Dummies- the heroin of the nursery

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Ok, ok, I’m being dramatic but at this moment in time, the dummy is beginning to grate.

I was determined before Boo was born that she wouldn’t have a dummy. Sleepless nights ensued and I found the hubster sat holding one of the little blighters in Boo’s mouth one day and that, my friends, is how it began.

The first dummy was a hideous affair. Just 99p from our corner shop and, I think you’ll agree, it was every dentist’s nightmare.

A seasoned campaign of a more tooth-friendly soother ensued and, I choose Mam dummies to be our dummy of choice.

Think £5 a packet. EVERY WEEK.

I got ones to match her outfits. Christmas dummies, pink ones, ones that said ‘I love mummy,’ ‘I love daddy’ or ‘princess in training.’

I had some lovely green ones that mysteriously disappeared, still in their box which I thought we would find when we moved house but we didn’t (I feel like I have never got over that loss).

It is a very special kind of dummy which Boo favours. The regular clear teats that Mam sells everywhere get bitten through as soon as she sucks them. No, Boo prefers the much more rare beige teat that is only sold in ASDA. I have no idea why. Maybe something to do with texture?

Heard of the sock fairy who hides odd socks? Well her cousin, the dummy fairy is much more prolific in her antics.

Up to six dummies can be lost in cots, cribs, car seats and beds. Never to be seen again.

I’ve beaten myself up about it-why did we ever start?

It is like an addiction, although it is me that has the guilt not Boo. Boo is quite happy sucking away on what is now referred to in this house as the ‘dum’ or, if I’m taking her to bed, the D.U.M.

We thought about giving all ‘dums’ to Father Christmas but the hubster, obviously cherishing what sleep we have said could we not wait for the Easter Bunny?

I remember giving my dummy away as a child-when I was five.

I can’t believe we may have another two years of this. The fact that I still had one at night makes me feel slightly better as my parents are the best so allowing Boo to still have a dum can’t make me that bad a parent can it?

It’s a vicious circle at night now.

The dummy falling out of Boo’s mouth is still a constant reason to cry for mummy or daddy to go and put it back in. Even when it is balancing on her chin.

Why would she reach for it herself if we troop in at all hours of the night to replace it?

The Easter bunny may, or may not get the dums this April. I can’t decide.

If I ever have another baby though, I would seriously consider whether to give them a dummy. I suppose the alternative is thumb sucking which is a problem in itself.

On the farm, I have found a few dummies ground into the mud or that have got run over by a tractor and I have a little cry for the £2.50 or so that has gone down the drain-figuratively but who knows? I haven’t checked the drain, maybe those long lost green soothers have been there all along.

Did you allow you children to have a soother? Go on, make me feel even more guilty.