To not give my DD a dummy?

[chloemegjess]

Hi. DD is 8.5months old and will have a new brother or sister in April. I childmind a 15 month old who has a dummy. DD has never had one, was offered one when tiny but didnt take to it (was BF until 2 weeks ago). Sbe now is constantly on a mission to get his dummy! She will take it out of his mouth or off the floor and put it in her mouth.

DH, Mum, MIL, SIL all think I should start DD on a dummy and hope it makes her sleep better. I feel that she is too old to start now and by the time she gets attched to it, it will be time to take it off her. And I hate seein babies walking round with Dummies in their mouths.

They all seem to think I am being "mean" and should give it to her to help her get used to the new baby. She already has a comfort toy thing she goes to bed with or has when she is upset.

AIBU?

I don't see why you would start giving a dummy to a an older baby. The reasoning they have given is rubbish. She already has a comforter.

We took dd's dummy away 3 wks ago at 16 wks. Best thing we did. It was great when she tiny and helped get her to sleep and in a routine but it had started disturbing her sleep. Within 3 days, she forgot all about it and within 6 days, she started sleeping through the night.

whats so bad about dummys all 5 of mine had one never did any harm i reckon if you gave your 8.5 month old a dummy now she would,nt really want it to be honest she'd probably just play with it my youngest is 3 now and she still has her dummy its not all bad it does'nt make me a bad mummy !! its a soother and she loves it !

do what you want.so no not unreasonable if thats your choice.i dont think theres anything wrong with dummys,just think if you dont want to-then dont.simple.

I don't like dummies, think they look and just are awful, but dd had one and the dts have them. Only for comfort/sleeping. As others have sad, you can break a dummy habit a lot easier than thumb sucking one.

DD gave hers up for her 2nd birthday, in return for going into a big girl bed (cot converted to bed) - 3 nights of asking for it, then nothing.

Op - you are the Mum - you're choice. Your family can't force you to give her one.

Personally, I'm anti thumbs and if a child starts showing an inclination to suck their thumb at a young age I would get a dummy out to break that habit before it started.

Thumbs are available 24/7 - dummies can be limited.

Thumbs get dirty at the park/farm/garden/wherever and can be put in their mouths before you've had a chance to wash their hands - dummies can be cleaned if dirty (or ideally only be available for sleeping)

You don't see many schoolies sucking dummies but you still see some thumb suckers.

My dd had a dummy but only for sleeping, they (she liked to have 1 in her mouth and 1 in each hand) were kept on her pillow. My ds never bothered with a dummy or his thumb.

JMI

JMO even!

Thanks for the advice. I just needed to know it wasn't just me being mean!