Bye-Bye, Dummy

Kit had three dummies.

A blue one for night-time. A green one for naps. And a spotty one, for emergencies.

Every night, after the bath and the pyjamas and the story, in went the blue dummy.

Suck, suck, snuggle. Suck, suck, sleep.

---

One sunny morning, Daddy sat down on the floor next to Kit.

“Kit,” said Daddy, “you’re getting big. You can climb the big slide. You can put on your own wellies. Nearly. And soon you’ll be big enough to say bye-bye to your dummies.”

Kit held the spotty dummy very tight.

“No,” said Kit. “Mine.”

“I know,” said Daddy. “You love them. We don’t have to decide right now. Shall we go for a walk?”

So Kit put on the wellies (nearly), and the three dummies went too, in Kit’s coat pocket, just in case.

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Down the lane, over the gate, in the long grass, somebody was crying.

“Maa-aa! Maa-aa!”

It was a lamb. A brand-new lamb, all knobbly knees and wobbly legs.

“Maa-aa!” cried the lamb. “Everything is so big, and I’m so small.”

Kit knew that feeling.

Kit looked at the lamb. Kit looked at the blue dummy.

“You can have this one,” said Kit. “It’s good for night-time.”

The lamb took the blue dummy. Suck, suck, snuggle. And the lamb stopped crying, and lay down in the warm grass next to its mummy.

“Bye-bye, blue dummy!” said Kit, and waved.

---

Up in the hedge, in a nest of twigs, somebody was crying.

“Cheep! Cheep!”

It was a baby bird. A brand-new bird, all fluff and beak.

“Cheep!” cried the bird. “Everything is so big, and I’m so small.”

Kit knew that feeling too.

Daddy lifted Kit up, very gently, so as not to wobble the nest.

“You can have this one,” said Kit. “It’s good for naps.”

The bird took the green dummy. Suck, suck, snuggle. And the bird tucked its head under its wing.

“Bye-bye, green dummy!” said Kit, and waved.

---

In the barn, in the straw, somebody was crying.

“Squee! Squee!”

It was a piglet. The tiniest piglet, at the very end of the row.

“Squee!” cried the piglet. “Everything is so big, and I’m so small.”

Kit took out the spotty dummy. The very last one. The one for emergencies.

Kit held it for a long, long time.

Daddy didn’t say anything. He just waited.

“This is an emergency,” said Kit at last. “You can have it.”

The piglet took the spotty dummy. Suck, suck, snuggle. And the piglet curled up warm against its brothers and sisters.

“Bye-bye, spotty dummy,” said Kit, very quietly, and waved a very small wave.

---

Daddy gave Kit the biggest squeeze.

“That was kind,” he said. “That was really, really kind.”

And from his pocket, Daddy took something soft and woolly, with a sleepy smile.

A little toy lamb.

“This is for you,” said Daddy. “For being kind.”

Kit called the lamb Woolly, and held him all the way home.

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That night, after the bath and the pyjamas and the story, Kit snuggled down with Woolly.

But Kit’s mouth felt empty.

Kit’s hand went looking, all round the bed. No blue dummy. No green dummy. No spotty dummy.

“I want my dummy,” Kit cried. “I want it BACK!”

Daddy came straight away.

“I know,” said Daddy softly. “You miss it. It’s hard. It’s all right to feel sad.”

He sat down beside Kit. He stroked Kit’s hair, slow and soft. He hummed the humming song. Hmm-hmm-hmm. Hmm-hmm-hmm.

“Shall we think about the babies?” said Daddy.

So they did.

The little lamb, asleep in the long grass. The little bird, asleep in the hedge. The little piglet, asleep in the straw.

Kit cried a bit more. Daddy stayed.

Then Kit held Woolly tight, and Daddy held Kit’s hand.

Hug, hug, snuggle. Hug, hug, snuggle.

Kit’s breathing went slow. In… and out. In… and out.

Hug, hug, snuggle. Hug, hug… sleep.

---

Some nights after that, Kit still missed the dummies.

On those nights, Daddy stayed a little longer, and Woolly got an extra squeeze.

And Kit would whisper into the dark:

“Night night, lamb. Night night, bird. Night night, piglet.

Bye-bye, dummies.”

The End

About this story

Kit isn’t made to give up the dummies. Daddy says it’s nearly time, Kit says no, and nobody pushes. Then Kit meets three brand-new animals who feel small in a big world, a feeling Kit knows well, and hands over a dummy to each. The last one, the spotty one for emergencies, is the hardest, and Daddy waits while Kit decides. Saying goodbye becomes something Kit chooses, and a kind thing to do.

We didn’t want to pretend the first night is easy. Kit misses the dummy and cries for it, and that’s fine. The comfort that comes isn’t a dummy: it’s Daddy staying, a stroke of the hair, a hum, a soft lamb to hold and remembering the babies asleep with theirs. The refrain changes from “Suck, suck, snuggle” to “Hug, hug, snuggle”, and the ending is honest: some nights Kit still misses them.

Reading it aloud

• Start a few days or a week before. Read it a few times before you say goodbye to the dummy, so the idea is familiar. Then read it again on the day, and on the first nights after.
• Make it fit your family’s plan. If you’re using a dummy fairy, you can say the fairy took the dummies to the baby animals and left Woolly. If you’d rather not, the story already works as it is: tell your child you’re giving them away, or putting them in the bin together, and that the present is from you. Swap “Daddy” for whoever does bedtime in your house, and Kit for your child’s name.
• Join in. Wave on every “Bye-bye, dummy!”, and let your little one do the animal noises: “Maa-aa”, “Cheep”, “Squee”.
• Talk about it. Ask: “How did Kit feel at bedtime? What helped?” It’s a gentle way to say that missing the dummy is all right, and to plan what will help your child: a cuddly toy, a song, a hand to hold.
• On the first nights, slow right down for “Hug, hug, snuggle” and do it as you say it. If your child gets upset at the bedtime page, it’s fine to skip to the end.
• Woolly doesn’t have to be a lamb. Any soft toy your child picks can be their Woolly.