another question - dummies?

[chelsea]

just looking up checklists etc and it says about dummies.

are they an essential? I never had one, my parents never liked the idea of them, but i read somewhere that it can reduce the risk of cotdeath. i would also rather not use one, so are they an essential and how many of you use them/dont use them?

 

[nazmomi]

I use a dummy but I have with all of my kids. They aren't essential but I dont have a problem with them as long as the use is limited and they dont become too dummy dependant. I think that the cot death research was fairly limited but anything that reduces the risk is good in my opinion! The decision is yours at the end of the day and it's what your comfortable with.
Found this if it helps http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4509240.st

 

[maybebaby]

I didn't want to use a dummy but Austin liked to suck for comfort and the dummy was good for giving my poor nipples a break! I don't really like the fact he still uses his dummy now but it's only for sleep times and I plan to get rid of it before he turns 2.

 

[chelsea]

thanks, im worried that if i use one, then i will have to wean baby off it before a certain age, i dont know when they start becoming dependant on it? i dont mind using one, i would just rather not if i dont have too? does that make sense?

 

[Bee]

I didn't like them either and didn't buy any before Finlay was born but he was a very sucky baby and I ace him on rather than him wanting to suck me all the time

He gave it up at about 2 and a half months

 

[nazmomi]

charlie uses his to get to sleep and I take it out once he's settled properly. I'm going to try taking it off him when he's about 1 and see what happens! It has made bed time much easier for us though as he just wouldnt go down on his own without it

 

[Sherlock]

thanks, im worried that if i use one, then i will have to wean baby off it before a certain age, i dont know when they start becoming dependant on it? i dont mind using one, i would just rather not if i dont have too? does that make sense?

5 months is when they usually start to be aware of what it is and miss it if its gone. Giving it up before then may mean a day or so of toughing it out but it soon passes.

I didn't want to use one but did at around 3 weeks due to colic and a very demanding baby feeding wise (he is breastfed). We limited the use once the colic passed and he no longer uses one, in fact in the past few weeks we have hardly ever used it. We didn't use it as a way to keep him quiet. Just to settle and help his colic. Sucking helps colic pain (but not sucking taking in more food, that makes it worse).

FWIW if you use it at night be aware that if you pop it back in if baby stirs in the night you may well then be doing that a lot. We didn't give the dummy to our LO if he woke in the night. We would put his mobile on and let him settle himself. He soon got the hang of it and never needs a dummy to get back to sleep. Made our lives much easier.

 

[chelsea]

thanks everyone

another thing do they not get nipple confusion with a dummy and being breastfed?

 

[Sherlock]

thanks everyone

another thing do they not get nipple confusion with a dummy and being breastfed?

Yes they can. Hence when we started using a dummy we were very careful and got a nipple shaped one from NUK

http://shop.nukbaby.co.uk/products.aspx?cID=24

It encourages the same sucking action as on the nipple. And again we made sure to only use it when really needed. Flat dummies are pretty useless IMHO.

My adivce would be don't get one unless you find you need one, like if your LO has colic. Then ditch it as soon as the colic clears, usually by about 12 weeks once babies gut is matured.

Of course you may be happy to let your LO carry on using one for comfort. Thats fine if you are happy about doing so. But if you are not, ditch it sooner rather than later.

 

[chelsea]

thanks

i know they are probably silly questions but i have no one else to ask.

thanks for being patient with me!

 

[Bee]

thanks everyone

another thing do they not get nipple confusion with a dummy and being breastfed?

they can but not all babies will - Finlay didn't and I used nipple shields too. He was fine with nipples, nipple sheilds, a dummy and the one bottle he had to have (until I had to switch to bottles completely )

 

[purplebluered]

We got one, in fact we got it on our way back from the hospital

I was against it, DH was for it. We needed it in the early days because he was very sucky and it satisfied his sucking needs. Didn't have any problems with confusion, he, like Bee, was fine with the dummy, breastfeeding and a bottle once a day. We use it to help settle him to sleep but if he wakes up, we never use it to settle him back, as like Sherlock's, we use the mobile and that's usually enough. I'm not completely converted but I'm happy with what we've done.

 

[trixipaws]

i wasnt going to use one either but my colleagues included a pack of 2 in my big box o' baby stuff as a maternity leave gift, so thought may as well use them... they are a GODSEND! i love dummies lol

my little girl is now 16 months now and she only has a dummy for night-time and naps. its been pretty easy to wean her off daytime dummies too i thought it would be hard. i expect coming off them completely will be harder but it doesnt matter so much, no-one sees her at nite so it dont matter so much that she looks too big to have one.

oh yes and i breast-fed for 8 months with no probs and she used to constantly hav a dummy in her mouth!

 

[dannii87]

I didn't want to use one but because I breastfeed, it was either give her a dummy or have her permanently GLUED to my (oh-so-sore) nipples!

She puts ANYTHING in her mouth, fist, car seat straps, I'll just check on her and she'll be sucking the collar of her top or something (and some have buttons! Which is pretty dangerous).

So yeah, I gave into the Dreaded Dummy too! x

 

[ASD123456]

I too didn't want to give a dummy, I had some given to me as a gift from a friend when I was pregnant and after a long, long night of feeding (I BF) when he was about 2/ 3 weeks I gave in and gave it too him. He wasn't able to keep the one we had in (avent one) so we gave him a NUK one like sherlock recommended and he loved it. He uses it quite a bit still but once he is asleep it falls out and he doesn't wake for it. To be honest I found a dummy a godsend but am also aware that some babies just don't like them at all.

When I first gave him one I was under the impression that not many people use them- how wrong I was , most people do and of those who don't it's mostly because their babies weren't too keen. Do whatever suits you, if your baby doesn't need one then don't give one but if your at your whits end go ahead- it'll give a few hours of sleep at least.

Alex xxx

 

[leckershell]

Dummies aren't the evil things people make them out to be, specially if they are recommended to prevent cotdeath. We've used them and as with others above, no problems and no problems giving them up. I only used Avent ones as they were most discreet and less plasticcy looking. I was breastfeeding for 7 months and there was no nipple confusion.. and as ASD123456 said, when they fall asleep with it in, it falls out anyway.
I'm reading a book at the mo about toddlers, and one of the sections was called comfort items. They made a very good point in there - if a baby wants a dummy/blanket/teddy to get to sleep/relax etc and it goes past the point where the parents are thinking it's not cool, or they're too old, who has the problem? Recently Ryan has been really chewy (and hes already got most of his teeth so it might be a back one coming) and I've gone back to a dummy but only for nighttime sleeping, and only when hes chewing, and instead of 20 minutes crying he's asleep in 5. Who am I to say it's not a good thing to have a dummy past age 1, but if it makes him happy and helps him out, I'm not gonna stop him.

x

 

[newmum]

True Leckershell and if they suck their thumb for comfort/habit it will be for longer that a year. I remember my mum trying for years to get me to stop sucking my thumb. My LO sucked her thumb when she was 'inside' and was and still is really sucky. She likes to have her dummy and blanket for sleeping. When she is playing and running around she doesn't have it but I guess it isn't wrong for her to comfort herself with that when she is going to sleep rather than wanting to be with me and in my bed. When she really hurts herself, she just needs her blanket and dummy for a minute and she is fine again But I did pressure myself into thinking she should be dummy free by this time and that time... but now I have changed that. It doesn't disturb anyone at night at the moment and she can usually put it back in at night if she needs it.

 

[sparky]

i'd get a couple just in case, it'll save you a trip to tesco at 3am!!

ooo and i use one, unashamadly and i dont feel the need to explain why or justify!

 

[Sylvie]

I had bought a couple before Louis was born, just in case... and I'm glad I had them because we used one as early as the second night!
Louis gave it up by himself when he was not even 2 months old... one day he just refused to take it and has never asked for one since then

 

[LisaJ1986]

I didn't want to use one, and it's only very recently i bought one, but even then it's a rare use. She just doesn't want it. She has realised that when her gums are tight round it and she pulls it out it makes a popping sound. Lol So that's how it's used in our house! Only once it's been used for comfort successfully, so i don't think i'll have a problem with them. I think it helped that she never had one at birth til 2 weeks ago.