dummy or not

[mummy-niccylei]

myy dd is 10 months old she never had a dummy she sucks her thumb its only recently i have been told that thumb suckers have wonky teeth her teeth seem to be coming through strait im pg with my second now and would like opinions on the dummy thumb debate please

 

[Izzy]

i was never given a dummy as a baby, but i did suck my thumb. my parents tried to make me stop when i was younger but nothing worked, so i'm 19 and STILL suck it every night!!

i have straight teeth, so it doesnt always affect that as you say, but its a lot easier to wean a baby off a dummy than a thumb which is constantly attached.

izzyx

 

[mummy-niccylei]

thanks for that. if i offended you by saying the wonky teeth bit sorry it wasnt meant to offend people its just soooo many people keep telling me it affects them inc my hv and most of my family members, so im sorry if i did i didnt mean to offend anyone by it.

 

[Xena]

I think dummies are okay in moderation - if the baby is really upset for example, a dummy might be good to calm him/her down. Or to get them settled just before they go to sleep.

I really don't like it when parents shove dummies in their kids' mouths just for the sake of it - when the kid is quite happy without one! Seems pointless.

Anyway that's kind of going off the subject.

In terms of teeth, honestly I dunno. I had a dummy as a kid just before I went to sleep, but that's it, so not much at all. I never sucked my thumb either. So yes my teeth are straight, but that doesn't help much with your question.

As for Lydia, she never took to a dummy at all. We tried her with one for maybe 3 days and she just never liked it, so we never bothered after that. She doesn't suck her thumb either.

IMO a dummy might be better than a thumb, because you can wean a child off a dummy. You can take it away, hide it, give it to 'Santa', whatever. But no matter how hard you try, you can't get rid of a child's thumb. Much harder to stop a child sucking something that is permanently attached to him/her if you see what I mean.

 

[Princess_Puddles]

My brother used to suck his thumb and has recently been told that due to it his teeth at the front were pushed forwards so he has now got to have braces to correct it, but the way i see it is if children are happy sucking their thumbs then let them

 

[maybebaby]

I'm 21 and still suck my thumb occasionally! I had to have braces for 2 years because my teeth were wonky, but that might have been due to me thumb sucking for too long rather that sucking my thumb instead of a dummy.

I agree that a dummy seems easier to wean off than a thumb. I plan to use a dummy for my baby, but not all the time, I hate seeing older kids wandering round shopping centres/playgrounds with dummies shoved in their mouths.

It's always going to be down to your personal preferences. I just know that after all my problems thumb sucking I'm going to try to encourage dummy use instead.

 

[cassi]

i still suck my thumb too always have, didnt have a dummy, had my toes and thumb when i was a baby lol and when i went to the dentist sometimes they will ask me if i used to suck my thumb because its obvious, my teeth are straight, but my top teeth in the middle are further forward than my bottom teeth because of it.

So i will be giving J a dummy but only when he really needs it, because you can take a dummy away but you cant take a thumb away and its a terrible addiction of mine now lol, i just cant let go hehe

 

[Miracle babe]

Personally I see nothing wrong with a dummy and at least with a dummy you can take it off them, cant take off a thumb

I noticed at 2 years old my daughter had a sort of gap where her dummy had been so I decided the time was right to get rid of them. The gap evened out and now she has lovely teeth.

 

[maybebaby]

Ooh it's like AA on here:

I'm Becky, I'm 21...and I still suck my thumb...

 

[cassi]

yey hello becky!

 

[missac]

I think that there is no point giving a baby a dummy to settle them. If they have never had one then they are not used to it, it seems unnecessary. I'm sorry if I am offending anyone.

I sucked my thumb as a chikd though, so maybe I am contradicting myself! A child will stick their thumb in if they need to, when they need to. If it is something they want to do, a dummy possible wouldn't help anyway.

 

[Wiggles]

my daughter sucks her 2 middle fingers, i say go with thumb sucking as its more natural, shes never had a dummy, and now she wudnt even touch one.

 

[Freya]

My daughter sucked her thumb. I tried deserately to get her to have a dummy at first but she would spit it out and put her thumb in her mouth. when she was about 2 we bought that stuff you can get for nail biters and put it on her thumbs - it worked and she stopped sucking her thumb.

My son doesn't have anything (Ye) but I think that is just down to him.