Weaning a child off their dummy (or dummies) can be tricky or even traumatic. But the team at Doreen Fire Brigade have come up with a novel way to encourage kids to give up their treasured pacifiers.
“We are the repository of dummies when a child or its parents decide it’s time to give them up as they are big kids now,” Doreen Captain Chris Maries said.
“Every so often we get a visit from a family with a zip lock bag of dummies and we trade them for a bag of lollies and a close-up look at a fire truck.
“It’s a great distraction for the kids and they don’t feel like they’re giving their dummies up, more getting something fun and exciting in exchange.
“It’s also a great opportunity to talk to the family about fire safety.”
The idea started with dummies being handed to Santa during community Christmas celebrations. But with Santa’s limited availability, the brigade stepped in and offered to collect them at the station.
The program has now been running for five years with hundreds of dummies donated in that time - so many that the brigade has lost count.
“Sometimes the donation is one dummy and other times it can be a plastic bag with five or six dummies,” Chris said.
“We get some wonderful feedback from the kids and their families. It’s just something simple we can offer that can make a big difference, especially if the child is having a hard time giving their dummies up.”
The brigade received this message from two-year-old George:
Dear Captain Chris and the Doreen CFA Crew
I have a confession to make.
I have been hanging on to my treasured collection of dummies for a while now. They say breaking up is hard to do and I was convinced that giving up my trusty dummy was going to be tough.
But today I did just that. And it wasn’t nearly as hard as I imagined.
After a pep talk from my mummy and some moral support from my sisters, I rose to the challenge and handed over my entire collection. Just like that, my dummy collection and I parted ways.
There were no tears and I didn’t resort to making good on my promise to hide a spare dummy or two in my special spot. There were a few questions but, hey, I am two years old and I tend to ask a lot of questions anyway.
Thank you to the Doreen CFA crew. You showed me that breaking up ain’t so bad after all. I think that a tour of the fire truck, a special red hat, a beautiful hand-made toy and a cheeky bag of lollies was more than a fair trade. I even sealed the deal with a handshake. D-day was a success!