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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Does your bf baby have a comfort blanket/lovey/beloved toy?

27 replies

TheSnickeringFox · 22/07/2011 09:17

I've been trying to get ds (8.5 months) to take a comfort thingy (a little rabbitty blanket thing) in the hope that he might eventually fall asleep without feeding. He is totally uninterested and I seem to recall reading somewhere that bf babies were less likely to take to comforters.

So, I thought I would do a completely unscientific MN survey. Does your bf baby have a beloved object?

OP posts:

suzikettles · 22/07/2011 09:21

He's 4.5 now and no longer bf, but ds didn't have a comfort object until he stopped bf. He didn't even suck his thumb (which was a bit annoying).

Now he's got a blanket but he only has it at bedtime and when he's upset/tired and isn't nearly as attached to it (as in disaster if it's not there/in the wash/wanting to take it everywhere) as some other children we know, so in the long run it's worked out ok.

I know how you feel - I was desperate for him to have something at that age!

Original poster

TheSnickeringFox · 22/07/2011 09:26

Oh, I know they're not supposed to suck their thumbs, but I have always been secretly disappointed that every time ds has a go sucking his he pokes himself in the eye and quickly gives up. Every time!

OP posts:

notso · 22/07/2011 09:28

I made DS1 have a comforter by sleeping with it for two nights so it smelled of me, always rubbing his face with it when he was feeding, and always putting him to sleep with it. He was much younger when I started though about 9 weeks I think. He kept using bunny until he was three and a half, and he still sits on his bed.
The downside was he would not settle without bunny at all and we had two scary times when bunny got left in Tesco and again when we dropped him on the way to town.

DS2 has always liked something near his face when he sleeps, I think it's because he was squashed up with his hands near his face in the womb. If his is trying to sleep he will turn his head from side to side until he feels something there. I am careful to use something different all the time so we don't end up with a 'bunny' situation

TabithaTwitchet · 22/07/2011 09:31

DD was BF, she is now 3.5, has never had a comforter.

I am trying to introduce one to DD2 (6 weeks) actually while feeding her to stop her pinching me. I gently slide it into her hand while she latches on, she unclenches her fist (I though babies were supposed to grasp things in the palms of their hands), flaps her arm to brush it aside and then pinches me. So that's going well.

RitaMorgan · 22/07/2011 09:33

He doesn't have a comfort object, but he does have a dummy which fulfils the same purpose I suppose.

CareyHunt · 22/07/2011 09:37

None of mine did. All 3 were BF and I wish that they could have become attached to something else because it felt like booby was their only source of comfort. All of them fed to sleep for what feels like about a million years!

Original poster

TheSnickeringFox · 22/07/2011 09:38

Oh yes, ds can be remarkably persistent when trying to pinch/scratch/twiddle. Have you tried a breastfeeding necklace? I got one off eBay and it really does get his attention. Doesn't help with the biting though, but that's a whole other story :(

OP posts:

JessieEssex · 22/07/2011 09:47

My 11mo is bf and she has a comforter that works a treat. A little rabbit blanket thing (maybe the same one as you OP) that she grabs and rubs her face with as soon as I put her in her cot. She still grabs me and pulls my hair while feeding though... the only time I tried a breastfeeding necklace, she grabbed it and hit me in the face with it...

ThePrincessRoyalFiggyrolls · 22/07/2011 09:51

OK, so am going to buck the trend here, dd bf until a year has a comforter and sucks her thumb, ds still bf has jack all and is driving me nuts with the pinching but quite likes a dummy.

Anyone think my children have suckie isshoos?

RitaMorgan · 22/07/2011 09:57

Actually, my hair is probably ds's comfort item - he likes to rub it on his face. I recently had to spend a car journey sat in the back leaning over the carseat so ds could rub his face on my hair to stop him getting upset and travel sick My mum has suggested cutting a lock off for him.

AngelDog · 22/07/2011 10:30

No comforter here. He's 18 m.o. and is fed on demand (ish), fed to sleep. He likes to twiddle my ear sometimes though.

I did try to introduce a comforter earlier (a stuffed elephant). He used to bite its nose and throw it on the floor.

I tried using a nursing necklace to stop hair pulling when he was older (about 12/13 months. He used to stop feeding to talk about it so I gave up with it.

EauRouge · 22/07/2011 10:31

DD1 is 2.9yo and still BF constantly. She has a teddy that on and off she takes with her but it's not really a security thing. She's quite fickle with what her favourite toy is She has never sucked her thumb or fingers either.

DD2 is not yet 5 mo so too young for any kind of security object. She's a finger sucker though!

I read somewhere that it's less common for BF toddlers to have a security object (it didn't say about babies) but I can't remember which book it was in. I've read way too many books recently

purcellfan · 22/07/2011 12:29

Ds is 2 and bf, no comforters either but he did pull my Cardigan into bed last time I was out in the evening!

katiepotatie · 22/07/2011 12:42

Ds now 2, exclusively BF till 16 months has a dummy and a comfort blanket/bear. Gave him the bear from birth and held it close to him whilst feeding, always put him to down to sleep in pram/cot with it. He still has it at bed time or when tired. Dummy now only at bedtime. I really needed him to not need me to sleep as had dd 2 when he was born and she was breast fed to sleep till 14 months it almost killed me! ( i have two identical blanket/bears, so as can exchange when washing)

coldcomfortHeart · 22/07/2011 17:42

I tried with DS1, but probably too late- about 18 months-ish, when I was trying to break the feeding to sleep association. He eventually developed what -at a push- you might call a soft spot for Teddy but to be honest he can take or leave her. Might try a bit harder with DS2.

Think it's in Politics of BF about bf children from cultures where unrestricted, 'extended' bf is the norm being less likely to suck thumbs/fingers and have comfort objects.

ohanotherone · 22/07/2011 18:47

My DS never had a comforter, dummy or toy and doesn't even like cuddly toys. He is now 5, he was bf'd until 3+.

RhinestoneCowgirl · 22/07/2011 18:50

DS - bf until 2yrs, didn't really develop an interest in teddy (Big Bear) until around then, but was thumsucker pretty much from birth.

DD - 2.7yrs and still bf, no thumbsucking, has one soft toy that she sometimes likes to cuddle at night (Big Bad Mousey) but is not that fussed.

BertieBotts · 22/07/2011 18:53

No, but he has recently got slightly attached to a particular teddy and likes to have it in bed at night. But not every night and he isn't that bothered - he hasn't had it tonight for example. Often he will bring plastic trains into bed as well...

I think there is a method in the No Cry Sleep Solution to help them get attached to a "lovey" if you really want him to have one.

mamasunshine · 22/07/2011 18:57

2 ds's bf, no comforter. dd bf, 6mo now and none as of yet. They've all started sleeping through from 10-12months ish even though I fed to sleep pretty much until 9-10months old.

ChunkyPickle · 22/07/2011 19:05

11months, no comfort objects, didn't like dummies, but has no interest in sucking thumb, feeds to sleep at night, but naps during the day on his own.

any object does instantly go in his mouth- soft, hard, appropriate, innappropriate (his tongue immediately goes out to try and get a lick of anything being rubbed onto his face - sunblock, soap, wet flannel, babywipe) but he's not attached to anything.

HappyAsASandboy · 22/07/2011 19:26

My 9 month old twins do.

I gave them specific soft toy/blanket things to hold for each bedtime feed from about 3 months, when they each became really hard to settle unless they were holding something soft. They hold the toy between us as we breastfeed, so I guess it probably smells of us both and a bit milky! Doesn't smell of much to me though, and I hamdwash it regularly.

At 9 months now, and they only have these toys at night. They don't leave the bedroom, as I don't want them to get lost. When I give them the toys at night, they snuggle in to them and start to drop off quickly, and are then sent off to sleep with a feed.

I like to think my babies would find it easier to settle got someone else if they have the familiarity of their snuggly toys. As I have always put them to bed, I don't know if that's true!

beatofthedrum · 22/07/2011 19:40

My 3 yr old still loves her bunny with a mad love and he comes everywhere with us. She's loved him since babyhood and was bf till 16 months.

thefirstMrsDeVere · 22/07/2011 19:47

I have bf 4 of my five DCs. Only one had a blankie. He had from about 7 mths till he was about 2 and half. He had loads actually. He didnt mind as long as it was a cotton cellular blanket.

I tried to introduce special toys with the others but they were not interested at all.

LadyInPink · 22/07/2011 19:57

My DD was bf until 14mths and sucked her thumb from a few weeks old and had a comforter from 3mths old - a muslin cloth (useful as I had billions of the things so losing them wasn't an issue; DH also cut them into 4s when she started walking so as not to trip her) I always had a muslin to hand so i guess this was the natural comforter. She is now 7 and was weaned off thumb sucking at 5 and the comforters a bit before that as thumb sucking went hand in hand with the muslin comforter however she now does take something soft to bed with her to run against her cheek and hold in her hand (generally a sock or similar) so has regressed again but I don't mind; I had a secret comforter until a late teen

Without her thumb and comforter I would have had sleepness nights so it was a God send.

Paschaelina · 22/07/2011 20:19

10mo Boy has several contenders - a squeaky cow, simba, tattie, but none actually hit the spot. He seems to be happiest not touching anything at all.

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