breastfeeding and dummies.

[sarafet]

i've heard quite a lot of conflicting advice on this topic, so was looking for some of you mummies views

people say if you are hoping to establish breastfeeding properly, you shouldn't give a newborn a dummy - the same way you should try not to give them a bottle if you don't have to, as the different suckling reflexes can confuse them

i'm hoping to give breastfeeding a go, and i wasn't going to give baby a dummy for this reason, not for the first month or so at least.. my mum thinks this 'being confused by suckling reflex' stuff is a lot of rubbish, and that i'll regret not buying dummies when he won't settle

i've stuck to my guns so far and not bought any dummies yet, but what are your experiences of this?

thanks girls

 

[Lola's Mummy]

My DD had a dummy from about 2 weeks old and we exclusively breastfed for 6 months! She gave it up on her own as well when she was about 4 months old

It certainly didn't cause her any confusion as we're still breastfeeding 5-6 times a day and she over 9 months old now

I think leckershell's Ryan had all sorts (dummy/bottle/nipple shield) and she still managed to breast feed him successfully.

Good luck!

 

[Xena]

Alex had a dummy straight from birth and I've been breastfeeding him over 9 months now with no problems. He's never had a dummy and won't take a bottle. The dummy hasn't caused any confusion at all.

 

[Sylvie]

Louis had a dummy as early as his second night and is still having it mainly to settle after a night feed when he is wide awake,,, I've also had to combine breastfeeding and formula since week 2 (weight issues),,, no confusion at all

 

[Sherlock]

I didn't get any dummies either for the reasons you said. To establish BF'ing and proper latching/sucking.

Only thing is I have a baby who demands lots of feeds and who loves to remain attached to my boob long after his actual feed is done. He comfort sucks for ages given a chance.

My HV said normally she would not encourage use of a dummy before at least 4 weeks old but in Galen's case she suggested it at at her second visit when he wasn't even 2 weeks old. I caved a week later and we got some Nuk ones (designed to imitate the nipple when being sucked on so a specific shape etc) and only use them to get him off my boob and into his crib to sleep. We never use them anytime else. They have really helped the comfort feeding for sure. I can actually take him off and not have him losing the plot to get back on

We plan on taking them away when he is about 4 months old (if not sooner) as from 5 months or so onwards is when they start remembering and so on and it becomes much harder to take them away without possible problems. We will probably have an awkward day when we do remove them but then once done Galen should settle like he never had them to begin with.

I really like the Nuk dummies now I am using them, but limit when I use them even so. I've now gotten bottles and teats made by them also for his expressed feeds.

 

[DebbieM]

We gave it 3 weeks to try and establish breastfeeding before giving Luke a dummy. We were against him having one in the first place but when breastfeeding was very stressful and Luke wasn't settling, we decided to try the dummy and it turned out to work well for us.

He has a kind of love/hate relationship with it. He loves it for getting to sleep - good comfort, but once asleep he spits it out as if he hates it. He also resists it when he is over-tired.

I'd recommend using one if you feel it necessary and perhaps having a couple put away just incase!

 

[valentine]

I don't have any advice on this as I've never used dummies, but just wanted to say that you don't have to use a dummy, it really depends on the baby. Save yourself some money and wait and see! You can always send OH to the shops!

Valentine Xxx

 

[soverign]

He has a kind of love/hate relationship with it. He loves it for getting to sleep - good comfort, but once asleep he spits it out as if he hates it. He also resists it when he is over-tired.

Our little one is exactly the same!

 

[Squiglet]

I bf'd both my girls and used dummies for both within the first weeks... Tia, loved hers...took to it for ages....and I never had any problems with her feeding...

Lil miss, vomits and retches and has promptly moved to her fingers...which I hate even more...after numerous attempts and hundreds of different dummy teats...I've given up...she can have her fingers for I care although no shes teething she keeps hurting herself and now mr blankie is all the rage....

Both girls were fully bf'd and both have also had bottles early on too....neither one had an issue...other than lil miss who made it quite clear she wasn't going to take any of this fake boobie nonsense

At the end of the day... nothing interesting comes out of dummies and they don't taste like mummy....

 

[-Kelly-]

I think I tried giving Oliver a dummy when he was about a week old - he hated it, and has ever since so I've given up. He just isn't interested in them at all, chews for a little bit with a disgusted look on his face then spits it out. He much prefers his fingers, so I'd rather he did take a dummy because he scratches his gums and comfort fed a lot when he was younger. Feeding is pretty much the only way he'll settle - and I can't take his fingers off him when he's older.

I guess it won't do any harm having a dummy on standby in case you get desperate one night, but you might find he doesn't like them anyway because your boob is so much better!

 

[trixipaws]

i breast-fed for 8 months and melissa has always had a dummy- tbh tho she took it for one week then refused it for several weeks then got back into it after one month! i wouldnt try bottles tho until 2 months by then she wouldnt take one she finally took a bottle at 6 months!

 

[charlie84]

Calleigh is exclusively breastfed, and i tried her with a dummy at around four weeks as she was using me as a dummy, but she has never took to it. She just chews the dummy. Same with bottle feeding, i cant get her to take EBM from a bottle either.

My bab only wants her mummy

 

[leckershell]

dummies and breastfeeding worked fine for us but I subjected him to everything since newborn so he didn't get a chance to be confused or dependant on one particular thing. he had boob, nipple shields, bottles, dummys... everything worked fine for us, I breastfed him for just over 7 months.

 

[purple13]

connor sticks anything in his mouth he's pretty much exclusively breast fed but i use nipple shields all the time. he'll drink from a bottle or a sippy cup, sucks on a dummy after feeds to help his reflux or shoves his hands in his mouth if he fancies them (or chomps on my knuckles )

he's done all of this from day one without any problems at all

 

[LisaJ1986]

I attempted dummies to try and give me longer in the night as she's a regular feeder. But she has none of it. I bought the Tommie Tippee 1's for breastfed babies too. But i've started weaning her onto bottle as well as breast and she's doing fine.
My older sister mixed all 3 from day 1 and had no problems at all.

 

[elaine22]

Mine had a dummy from about 3/4 weeks and had no problem breastfeeding at all. She uses it far less now though, which is good as we don't have to get up in the night to give her her dummy back any more.

 

[sarafet]

aww thanks girls

it sounds like it will really just depend on his nature i'll give it a go without a dummy at first and see how it goes i think.. just need him to arrive now i suppose

 

[kellysomer]

I have broken every BF'ing rule in the book, i have given the odd bottle, formula once, used a dummy and nipples shields. LOL!
I was wise after DD and he had a dummy from 2 days old, got to 6 weeks old and then hey presto he didnt want a dummy any more. Now he sucks his thumb instead and is a very content baby..... Believe me when they have reflux and spasmodic colic really bad you will WANT to give them a dummy!!! Get one in just incase, not many places are open at 3am.

It made no difference to me, he still BF's a dream and is on and off within 20 mins, we BF exclusively.

 

[beanie]

Seren had a dummy, bottles, nipple shields etc from birth and was fine. Cally did but it started to affect her latch, and she was struggling with it so I stopped and had to help her latch on all over again. Different babies, different outcomes

If you can do without, esp in the early weeksd as the more boob time they have the better your milk supply.

 

[muppetmummy]

i've avoided giving a dummy so far as I'm worried it might affect my supply if he's not at the breast as often. I have a couple in the cupboard though in case we have a bad run of colic.
He does use me as a human dummy a lot!