Considering using a dummy to get some sleep at night... Will this mess up breast feeding?

[Samraves]

I am in a right dilemma... My 4 week old dd has been incredibly grumpy and I have only been able to comfort her by feeding... However, she only feeds for a few mins at the most then slides off and gets really grumpy again straight away. She isn't bobbing her head, whih she does when hungry but is sucking her fist. I wider whether she just wants comfort.

We had such a bad night last night, that if tonight is the same I am tempted to give her a dummy. I never bought one bit got one free with a tommy tippee steriliser... Having it there is so tempting! Has anyone tried using dummies and did it negatively impact on breast feeding?

Thanks

The only thing I can say is at this age if they hhave a dummy every time they lose it in the night you will have to get up, hold it back in place until they have it and then the instant they stop sucking it falls out again and they cycle begins again so it may not not be as much help as you are hoping.

Gosh no, both mine sucked like crazy. I have a strict rule tho... They neither had it at 7pm bedtime, my theory being they must learn to fall asleep without it. And bedtime is always 7 as they grow. At all other times they had it to sleep, comfort etc
By age one it wasn't needed at all.
As long as feeding is going well - it sounds as if it is, then dummy is useful.
There is no guarantee baby will want it tho! Or may find their thumb

So long as breastfeeding is established it should be fine - just keep an eye on the latch and make sure it doesn't get sloppy! My ds has had one since 4 weeks.

It's worth reading up on the evidence on SIDS before deciding whether or not to use a dummy. Using a dummy may reduce the risk of SIDS, but if once a dummy has been given then it's not used at any given sleep (including daytime naps) then the SIDS risk increases several fold ABOVE what the risk would have been without ever using a dummy.