Dummies early days with breast feeding

[louiserer]

Hi :)
Fingers crossed feeding is going well, hopefully the next weigh in will be a good one!

On occasions it can be tricky (as expected) for my baby to go to sleep without keeping sucking, she’s not actually feeding but just making me sore and comforting herself. I wondered if I should think about offering her a dummy for these times? Thing is she is only 9 days old and I was trying to aim for a month before I offered her one 😬

Also, I have another daughter and as from next week I will need to do the school runs on my own. I don’t mind having to hot foot back to the car to feed there but I am a bit worried about getting my timings wrong and have a really upset baby whilst I’m standing at the school gates. Does anyone that use dummies find it buys the time to keep a baby happy for the few minutes it takes to get to a place to feed?

This is all new to me as my daughter would never try a dummy!

One last strange question, for those who combination feed, on the days my older daughter has swimming for example would be be a good idea to offer my baby a little formula before I collect from school?! I was wondering if this could guarantee me a bit of time to get to the next venue and start again 🙈

Thank you so much for reading!

Hi, congrats on your new baby!

It's still very early days, it takes a few weeks to get BFing well established. So your LO is still working hard to get the milk in.

'she’s not actually feeding but just making me sore and comforting herself'

She may be increasing your supply - this is often the case especially in the evenings. 'cluster feeds' are a thing. If it's making you sore, how is the latch?

'During the evening, young babies often cluster feed, taking in frequent feeds of this fattier milk, which tends to satisfy them enough to have their longest stretch of sleep.'

www.laleche.org.uk/breastfeeding-at-night/

Dummies: It's generally considered best to avoid until breastfeeding is well established. A few weeks, at least, so your first intention is probably spot on.

www.laleche.org.uk/dummies-and-breastfeeding/

As for collections/drop offs - I would not leave the baby in the car, tbh. I'd stick her in a sling. Re timings and formula: I don't think there's any such thing as guaranteeing time with a baby, sorry to disappoint! I would see how it goes. Is there anyone who could help out with pick up/drop offs, even for the first few weeks?

Sounds like you're doing great so far!

Sounds like you’re doing great! With the dummy, I would offer one. My DS I didn’t (following midwife advice) and he never took one - apart from one blissful long nap around 3 months! DD we offered one very early and massively benefited. I think there’s a small minority of babies who are very sleepy and dummies interfere with breastfeeding so there becomes a blanket veto on them. If your baby isn’t super sleepy and is feeding well, I’d do it. A bit of extra sleep/recharge/eat/drink time for you is good for milk supply.