To use a dummy or not?

ajaney

I have a 7 1/2 month old little boy & a first time mum.

I breastfed him so resisted trying a dummy till he was 7 weeks old - it was hard as he like to suck every 2 hours at first & we're talking 2 hours from the beginning of his feed so i was pretty much attched to him & it was difficult to go anywhere as I knew he would be wanting feeding very soon - BUT when I did give him the dummy, he was most unimpressed & spat it out! I brought a couple of different types including the Tommee Tippee closer to nature one but despite my many many attempts, he has never taken to it. I spent a lot of time soothing him with the breast (which is against a lot of advice) but as he got older, he didnt need the breast as often &I am phasing out breastfeeding at the moment.

You can use dummies from any age I believe but not all babies will take to them & I think breastfed babies can think them very poor substitutes!

Plans_all_plans

I was quite happy to breastfeed on demand/use the breast for comfort, for months. I didn't feel any pressure to have to go anywhere or do anything, so I really never felt the need to use a dummy at all, as I would just comfort her at the breast.

Maybe if I'd had 2 or more close together in age then I would have done, but I was totally contended just sat down feeding my daughter whenever and more to the point, so was she!

Becles

I didn't use dummies as I personally can't stand them!

My eldest and youngest both sucked their thumbs but the middle one didn't want anything to suck.

My youngest is three and still sucks her thumb as she drops off to sleep but it comes out when she's asleep. Occasionally she'll suck it if she's worried or upset about something.

My eldest is 14 and sucks his thumb when he's watching the TV and at school. He looks absolutely ridiculous and his friends tease him about it, but he doesn't seem to care! It wouldn't surprise me to see him standing at the alter on his wedding sucking his thumb

shelley_crow

I was very anti dummy so my eldest never had one. He was quite a contented baby so he didn't need one.

My second was on special care for a few days after birth and was being tube fed, the midwives recommended a dummy to keep the sucking reflex intact and to calm him down when he couldn't be taken out of the incubator to be held. He's five months old and fighting fit and not very interested in it anymore.

I used to be very judgemental over people using dummies but each to their own, some kids need them more than others.

Agutka

With ds1 I thought I wouldn't use a dummy because of all the negativity around them. But all the screaming got to me within a fortnight and the silence was blissful. He's still attached to them though,so not good.

For ds2 I had a dummy ready, but he did not take to them. But then he was never a crier, bless.

On a different note, ds1 developed hand skills quickly because of the dummy. Ds2 still doesn't mouth things much?

onlyroz

Well my personal opinion is that dummies look hideous - who on earth would want to plug their child's mouth shut? I saw a child today being spoon-fed by its mother. Dummy out, spoon in, chew, chew, dummy in. Repeat. Hideous.

chelle230

I'm anti-dummy too, can't stand them, this big plastic thing covering the baby's face!
my ds never had one, and nobody suggested giving him one, he took to a soft toy piglet and used to chew one of the ears until he fell asleep, that was the only soother he ever needed.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

DD1 was breastfed for 9 months. Had it not been for a 29p dummy bought for me by the midwife within the post natal period, 8 months and 29 days would have been spent with my **** hanging out for 22 hours of the day.

She was an unhappy baby that needed comfort. I didn't drink alcohol, coffee, cola, fruit juice, milk, anything that could upset her. I never ate spicy food - I had got to the point of eating plain boiled rice in the vain hope that she would settle or sleep for more than 4 minutes at a time, as I was beginning to hallucinate from lack of sleep and her Dad clocked up 45,000 miles in his Montego in the first six months just driving us round at night to try and get her to sleep.

As it was, I had to deal with random strangers coming up and telling me that I was harming my perfect, angelic baby and she would be !!!!!! with buck teeth and unable to speak without dribbling for her entire life, because I was being so selfish. Never mind the bleedin' mother in law, who informed me that her dentist used to come up to her in the street and congratulate her on teaching all of her children to suck their thumbs, fingers and in one of them, their hand, as they would never have a single tooth problem due to her cleverness. They all had severe dental issues from very early on.


DD2 was also breast fed. She had a dummy as well, but hers was dispensed with at around 2 and a half. She had it whenever she wanted at first, but gradually this change to just for sleeptimes and then eventually just bedtime.

She was talking clearly before she could walk. She does need braces now, but that is due to a genetic thing causing problems with her jaw.


The advantage of dummies other thumbs are that 1. You can sterilise a dummy. 2. Dummies can't be stuffed up noses chasing bogies. 3. Dummies can be taken away or restricted to bedtime.

durham_girl

My son has a dummy, but it's only used when he's going to sleep. He was first given one while in the neonatal unit to soothe and keep his suck reflex. So to those who are being judgmental, they're not ornamental and can be very helpful.

Apricot

I've got a dummy ready for my baby, I don't see the problem. I had one, my sister had one, my brother had one - my other sister sucked her thumb and it's a funny shape - much easier to remove a dummy than a thumb IMO.

I understand not letting children have them for years but for comfort - and mums sanity - they can be a wonderful thing!