Dummies and Swaddling...

[Pudds86]

Wondering what your opions are on these... the reasons I ask are as follows...

1) Dummies- I would prefer to NOT give my baby a dummy unless it helps them to settle. I have however heard that the health visitors that my friends have had seem to have pressured them into giving their babies dummies as it helps prevent cot death. I understand at the end of the day I am the parent and will have the final decision but I do not this this is right! Apparantly sucking on a dummy while they are sleeping stops the baby from falling into a deep sleep. Surely sometimes your baby needs a deep sleep?!?!?!


2) Swaddling- opposite to the above... the health visitors say swaddling your baby can CAUSE cot death. Now, my mom swaddled all of us as babies and my friend swaddles her little boy. Swaddling keeps a baby calm because their hands are not waving around startling them, they also feel secure. I want to swaddle my bubs and dont think its right they try and stop you!

the practices depending on where you like seem to differ. Im Canadian and watching the North American tv shows about labour and birth all the babies are swaddled and they arent on the British ones!

What are your opinion on this Mums?

xx

 

[Esoames]

We loosely swaddle Isla only because I worry that her hands will get cold. She sleeps so well too.

It was a midwife that showed me how to do it! X

 

[titch]

Morgan has a dummy but I was the same as you, didnt really want him to have one, but he had terrible colic and was overfeeding and making himself sick so I gave him one and it worked. He doesnt have it at night time though otherwise Id be up every 5 minutes popping it back in his mouth for him. He sleeps just fine without it anyway. I dont think its a good idea to get them used to falling asleep with one otherwise you'll have real problems trying to remove the dummy later on. Theyre bad for speech and language development and bad for their teeth when theyre older, so Im using one with a thought through exit strategy!!

As for swaddling, I bought one of those 'miracle blankets' and I have to say its the best I didnt know it had been linked to cot death though. At bed time he gets really sleepy in my arms as Im feeding him then I put him down and I was finding he would startle no matter how slowly I puthim down and he'd be wide awake. In the swaddle I dont thnk he even feels being put down. I imagine it must feel like sleeping in my arms all night for him. And he wakes less frequently in the swaddle, and now sleeps really well through the night.

Id never heard about the links of both these to cot death though, my health visitor didnt mention them.

 

[serenitylove]

i dont use a dummy yet as she doesnt need one and just spits them out lol

i dont swaddle daisy hates it and i think after first few days they dont need it but it each to their own on what they like doing some babies love it x

 

[megsmeadow]

I hate dummies but it really works for Ross. He does go to sleep with his but very quickly spits it out as soon as he's in a deep sleep which is absolutely fine by me. It helps him to settle and like you said Tiny it really helps him not to overeat. Ross sleeps on his Tummy so anything I could do to reduce the risk of cot death gave me a bit more peace of mind. It wont be there forever though and at the moment everything else is going into his mouth instead!! We were never pressured into using one, in fact it was never mentioned. And my OH was against it too. So Ross normally gets his dummy when he's getting tired as it calms him right down, and after a feed for a wee while (usually before he's sick and it ends up on the floor!!)

Our wee guy wouldn't sleep on his back as every time he started to drift off he startled and woke him completely. So we naturally tried to swaddle him, but even the midwives couldn't swaddle him tightly enough to keep him in, so within about a minute he was out of it again. Again, fine by me, we very quickly found that he is a tummy sleeper and that sorts out his startling!!

 

[Yodabo]

My first son loved being swaddled and slept most of the night pretty much from day one!
I gave him a dormel and it was fab. He never really relied on it so was easy to take off him. (great for putting gripe water in!)

My 2nd son wasn't bothered about being swaddled. I never really bothered as in the beginning he had to go back into hospital for jaundice and i had to wake him every 2 hours for a feed. Was easier to put him in bed with me!
I gave him a dummy but it was only used as a last resort and to go to sleep with. Once he spat it out in his sleep we kept it out and he never woke up for it. Gradually as the months went on, we left it upstairs to use for bedtime only and then he kinda weaned himself off it.

This time round, Drake HATES being swaddled. He loves him hands and hates feeling restricted! He sleeps much better being losely covered.
As far as a dummy, we have one and have used it a couple of times but it keeps falling out so we don't really use it. He's not bothered about it so i wont force it on him. He pretty much only crys for his milk or wants sleep anyways so a dummy is not needed.

I really think you should do what works best for you and your baby. xx

 

[titch]

awww drake sounds like a little angel!

 

[Pudds86]

Its interesting to hear everyone's opinion! I am not totally against dummies, I will use one if it keeps baby happy I just was horrified to hear that my friend was told she wasnt doing the best for her baby!!!

Hopefully he will like swaddling, but we shall see!

xx

 

[flexilexi394]

hey pudds - great thread as i was wondering about these 2 items too! ive bought 2 dummies because ages ago on here someone advised having them handy incase you have a screaming baby that wont settle and at least you have dummies to hand if you really need one.
Ive got a swaddle blanket to take to hosp with me, again i guess im just gonna try it and see if baby likes it, and if she does then ill swaddle! pretty tough to know what to do hey x

 

[Lacey's Mummy]

Charleys got a dummy but hardly has it! We use it when he refuses a feed but wants something to suck but he normally spits it out after a couple of mins and I don't swaddle charley because he doesn't like it but Lacey was always swaddled!!

 

[inky]

I guess there are no rights or wrongs here, it all depends on your baby! Cahal has a dummy but only because he was in danger of chewing his hand off and I figured it would be easier in future to stop him using a dummy as at least I can take it from him. I won't let him have it past 12 months tho.

Re swaddling, he hates it and struggles and struggles to get his arms free - he's like Houdini getting out of a strait jacket bless him. I didn't try it more than a couple of times in the end.

 

[tinkerbell86]

I have 2 dummies as they came with the steriliser but Harvey spits out his bottle when he falls asleep so guessing he would do the same with a dummy so haven't given him one.

They swaddled him in the hospital and he hated it - he loves sleeping with his hands above his head out of the covers so i havent tried since i've been home!!

 

[AugustMum]

Paige HATES being swaddled and has since being born, which I found a little odd. Shes a growbag kinda gal

And with dummies, I didn't want to use one, but Paige had pretty bad colic and it was the only thing that remotely soothed her but now the colic has gone and she will only have her dummy if she wants it. Shes brilliant at letting me know if she wants it or not and will keep her mouth firmly shut if she doesnt want it and will open her mouth and wiggle her head to try get the dummy when she wants it. She very much loves her dummy though, I think she finds the sucking motion really really soothing.

Some babies have a very strong urge to suck things allll the time, whilst others are perfectly happy just on their own

 

[lauren86]

Great thread, i'm sure i had a leaflet on both dummies preventing cot death and swaddling can cause cot death. I'm sure it was in a bunch of stuff i got given when i was discharged from hospital. I never actually swaddled Ethan when he was born because it was far to hot when he was born, he slept fine just with a blanket and now his grobag. And as for a dummy he hated it and spat it out or got really angry at it if i tried to give it to him to soothe. Now he has found his thumb and uses that to settle himself back to sleep. I think that alot of info thats given to us is scare mongering i'm sure in a couple of years it will be reversed! Each parent know what suits there child. Xxx

 

[Sam's Mum]

Neither of mine have had dummies, and I did attempt to swaddle them but Sam hated it, and Toby let me do it for about a week before he was desperately trying to get his arms out (and slept much better without being swaddled!)

As long as you're careful not to overheat them (I think swaddling them trebles the tog rating of the clothing they're wearing or something - you can probably google the ratings and what they should be wearing depending on the temperature of the room) I don't see why it would cause any problems? x

 

[titch]

will keep her mouth firmly shut if she doesnt want it and will open her mouth and wiggle her head to try get the dummy when she wants it.

morgan does the same. He also looks at me like Im an idiot if I try to give it to him when he doesnt want it

 

[Squeakz]

we didnt wanna give josh a dummy but one day he wouldnt stop crying and adter burping/changing/feeding he still wouldnt stop and so tried him with one and he loves it!!! it just means we have to wean him off when his teeth come through or at least use an orthodontic one

swaddling - again he luuuurves it! x

 

[Minchin]

great thread.
we used a dummy when I had no intentions but same as others he loves sucking and it soothes him. It helps him drop off to sleep and then out it pops and he stay s asleep (usually) it's fine.

Owen also loves to be swaddled, I was wondering how long you're allowed to swaddle them for though? Is there an age limit? he's started busting out of the swaddle recently though. I tried him in grow bags, still trying every few nights as want to get him used to them but he flails his arms around when he's dropping off and in his sleep-not so much of a startle reflex just moving loads and it wakes him up. He does like to sleep with his arms above his head when not swaddled though and I then I worry that when he's swaddles he's not as comfy!! Althoguh he sleeps better! Sorry to hijack thread!! Maybe should start my own

When he's grumpy in the day and needs help dropping off or wakes after 45 mins cos can't transition into next sleep bit I put him in the sling and he drops off quickly, that must feel like being tightly swaddled too and it's so handy to have.

HV never mentioned anything about dummies or being swaddled and the midwife swaddled him in hospital.

Our dummies are TT 'soothers' and says they are orthodontic type ones, that makes me worry less As you can see, I like to worry!!

 

[*Hope*]

Paige HATES being swaddled and has since being born, which I found a little odd. Shes a growbag kinda gal

And with dummies, I didn't want to use one, but Paige had pretty bad colic and it was the only thing that remotely soothed her but now the colic has gone and she will only have her dummy if she wants it. Shes brilliant at letting me know if she wants it or not and will keep her mouth firmly shut if she doesnt want it and will open her mouth and wiggle her head to try get the dummy when she wants it. She very much loves her dummy though, I think she finds the sucking motion really really soothing.

Some babies have a very strong urge to suck things allll the time, whilst others are perfectly happy just on their own

Annabelle is pretty much the same as all this ^

She never liked ebing swaddled really. she loves her dummy but im careful not to over use it. she sleeps with it for naps in the day but not bedtime at night. and she has it if shes tired and cant fall asleep if we are out and about. or hungry and has to wait a little bit for her feed they are a godsend if your baby likes them honestly x

 

[*Hope*]

great thread.
we used a dummy when I had no intentions but same as others he loves sucking and it soothes him. It helps him drop off to sleep and then out it pops and he stay s asleep (usually) it's fine.

Owen also loves to be swaddled, I was wondering how long you're allowed to swaddle them for though? Is there an age limit? he's started busting out of the swaddle recently though. I tried him in grow bags, still trying every few nights as want to get him used to them but he flails his arms around when he's dropping off and in his sleep-not so much of a startle reflex just moving loads and it wakes him up. He does like to sleep with his arms above his head when not swaddled though and I then I worry that when he's swaddles he's not as comfy!! Althoguh he sleeps better! Sorry to hijack thread!! Maybe should start my own

When he's grumpy in the day and needs help dropping off or wakes after 45 mins cos can't transition into next sleep bit I put him in the sling and he drops off quickly, that must feel like being tightly swaddled too and it's so handy to have.

HV never mentioned anything about dummies or being swaddled and the midwife swaddled him in hospital.

Our dummies are TT 'soothers' and says they are orthodontic type ones, that makes me worry less As you can see, I like to worry!!

i heard swaddling is for babies under 1 month old x