Dummy or not at 5 months

[krisskross]

My DS is almost 6 months.
I have two older DC at school so we run around alot and there isn't loads of time to work on routines etc.
I'm breastfeeding with one 3oz bottle around 11pm (due to lack of weight gain early on) and he's doing great now weight wise.

But his sleep is all over the place and I'm not sure where to start.

Until recently he just kind of fell asleep while feeding. Now I'm trying to get him to sleep in the day and put him down awake and also start an evening bed time routine.

When he was about 16 weeks i started giving him a dummy for sleep as otherwise he'd scream and scream unless I fed him to sleep.

But the problem is he wakes easily and often without the dummy. On an average day he'll sleep for 30 min in his cot if i put him down awake then wake up crying having knocked out the dummy. He still seems tired though and will fall asleep on me after feeding. He also wakes maybe twice or more in night in addition to being fed usually once in the night.

He is such a sucky boy, much more than my first two, and the Dummy, just for sleep really helps but im wondering if its just making things more complicated. But i can't imagine ever putting him down awake without it. Despite loads of reassurance he wpuld scream and scream.

Any advice pls? Sorry this is rambling im so tired.

[Jackiebrambles]

With my eldest I actually started giving a dummy at bedtime at around 5 months. It was a life saver.

There was a point where he would need me to pop it back in for him (around 6-7 months) but then after that I put a few in his cot and he used to wake, find one, and drop back off to sleep.

I'm a huge dummy fan! With my son he gave it up easily (didn't affect his sleep at all) at just after 3.

My daughter still has hers at 2.5. She has slept through consistently from about 10 months, 7-7.

[FATEdestiny]

Dummies are great, I agree with pp and wouldn't suggest you drop it. You are likely to have far more practical problems without it, than with it, given the family dynamic.

By about 7-8 months baby can learn to put dumny dummy in themselves. It's a game changer at that point.

[krisskross]

Thank you Jackie and fate. You've confirmed what i thought but useful to hear other opinions.