To ask about dummies - which brand to buy for breastfed baby?

[Sparksi]

Posting here for traffic. We would like baby to have a dummy and will be introducing one quite quickly. I would also like to breastfeed. I understand they say dummies shouldn’t be introduced until breastfeeding is established but this is something we have researched and feel happier with the benefits of dummies.

Can anyone recommend a good brand to start off with? Looking at Bibs, Nanobebe and Tommee tippee mainly

Dummies are a bit like bottles, you won't know what your baby will like until they are here! We tried a few and now use MAM

I took MAM ones in my hospital bag!! And bf successfully many time. The 00 size are tiny for newborn. Ds was 4.12...

we have used bibs. Tried mam to begin with but we’re no good. Introduced bibs at 6 weeks took a bit of perseverance but was successful x

Is baby here yet? Is there a particular reason you would like to use one if they aren’t even here yet?

In the early days it can really disrupt breastfeeding.
Not being an arsehole by posting that, but I don’t know if you know that or not so I’m putting it out there!

Babies can be very fickle with dummies. We tried Minbie first which are supposedly made for breastfed babies but DD ended up with MAM dummies as she can hold them in her mouth better.

From MN
The main disadvantages of using a dummy or pacifier include:

• They can transport bacteria or fungus, which can increase the rate of tummy infections and middle ear infections
• They might also affect how baby teeth grow
• They might affect your child’s speech development
• Using one may cause nipple and teat confusion in breastfed babies

Yes, some pros for dummy use, but the cons outweigh them imo

Thank you for being so normal about saying it! No offence taken at all. I have heard people say this but others have said it worked fine for them. Personally we’d like to use them because they reduce the risk of SIDS

@Sparksi I’m here from Google as I’m looking dummy brands too - so not here to say you shouldn’t use them! But I thought the decrease in SIDS risk wasn’t to do with the dummy, but the circumstantial factors - like parents checking baby with dummy more often when it falls out. So there was a trend of decreased SIDS with dummy. Just wondering what the research you saw said?

I tried ds on mam dummies and he hated them. We ended up using tesco Fred and Flo dummies and he used them no bother plus they don't cost an arm and a leg like the branded dummies. I also breastfed him for over a year but I introduced a dummy as he was using me as a dummy and that wasn't working out for either of us

Waited too long on my first to intro them & he refused literally every brand. Tried my second on Mam newborn soothers the day after he was born, and he loves them. Both breastfed - and it is much much more manageable to have a baby you can soothe with something besides your boob!

I breast and bottle fed and we used MAM dummies and bottles from day 1. Well, day 4 with the dummy. DS took to them so we had no reason to try other brands. Over the months we did try other bottles and dummies as people bought us them, but he would literally spit them out (and cry) 😂. I remember being adamant we weren’t having a dummy and night 4, second night home from hospital, DS screamed from 11pm to 5am with no amount of breastfeeding, bottle, burping, rocking etc soothing him. My mum was staying with us and I was in tears, DH was halfway there and we woke my mum up and begged her for advice/help and she just said “it’s totally up to you, but there’s a time and place for a dummy and it may be now”. We dug that dummy out and it worked. He only ever had it at night or for naps once he left the tiny baby stage. He ditched it at 18 months when he was showing signs of delayed speech and we were recommended to stop the dummy as a precaution - he didn’t even miss it, only looked for it once and accepted it had gone when he couldn’t find it. It didn’t affect my breastfeeding. I fed until he was 6 months (alongside formula) and we decided to stop.

Bibs - and she would never take anything else. Annoying, because they're bloody expensive, but at least the colours are nice.

Should also add that we had several dummies in rotation at any one time (usually one in his mouth and the others in the steriliser and they were swapped regularly/put back to sterilise after nap etc). We also used the size appropriate for the age bracket and replaced them every 2-3 months. I sterilised them daily - and in the beginning all the time - and carried Milton wipes/a portable UV dummy steriliser with me if we went out. I’d heard about bacteria risks etc so we did everything we could. DS was a thumb sucker from the womb, and the dummy replaced that. I figured I could take a dummy away but not a thumb!

There is a definite correlation with speech delay. DS only ever had his for sleep but by 18 months had barely said more than 3 words and we were concerned. I spoke to a speech therapist who said that while they won’t intervene till he was 2, a key thing that we could do now was to ditch his dummy. Honestly, likely a coincidence, but we got rid of the dummy and a week later that kid came out with a full sentence and now we can’t shut him up. So one to think about. I don’t regret the dummy though.

Also, glow in the dark dummies… absolute game changer.