is it bad idea to introduce a dummy at 13mths 2 help sleep

[jinglybits]

still give ds night time feed and then he has a cuddle before he falls asleep, he also gets the occassional feed at midday naptime only if we are at home. Occassionally if we are out and he is tired he'll scream himself to an exhausted sleep in his buggy...would a dummy help? should i not start as we have come this far without one?! He sometimes wakes in the night and has a little suck too, really feel it is not about thirst but about the need for comfort, is he using my boob like a dummy! advice please!

[invisiblegirl]

im of the opinion "do whatever works and feels good" so I would definitely give him the dummy

[Fran1]

You'll be lucky to get him to accept a dummy over boob at this age!

I took my dd on a long haul flight when she was 9mths and being breastfed. I bought a dummy just in case she wouldn't feed during take off and landing (for her ears). And secretly i was thinking along the same lines as you about cos my boob was a human dummy (and that lasted 2 years).

She was not in the slightest bit interested in the dummy and i tried for the whole of the holiday, cos it was getting awkward as most of the clothes i was wearing in the evenings were dresses impossible to bf in! without stripping naked in public.

I actually detest dummies and am now relieved that she didn't want it, but thats easy to say now i'm no longer the human version!

It does come to an end, wear more clothes, avoid cuddles ( i know its hard ) obviously i still cuddled her, but avoided times i knew she'd try and feed.
And also i talked talked talked to her whenever she fed about the fact she was grown up and didn't need it. She obviously got so bored of hearing this that feeds would get shorter and less frequent until eventually (very slowly) they all stopped. I think my milk dried up as she was feeding less and less so in the end dd had no choice!

HTH!

[jinglybits]

thanks fran! thats really helpful to hear...like the tip about wearing more clothes!

[vicdubya]

JB I don't think I'd bother at this stage....

I stopped feeding ds during the night & at nap time when he was 13 months. He is 15 months now & still has his feed before bed but that's all.

At nap times I sit with him in his room with low lights & we read a story then he goes in his cot. At night if he wakes I offer him a cup of water, and settle him if necessary by patting / stroking his back in the cot. Unless he is ill it now works fine.

Initially it took just a few times for him to understand what was going on - a little bit of crying but I did some very tame cc - left him for 2 mins then went back in - and he rarely carried on after that.

It seems to have worked really well and this week he has been sleeping til 8am when I have to wake him, and when he goes for his nap now he doesn;t murmur, just snuggles down and again I have to wake him!

Also, has your ds got a comfort toy / blanket?
DS has a snuggly made from an old nightie of mine which he cuddles up to.

The thing I have found is now he doesn;t sleep very well in his buggy / car seat, which he used to, because now he likes to be in the dark & quiet. So I have had to alter my routine a bit.

HTH

[sasa15]

I was thinking about giving ds 11months a dummy...I don't breasfeed and he sleeps ok but he sucks his teddy bear for nap and bedtime that is always wet and smelly....

I thought he might be better giving a dummy...now..

what do you think?

[jinglybits]

vicdubya that is so reassuring to hear! i think i will definately cut out the nap time feed...hopefully if i trya little sleep training with him learning to fall asleep by himselfs in the afternnons then i can start to implement that at nights after a while. it really does help hearing what you have to say, many thanks

[matnanplus]

Sasa15, is it possible to get another teddy? do you wash it regularly? As a professional i encourage comfort items but also wash them very regularly and have several different things that they get in no specific pattern, not all left in the cot just 1 or 2 at a time, "when it's in the wash, it's in the wash".