on the day of their 3rd birthday they put the dodo in the bin themselves. The fairy collected it later and left a present. I didn't think it would work, so I fished it out and kept it, just in case! Never looked for it again.

CheerLouth

Oh that's good to hear, Daisy! She is three next week & we have been saying that 3 year olds don't have a doody! I think we are going to give it to the elf on the shelf & he'll leave a small present for her.

comongethappy

A week without the doody here! Just over 3 year old has been attached to his since baby born. We had 3, he bit thru 2 and we warned him he had to take care of his last one as we wouldn't buy anymore. He lost it and we went without for 2 nights OK. Found it under sofa and hid it just in case but he has been fine with out. Reason I didn't want him to continue was speech

appledrop

I was very attached to my dodo as a child. Parents tried everything but nothing worked. Eventually one night they said they had no dodo for my younger brother would I give him mine. I was 4. It worked. I asked for it next night + they said shops had none so could he have it again. Forgot about it after that.