Dummy to settle her

[charlie84]

Well little one has really started to use by boob as a comforter especially in the evening.
She has a big feed then continues to suckle away for ages. Or she is having cuddles with daddy or me and starts cryin and wanting something to suck on. She comes to me and latches for a few minutes at the most then starts fussing. She wont settle with just cuddles

Now i am unsure as to whether i should give her a dummy in the evening to comfort her. If i do will it interfere with my breastfeeding, will she get nipple confusion. What are your experiences with dummies/breastfeeding.
Or is it too early to give her a dummy?
I really dont want to mess up her feeding in any way.

 

[smile]

re are pros and cons - some babes get confused wihich is why it is recommended to wait until 4 weeks if breastfeeding - Baby Smile ended up with one at 3 weeks (a blessing and a curse as now we have to work out how to get it off him when he's older) because it was either that or sell him on ebay! He seemed to understand easily that dummies didn't give out milk so when he was hungry only Mummy would do - at 4 weeks he would also take a bottle happily and will feed from a feeding cup a syringe and a medicine feeder too - if its edible he'll eat it!

My advice - you know your baby by now and you know youself and your OH - if you can manage without when then do so as it will save troubel in the long term - but if you can't or it is affecting your health or happiness significantly - a dummy is no bad thing and in the early weeks.. just do what you have to do to survive!

It gets better

 

[leckershell]

Personally I was against them but he kept using me a dummy and if I detached him he would wake up and get angry - the one time we just tried a dummy and he stayed asleep, so no going back! It was fine with breastfeeding, no confusion etc.

 

[loz]

We used a dummy with Emms in the 1st week as we were desperate! It was only a few times and we havent used it for ages now. I dont think there is really anything wrong with it personally - you can be too cautious about everything.

 

[Squiglet]

Babies don't really get confused with Dummies.. nothing interesting comes out of them... like a boob does. Bf'd babies don't often take to dummies to well, because theres no comfort behind them... what comforts them, is the boob, and dummies aren't a boob... If your LO takes a dummy... I say go for it... I wish lil miss would take one now

Lil miss used to take one for a little while, then she just stopped around 2 months and now they just make her sick.

Tia had one, then decided she didn't want it anymore (around 2 months too) but her nanny who worked at a nursery, took her to work one day when she was around 10 months old, and there was another kid with a dummy and well.. monkey see monkey want really bad and can't live without.... and she had one at night until she was 3. They are quite easy to get rid of eventually... I had Tia throw hers in the bin because she would be starting big girl school and Santa would bring her an extra special pressie.

 

[clarey]

We just started using a dummy last week in desperation because NOTHING was settling Eva and I was getting sore! And she likes it, it does seem to sooth her and she spits it out as soon as she is fed up with it, we treat it as a last resort option and so far no teat confusion.
Which I am glad about, didnt like to think I might be compared to a cheap lump of plastic!!

 

[charlie84]

Thanks girls,

LO has been fussing at the boob again today, gave her my finger to suck on for a bit which she seemed quite content doing.
I also spoke to my health visitor today about it and she said to offer a dummy as last resort if possible but the choice is up to me.
I have also started to feel pain in my left nipple when LO is on, health visitor gave me some dressing pads for me to try and ease any soreness.
Latch appears to be fine, but as she is spending alot of time on the boob i think it just needs further toughening up

Well i have some dummies in the cupboard so if she starts to fuss again will use them or see how long she will chomp on my finger