Dummy and BF 10 day old.

[debka]

Am EBFing 10 day old DD2. She is a very sucky baby like DD was, but I don't have the time to sit and let her suck herself to sleep. What do you all think about introducing a dummy? Just to give her when I know she's tired and wants to suck, not feed, to settle herself. Will it confuse her? Will it work? Anyone done this?

I am NOT an expert and haven't ever given DD (9 months) a dummy (simply because she wasn't sucky etc and so never bothered) but all of the bf mums I know have offered their babies a dummy and it hasn't affected bf for them. Two of the babies refused a dummy (and a bottle) and the others have been fine having a dummy and the breast.

I have heard from a couple of mum friends whose babies were in special care at birth (both now absolutely fine btw) that they give all the babies a dummy in the special care unit as a matter of course. That was their experience at two hospitals local to me, so of course may be different in other areas. Their babies were full term and needed short term treatment if that's relevant. One of them is still bf, the other gave up for reasons totally unconnected to using a dummy.

DS has had a dummy since he came home from hospital. He still has one for bedtime. Still BF. He is 2.

The main concern is that if they are meeting all their 'sucking needs' with the dummy, they may not feed as much as they need to. So I would try it if you want but maybe keep it just for night times or not all the time?

Generally they recommend to wait until BF established/around 4 weeks before giving a dummy.

Always offer boob if they even might be hungry (assuming you can physically feed then) and you should be okay IMO. My DD also had one in SCBU for pain relief and comfort so we've always had them. We had latch issues, but that was far more due to tube then bottle feeding! At nearly 10 weeks she often won't take one and prefers her thumb or my finger!