To try get my DD to take a dummy

[SleepForTheWeek]

She's 8 months old and apart from the first couple of weeks and f life has just chewed on a dummy rather than suck them.

I think she Would really behefitvfrom having one, she's rocked to sleep for naps and fed to sleep at bedtimes and several times during the night (bf)

I've just bought some MAM 6 month + dummies and although she's very excited by them she just chews them without any attempt at sucking.

Should I just give up? My friends children all had dummies as babies and they all seemed to go to sleep independently and be easier to settle when teething etc.

Any tricks I could try?

She has a comforter which she suckles but it's not enough to get her sleeping.

I have another young DD (who was also a dummy refuser!!) and it would be so handy if she would take a dummy to keep her happy while I'm seeing to her sister

Sorry for all the typos - was typing one handed while rocking DD to sleep!

I totally get where you're coming from Id say that you're better off leaving it.
Dummies can cause a lot of damage (to teeth) and tantrums in future that you're probably best off avoiding it if you can. That said if you think the possible future negatives are outweighed by the current benefits, crack on.

I would give up, if she's got to 8 months without using one properly what's the point in trying to force her to take one? It's common for a sleep regression at 8 months, and you may find things get a little easier once you get through it.

My daughter has never had a dummy and sleeps I
dependently and has always been very easy to settle. I Don't think it's always down to whether or not they take a dummy, its more just a bit of luck and each baby will have varying levels of comfort needs

I'd do without. Ds went to the dentist a month ago and his front teeth aren't growing properly because of his dummy. We took it off him straight away, which wasn't too bad but now we've lost our crutch when dealing with tantrums, him being tired in the day but refusing to sleep and so many meltdowns.
To be fair dd had a dummy but none of the issues her brother is going through.

Dummies are pretty awful imho and cause other problems for teeth and getting them to give them up. Honestly I think a baby or toddler with a dummy looks like an idiot. Or a dummy, if you will.

If she doesn’t like sucking a dummy that’s a good thing - by her age she is starting to get too old for sucking things anyway, between this age and a year old lots of babies independently stop taking breast and bottle for that reason. Moving on to sip cups etc. It’s a bit like forcing a toddler to stay in nappies when they want to use a potty.

Thanks folks, I guess I'm just trying to find easy ways for a bit of respite. DD1 is 3.5 and still needs our help for sleeping so was hoping to avoid that again.

Oh well, guess I just bought two expensive teethers!

I had a similar issue at six months, one day she just took it and we couldn't get it out of her mouth for two weeks and then she changed her mind again and wouldn't have it.
I don't think you can force it and in the long run I think it's easier without. I thought it would solve all our problems but in reality it stopped a bit of whining in the day but just meant more wakeups at night to put it back in.

You've all made me feel a bit more at peace with the situation - I was feeling like I've missed out on a huge part of 'being a baby' because neither have taken a dummy - sounds silly!

Honestly I think a baby or toddler with a dummy looks like an idiot. Or a dummy, if you will.

You sound like a nasty piece of work