To Dummy or Not to Dummy??

[missytequila]

My newborn is only 3 weeks but sometimes she goes through these fussy periods where she feeds for only 5 or 10 minutes... then wont settle then feeds again for 5 minutes and then again in half hour/hour..

Is it normal to feed so frequently, I am worried because the breast is the only thing that can calm her when she cries.

Am I wrong to just give boob when she cries everytime? Can I use a dummy?

What are your opinions/advice re dummies....

I found a dummy especially with dc2 really helped to soosth then for the sucky thing and meant that they would feed for a bit longer.
This was definitley out of necessity for me though as I was doing something with dc1 and i needed to finish would pop in a dummy and would hold him off hios feed just a few minutes. Also used one in the sling where he would be so close to the food he would get really whingey but with a dummy the sucking seemed to keep him content.

I'm no expert, but could it be wind?

I think officially your not suppost to use dummies whist establishing breast feeding (nipple confusion?)
However at 4 weeks I had to give DS a dummy as he was using nipples to comfort suck (ouch!). For us it worked and caused no breast feeding issues.

How is your babys weight doing? if lost alot post birth or not back to birth weight yet, could possibly why feeding lots?
Congrats on your baby, their hard work, but great!

missy i found ds was doing exactly what you have descibed and it was wind, i give him infacol and have found he settles between feeds.........

missytequila - I think it might help for you to call one of the bf helplines and talk about this.

It is normal to feed the way you describe, and it is normal for the breast to be the Number One source of comfort, and there is nothing wrong with the breast being used in response.

Dummies are not terrible things at all, and if a baby is gaining weight well and the mother is not restricting breastfeeding in any way then a dummy is less likely to interfere with sucking or milk supply... but hard to be really sure of this at 3 weeks. If you're giving the dummy because you think it's somehow unusual for a baby to feed the way she is feeding, then it's not such a great move, if you see what I mean.

My babies both did that, my first more than my second. I think the reason my first was more challenging is because I thought it couldn't possibly be normal and resisted it sometimes.

It is hard to have confidence in something that you are doing for the first time and that is SOOO important, when there is so much nonsense out there about how things 'ought' to be, but if you can try to just go with the flow and respond as and when, you'll tune into each other and work out how to fit your life around it and extend periods too.

hth

at three weeks absolutely not wrong - what time is this - if early evening its classic and totally normal. she establishing a good supply for you .

personally i'd say no to a dummy but some babies etc etc

My DD was co-sleeping and would suck all night if allowed - trouble is, she would be sick from milk she didn't really need in her tiny tummy. The dummy certainly helped with that, but she was already nipple confused and it's possible the dummy didn't help her get over that quickly, but impossible to tell. She was a similar age to yours when the dummy was introduced.

Problem is, the dummy works TOO well now and she is getting addicted to it, needing it in more and more situations. Not such a bad thing, perhaps, but it means we will have to wean her at some point and replacing the bloody thing fifteen times at 0400 when she loses it is a royal PITA. So, a mixed blessing in summary!

Incidentally, the nipple confusion did get sorted after a few weeks, although it took her until 11 weeks to finally start using a reasonable latch.