advice on using dummies...

[tinkerbell*]

can any of you lovely ladies give me some advice on using a dummie? when i was pregnant my Oh and I were really against using a dummie for our baby. however when he was born he started sucking his hands imediatly. OH suggested trying a dummie becuase it semed to make Theo happy when he was sucking, but he wouldnt take it

he is now nearly 4weeks, and has been having a dummie on and off for the last week. he seems to love sucking and we have been just using a dummie to fill the gap between him being hungry and me making a bottle up. but he seems to want to suck all the time and i think he might be having too much food (whihc is leading to him having lots of tummy ache and bad nappies)????

lastnight he was a monster and woke up so much crying for food.. i mean he was having 150ml.... waking up30mins later and wanting it again, so i un-willingly poped a dummy in his mouth and off he went to sleep... it was sooooooooooooooo lovely! haha

i am worried becuase i dont want him to become adicted to having a dummy, and i have heard that babies with dummies will wake up and cry for it to be put back in their mouth???whihc can lead top getting up even more in the night.... is this true?

what would you do. i just want him to be happy.. and he seems to be happy sucking his dummy..... and i seem to be happy not getting up soo much in the night! he has a reral thing about sleeping in his cot at the moment and just wants cuddles all the time... else he cried. a dummy seems to sooth him and send him to sleep

i was wondering if anyone had advice... do you regret ever using a dummy? or was it as life saver and easy to drop???

please help! i feel like a dummy!!! hehe

thank you, sorry i am rambeling now!

 

[xkikix]

We've used a dummy from about 4 weeks and it does comfort him so I dont really mind. Also another thing that swayed my decision was that they are reccommended by the professionals to help reducing cot death as they keep the airway open (I think thats the reason).

He does sometimes wake up wanting his dummy but its just a case of popping it back in and he's back to sleep again, its not like waking up to feed him.

I used to suck my thumb and used to feel mega embarrassed of it and didnt want him to suck his so thats also why I decided to give him a dummy.

I am going to take it away when I feel the time is right at maybe 9months - 1 year xxx

 

[Manda&Thomas]

Thomas had a dummy at 2 days old about 6 weeks ago he desided he dint want it anymore in the last couple weeks hes been having it again to help with his teeth,
he will have it at night but doesnt need it to sleep but if he wakes up in the night i do give it to him to settle him without me waking him up more but cuddling him and then putting him back down
if he wants it and it helps him just let him have it not all babies cry at night for it when it falls out

xx

 

[Sherlock]

It may be your LO is going through a growth spurt so will need more feeding anyways.

However, dummys can be good for comfort sucking and as you are formula feeding it won't cause nipple confusion as it might if breastfeeding.

FWIW babies have no memory of such things at such a young age. They don't associate with it will around 5 months old. Until then its just comfort to suck. Be it a dummy, their fingers, your hand... if he is happy with his fingers I don't see that as a problem.

All I will say is try to limit its use (we never use it during the night for example and instead give him a chance to settle on his own or put his mobile on). We used it to get LO off my boob in the early weeks and also for his colic. Feeding will only make colic worse once full so if needing to comfort suck we switched to a dummy. If you don't use it at night time LO will probably suck his fingers Our LO does for a bit sometimes, but less as he gets older.

5 months is the time when he'll start to remember and miss it if its gone. Before then he's not really aware of what it is. And while he may grizzle for a day or so if you take it away, it'll soon pass. Once you get past 5 months you may find it harder to lose the dummy.

 

[ASD123456]

I've used one for Rudy from quite early on even though I had no intention of using them. TBH, it has really really helped for daytime naps, and to stop him comfort sucking on my very apprecative nipples.

He has stopped usng it to get to sleep in the night time during the past week and I only use it if he is wide awake after his 4am-ish feed, it falls out once he drops off anyway.

Alex xxx

 

[Magic Monkey]

We have used one since birth and Ella goes through stages of wanting it and not wanting it. We already only give Ella hers to go to sleep and she doesn't ever wake up when it falls out (which is after about 10 mins) she tends to stir at about 5, I put the dummy in and she goes back to sleep until 7-8ish.

We plan to get rid of Ella's when she is about 1 and from what I have been told, it is just a case of being strong for a couple of nights. (I like the Tania whatshername (house of tiny tearaways) technique of telling them the dummy fairy took it and left a pressie!)

 

[IsaB]

We've also been using a dummy from birth - Isabella just LOVES to suck (FWIW I've also breastfed from the start and had no nipple confusion). We only use it for sleeping and TBH she doesn't even want/need it every time. She's never woken up for it crying in the night, when she has woken up she's soothed herself back to sleep sucking on her hands/fingers, so if Theo is a happy finger sucker, chances are he may do the same? I personally would much rather a dummy than a thumb sucker as it's so much easier to throw a dummy away.