Please help....even the dog is worn out!

[sunnysmile]

My little one is 3.5 and after she banged loose a front tooth horsing around with a friend, we decided to quit the dummy forever to give the tooth the best chance of tightening up.

Normally, she sleeps 11 hrs (8pm - 7am), only catnaps about once a week (20 mins mis afternoon, and then the bedtime goes to 9.30pm, but relies heavily on the dummy then to eventually drop off to sleep).

We've been dummy free for 4 days - she's absolutely shattered as I have been keeping her occupied and amused during the day to stop her wanting the dummy (she would want it at any downtime through the day). The plus is that she falls asleep (and stays asleep) easily at nighttime and puts up little fight to have the dummy at bedtime to fall asleep, as she's so tired.

The downside is that she's tiring earlier -6.30pm, and rushing through the sleep cycles as she's so overtired, which is meaning she is waking progressively earlier, 5am, 5.30 am and that is having the knock on effect of making her grumpy, demanding and wanting bed (and dummy!) even earlier. We are in this vicious circle of early ovetired bedtime, and even earlier waking (she would normally put the dummy in if she woke earlier than 7am and have another 40 mins or so, but of course we've dropped that now!).

The answer would normally be to let her have a canap to revive her and get her back on track with her normal bedtime and fill the sleep tank up again, but she'd never get to sleep if she was only slightly tired - we need a several more dummy free days before I think she'd be close to breaking this 3.5 year habit.

Please can you help us? We are all stressed out and tired! Even the dog is tired and bad tempered!

[~inbalance~]

I would try to get a catnap in somehow.  Maybe a short car drive? 

Does she have a lovey in place of the dummy?  Hopefully a few more days and she will be ok without it. 

[sunnysmile]

Thanks.

We gave her a short catnap in the car yesterday afternoon (she slept 3.30-4.15pm) and she wasn't in the best of moods on waking. She was also a pain to get to bed, and didn't fall asleep till 10.15pm last night, after much distress over lack of dummy.

Yesterday was the worst of the 4 days so far, however  I don't think we really had a choice over the catnap to break the EW cycle and fill up the sleep tank.

It did work; she woke at 8.15am and hopefully we can go back to no naps for the rest of the week and she'll be more chipper!

She does have a lovey, however, it's a 2-edged sword, as she had always had it WITH the dummy and it reminds her of the dummy now it's only being used on it's own.

[~inbalance~]

I have heard of that happening with a lovey going along with the dummy.  Do you think it would help to explain to her that it has to go too and let her pick out a new one?  Have never been through this experience myself but I have heard other moms saying they've had to wean dummy associated loveys at the same time.

Glad she seems to back on track for now. 

[sunnysmile]

Thanks. we are back on track - every 4 days or so the tiredness catches up with her and we are back to the catnap to stock up!  

Might be employing theservices of teddy rather than blanket lovey too.

I think my vagueness over the absence of the dummy isn't helping; saying it's gone forever (via faeries etc) upset her too much so I have had to say 'Blimey, can't find it anywhere' instead as then she realises I'm in this pickle with her (I know, shame on me).

I think the finality of gone forever would be tougher but shorter, while wishy washy 'can't fine one' is less abrupt, but might take longer to accept.

Praying the next catnap day will be easier  

PS Dog is smiling again