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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Dummy for my 5 week old

16 replies

cathymanning · 18/04/2010 19:44

Hi,
My baby is using me as a human dummy, he cries the minute he comes off. Breast feeding has been a struggle and I have suffered with soreness but I am hoping that things are getting better. He literally wants to be on me 24 / 7 and I am considering using a dummy.

Will this interfere with breast feeding?
Is he too young?

I am getting deperate, but dont want to make things more difficult for the future.

Any advice?

Thanks
Cathy.

OP posts:

Picante · 18/04/2010 19:46

Dummies are great. As long as they're removed before the baby gets old enough to get really attached to it. It can be a life-saver.

You will have other opinions from other posters!!

mama2moo · 18/04/2010 19:55

My 10 week old dd has had one from birth and it hasnt made any difference. She sometimes uses me as a comforter so I unlatch her and give her the dummy and she falls asleep.

I use the MAM ones. Also, at night time she used to wake and I would feed her straight away, now I try her with the dummy. If she still cries she is hungry but lots of times she just wants the comfort.

intravenouscoffee · 18/04/2010 19:56

I introduced one at about 4 weeks with my DD. She was a good feeder and it never affected her feeding at all. She only had it when she was trying to get to sleep or when she got in a complete state and it was a total life saver for both of us.

At about 3 months she found her thumb and just dropped the dummy (with a small amount of encouragement from me).

Personally I think some babies need something to suck and when they're tiny it can be the choice between a dummy or you. However, I know there are some people who would totally disagree with me on that one.

SnotBaby · 18/04/2010 19:58

Dummy was the very thing that allowed me to continue bfeeding DD at this stage, despite my prior belief that I would never ever use one.

I gave it to her just for 5 minutes here and there, usually after she'd been feeding for ages, to allow me to move away from her sometimes when she was asleep (to do selfish things like have a poo or wash!)

When she was about 7 months we stopped, a tricky few days but nothing dreadful, she was old enough then to appreciate a lullaby or an interesting toy so we had more options.

I think that so long as you treat it as one of many tools in your baby soothing toolkit, rather than a permanent fix-all, it's a Good Thing!

Good luck, sounds like you're doing really well.

369thegoosedrankwine · 18/04/2010 19:59

I am not an expert on BF but I wanted to reply as my 6 week old DS used me as a dummy for the first 2 weeks and I sympathise.

In week 3 I gave him a dummy and he took to it really well. It hasn't made any difference to BF or his weight gain and it worked out well for us.

Good luck.

Chulita · 18/04/2010 20:10

DD did this with me but she wouldn't take a dummy. I used to let her suck my finger which was better than my nipple but didn't let me get away. She did eventually settle down but it took a good 4 months before she found her thumb. I'd have paid good money for her to have used a dummy!
Hope you work something out.

skidoodly · 18/04/2010 20:12

Agree with the others, I've used a soother with both my DDs in the very early weeks and found them brilliant.

PiratePrincess · 18/04/2010 20:34

I hate them, they look awful - don't do it!

I know it's hard but if you can hold out he can do without.

Good luck

Missus84 · 18/04/2010 20:39

Babies have a biological need to suck - it can be a nipple or a dummy, or later their own thumb, but it's unfair to deny them something to suck on!

Plus the big positive about dummies is you can get rid of them when you choose. With a thumb or finger sucker, it's much much harder to get children to stop even if they end up with misshapen teeth.

felicity10 · 19/04/2010 16:00

Agree with those that found them a helpful pacifier to comfort. Often is just what DD has needed to stretch her until the next feed time or to just settle her as she goes off to sleep. DD is now 9 weeks and have been using them since about 3 weeks.

She has just found her thumb though in the last week, so often if dummy falls out then she moves onto that! Whatever gets you both through the day is what i say - although if you do use them, then buy half a dozen so you can have spares in change bags and in the cupboard because nothing worse than them needing to be sterilised and then the last one falls on the floor nooooooooooooooooooooooo!! I too was hesitant about using them, but the satisfied look on her face when she first uses it was enough to comfort me.

joyjac · 19/04/2010 20:29

"Plus the big positive about dummies is you can get rid of them when you choose."
Cue a very hollow laugh.

tdlrmummy · 03/12/2011 18:43

I used a dummy with DD1 until 7 months (we went cold turkey, which worked!) and now DD2 is 5 weeks I've had to start using a dummy with her. I didn't want to do it but you sometimes just have to do what is necessary to cope!
My big fear with using the dummy is that I'll end up having to put it back in for her when she stirs during sleep - this is what happened with DD1 and I ended up having to get up every 1 - 2 hours in the night to put her dummy back in her mouth (then she'd go back to sleep straight away). It meant fitful sleep for her and me. Has anyone else had this problem? Any ideas? I've tried taking DD2's dummy out just before she falls asleep but it's really hard and also I don't know if it really helps them 'forget' about it when they stir anyway. She already seems to be getting a bit hooked on it. I wish I didn't have to use it as a sleep aid :-( She just can't seem to go to sleep without some sort of 'crutch' though - hopefully things will get better when she can self-soothe..?!?

starkadder · 03/12/2011 19:41

Hi tdlrmummy

A friend of mine had that problem and she ended up buying about 20 dummies and strewing them all around the cot so her DD could always find one. But her DD was able to put the dummy in her own mouth from an early age, which made this possible.

tdlrmummy · 03/12/2011 20:49

That's a good idea! Don't think my daughter was able to co-ordinate holding a dummy and getting it into her mouth until at least 6 months though.
Any other thoughts/ideas much appreciated...

PrincessScrumpy · 03/12/2011 22:00

dd1 refused to take one but dtds love theirs. they've also be proven to help against cot death and imo are better than thumbs as they can be taken away. I sucked my thumb until I was 11 (at night) and needed a brace because of it.

dtds use them to settle but once asleep they fall out and dtds aren't bothered so we don't have to keep getting up to put them back in.

PrincessScrumpy · 03/12/2011 22:04

Forgot to say - dtds also are mix fed so have one bottle a day. The advice I was given by my hv (who is lovely) was to give a bottle or dummy before 6 weeks or you will have problems getting them to take them (dd1 didn't take a bottle until 8 months and it was a struggle). I am still bfing dtds (13wo) and dummies haven't affected that - they spit them out when hungry as babies are not stupid. SCBU gave them dummies to encourage them to suck when being tube fed so they had them from 3 days old and they were 4 weeks prem.

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