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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Do bottle fed babies tend to have a dummy more than breastfed babies?

38 replies

flubdub · 26/06/2008 19:34

Im just wondering really.
Im a fan of dummies, babies like them, and are comforted by them, as long as they arnt running around with them in their mouths for years, I think theyre a good thing.
Anyway, do bf babies just go on the breast for comfort instead of a dummy? Obviously ff babies cant do this.

OP posts:
nickytwotimes · 26/06/2008 19:38

I can only go by what I've seen myself and I do know several bfed babies who have loved a dummy. My ff liked his for a few months, then prefered to spit it out and scream the place down instead, lol!

Littleface · 26/06/2008 19:39

My ff DS wouldnt take a dummy but my bf DD loves hers and will often finish a feed and then take her dummy before going to sleep. So IME no!

spicemonster · 26/06/2008 19:41

I've only had one baby who was bf and he loved his dummy.

FrannyandZooey · 26/06/2008 19:43

IMO yes, as most babies have a need to suck for far longer than the time it takes to actually get their nutrition, and as you say, they can't carry on sucking on an empty bottle, so you need to provide something else
I think many bf babies just have extra time on the breast to satisfy sucking needs
it's a generalisation, though, and doesn't hold for every family or every baby

Twelvelegs · 26/06/2008 19:46

NO, NO, NO, three children all bf and 2 loved dummies, one would not ever never have a dummy (Lola).

solo · 26/06/2008 23:24

Both Dc's bf. Ds would take a dummy for minutes only then spit it out. Dd would not at all! I don't like them and would've prefered not to have tried, but Dd was a 24/7 screamer and as much as I wanted her to and tried, she just refused.

colditz · 26/06/2008 23:26

Both mine were bottle fed, and when I got over the idea that it was laziness to give them a dummy instead of kindness and meeting their need to suck, they had a dummy.

Ds1 could drain a 4 ounce bottle in 20 minutes at 1 week old. He needed a dummy.

jellybelly25 · 26/06/2008 23:30

both of my bf babies loved their dummies but i think a lot of bf babies do comfort suck and it depends whether the mum is prepared to put up with it or wants to offer something else!

kkdmom · 27/06/2008 09:07

dd didn't have a dummy till she was mobile enough to pinch them off the non-mobile babies at nursery. then she didn't know which end to suck at first and then would chew the teat.

I bought her her own for the car and now, even at 3, with me 6 mo pg, she will use a dummy when dropping off or early in the morning when she wants to comfort suck as my nipples can't cope as they used to.

sleepycat · 27/06/2008 09:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

StellaWasADiver · 27/06/2008 09:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ilovemydog · 27/06/2008 09:20

Neither of my (bf) babies like dummies

But don't think it has anything to do with being b/f. Loads of my friends who b/f give their babies dummies and are very happy.

Agree with jellybelly. Think a b/f mom gets much more sore nipples as one gets 'comfort sucking', hence a case of Lanisoh!

sfxmum · 27/06/2008 09:24

I am not sure it is about BF v bottle I just don't like dummies so never offered one, but dd found her thumb early on

2point4kids · 27/06/2008 09:24

Both mine had dummies at about 2 weeks old and they were FF.
I think maybe some BF babies arent given dummies early due to worry about nipple confusion and then later on they are already used to not having one so never get the hang of it?

Surfermum · 27/06/2008 09:27

I never needed a dummy for dd who was ff. She'd just completely crash out at the end of a feed.

StealthPolarBear · 27/06/2008 09:27

My BF baby had a dummy from 2 or 3 weeks I think until 7 or 8 months when he went off it. Until then he loved it!

chipmonkey · 27/06/2008 09:49

I think a lot of bf advice is anti-dummy so I do think a lot of bf Mums don't give dummies as they think it might inerfere with supply or cause nipple confusion. However 3 of my 4 bf babies had a dummy till about 6 months and it never seemed to cause any issues.

chipmonkey · 27/06/2008 09:50

cross post 2point4kids!

notnowbernard · 27/06/2008 09:55

Both mine were bf and both loved their dummies

sabire · 27/06/2008 10:03

None of my three bf babies would take a dummy, but then I suckled them very often, for months and months - through the night as well. When they've done research into the feeding patterns of babies from primitive cultures who have free access to the breast and are carried a lot they've found that EXTREMELY frequent suckling is normal - I mean literally dozens and dozens of small feeds in a 24 hour period, and that's older babies too.

In the west even bf mums usually restrict access to the breast most of the time so some babies don't get as much suckling time as they want (I also think there are some babies who are hugely 'sucky' who won't be satisfied even with 10 or 15 feeds a day).

But it makes sense to me that bottlefed babies as a group might be likely to want a dummy more than bf babies - given that they get so much less suckling time overall.

kayzisexpecting · 27/06/2008 10:09

DS was ff and he has never had a dummy except once and he spat it out. I personally don't like them.

notnowbernard · 27/06/2008 10:09

Sabire, I agree, I think some babies want/need/enjoy lots and lots of suckling

What I found with both of mine (esp dd2) was that very frequent suckling, especially in the evening, would result in them getting very gripey and unsettled. They'd latch on, feed a little, latch off and squirm etc

By giving a dummy it seemed to satisfy the desire to suck and settle them (not all the time, obviously!) I was lucky in that it didn't interfere with the bf process

glaskham · 27/06/2008 10:27

just of my own experience both my 2 were bf till 12mths and had a dummy as without it they'd have been constantly glued to the breast purely for comfort!! DS gave his up just before his 3rd birthday (he only had it for naps and bedtime after 18mths) and dd gave hers up completley at around 18mths, got rid of both of theirs at the same time and it wasn't that difficult, ds was old enough to understand and dd was young enough to not notice as much and be easily distracted!!

tori32 · 27/06/2008 10:38

DD1 bf for 6wks had a dummy for a couple of weeks and then discovered her thumb
DD2 bf at the moment would not have a dummy and then found her thumb
So in answer I think they are all different. Some thumb suck, some use a dummy and some are not fussed, regardless of feeding method. Some babies like to suck constantly and others don't. I think over 3mths there is an element of not enough other stimulation. Both mine were encouraged and played with lots from weeks old (big strong babies) and loved to stand up, they didn't get bored and both children only thumb suck to get to sleep.

sabire · 27/06/2008 11:08

"as without it they'd have been constantly glued to the breast purely for comfort!!"

I don't think it's necessarily a comfort thing. I think it's an instinctive survival mechanism. Think back to cave man days - babies would have fed loads and the constant 'non-nutritive suckling' they engaged in would have resulted in an abundant supply of breastmilk well into toddlerhood, something which was even more important in the long distant past when solids were probably introduced much later and much more slowly than they are now.