Tricks to deal with the dummy or comforter thrower
Many of us could probably relate to this one. The moment your little darling learns that throwing their comforter or dummy out of the cot is a whole lot of fun. Anything to stay awake just a little bit longer right? There are a few reasons our little ones start to do this:
To see what your reaction is (that in itself is interesting for a toddler).
To get more attention
To try and gain a bit of control.
Bless their heart.
While this kind of behaviour is an indication that your little one is just growing and exploring - it gets tiring going in and out of the room all night. It’s the kind of behaviour that can keep your toddler awake for hours if we don’t try and curb it. So what are our tricks to get your toddler to stop throwing their comfort items out of the cot?
If your toddler is a dummy thrower – have several scattered in the cot and one in each corner (in the hope they don’t chuck all of them).
Attach their dummy to a comforter because some little ones will happily throw their dummy but not their lovey
If your toddler throws their dummy and/or comforter out of the cot and they aren’t phased by it i.e. they aren’t crying for it back – just leave it. You can sneak in once they are sound asleep and pop them back into the cot.
If your toddler throws their dummy and/or comforter out of the cot as you are leaving the room, we recommend to still walk out. Don’t turn around and pass them back because you’ll find your toddler will keep doing this before you make it to the doorway. Once you are out of the room you can pause, listen and respond. If your toddler is still upset after a couple of minutes, go into their room quietly, calmly and without any conversation just pop their comforting items back in the cot but away from them. Don’t hand the items straight to your toddler.
If your toddler throws their dummy and/or comforter out of the cot once you have left the room then you only need to return these items to the cot if your toddler is upset without them. To replace their item/s you will go into their room quietly, calmly and without any conversation just pop their comforting items back in the cot but away from them (avoiding handed them directly back to your toddler).
You may need to repeat tricks 4/5 over again until your toddler gets sick of the game and stops chucking them out. If you need to return back to the room we recommend allowing a couple of minutes each time of pausing and listening before responding because your toddler might actually end up settling okay without them.
After a few nights of practicing the dummy/comforter return in this way it’s likely your toddler will get over that game. So remember - the less you engage and react the more BORING this game becomes for your little one and the quicker they will move on.
If you have a serial dummy thrower that won’t give the game up even after trying our tricks then you may need to consider whether it’s time to rid of it. Find our post on weaning toddler dummies here.
We hope you have found this blog helpful. Of course if you ever need more support we are here to guide you and have plenty of support options to suit each need. Drop us a message.
Love S&S xx