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Dummies and Cot death

169 replies

GingerBearingGifts · 09/12/2005 08:25

BBC Breakfast - report says that they reduce the risk of SIDS. But also that if you give a baby a dummy, not to take it away again as the risk increases more than for a baby who hasn't had a dummy.
So do we maintain a nightly vigil over the crib to ensure the dummy doesn't fall out?
And what about babies like mine who rejected a dummy outight?

OP posts:
blueshoes · 09/12/2005 17:19

urgh, aloha, just re-read my message and it came out as if I was mocking you. Not at all .

sparklymieow · 09/12/2005 17:22

By foundintransleightion on Friday, 9 December, 2005 10:44:37 AM

What counts as 'low birthweight'/'small at birth' btw?

I believe its under 5lb at birth.

gggimmesnowsnow · 09/12/2005 17:30

Some babies are going to die - but the odds can be stacked against them doing so.

The back to sleep campaign more than halved the numbers of children who died, and the feet to foot campaign pushed the figures down further. Ditto not smoking. They are now saying that the odds can be stacked still further by giving a baby a dummy - research has shown that the child is less likely to die if they have a dummy than if they have not (figures given in the research range from dropping from 25 to 75% iifc). Stacking the odds still further against SIDS. Doesn't everybody want to have as much information as possible on the subject, isn't that what the research is about? Trying to find the links, raise the odds, eradicate the causes.

How can this be scaremongering?

They are not saying that every baby who sleeps on his front, with smoker parents, using a baby nest and no dummy is going to die. But they are saying that these babies are at higher risk.....

gggimmesnowsnow · 09/12/2005 17:32

Eaney - if the baby is strong enough to roll herself onto her stomach, she is strong enough to wriggle out of danger if she has to - if she gets snuffly or too warm. It is very young babies who should not be put on their stomachs.

thecattleareALOHing · 09/12/2005 17:36

Enid, out of interest, if you had a ds like mine, dyspraxic, highly oral, who still at the age of four, and despite my best efforts, still mouths and licks objects, who was made much, much happier and more content because he was allowed to use a dummy, would you still be opposed to it? Even if the price was a much less happy child?
Would you forbid a child to suck their thumb?

thecattleareALOHing · 09/12/2005 17:38

As I say, one of my children did use a dummy, the other didn't. I think I was responding to their individual needs, and I'm glad I did. Particularly - and I didn't know this - because that boys and babies whose mothers had placenta praevia are at greater risk of SIDS than other babies anyway.

Hywel · 09/12/2005 17:57

To be honest this research has really upset me as it couldn't have come at a worse week. On Monday I've taken the dummy from my 7 month old daughter for the first time as it was causing her to have very disturbed sleeps (spitting it out up to 20 times per night and then crying for it back). After a very difficult first night she is now sleeping better than ever without it. But what shall I do give it back after all the hard work and initial upset? After reading the research I rang the FSID, they stated that the research did not state the following;

  1. Whether the babies affected were dummy users at all
  2. Whether the dummies were removed for the first time when death occured
  3. The statistical breakdown of ages and risk
  4. Whether they were from smoking families
  5. Whether they were low birth weights
  6. Whether they were co-sleepers
  7. Whether they were breast or bottle feed The only advise that they could comment on was, if your baby is a dummy user continue to do so up to the age of 12 months. This as you can see has left me in another dilema - do I give it back for 5 months?
PeachyPlumFairy · 09/12/2005 19:29

Honestly? (Peachy ducks) yep, I'd give it back.

Which dosn't mean that you should, only that I would.

Enideepmidwinter · 09/12/2005 20:05

aloha - honestly? I have no idea whether I would or not as it is a million miles from my own situation.

Don't care about thumb sucking - that is babies choice

foundintransleightion · 09/12/2005 20:14

cheers sparkly.
must catch up with rest of thread now

SarahOnTheRock · 09/12/2005 21:12

My DD has been a dummy user since she was about 6 weeks old but she goes to sleep with the dummy but then spits it out ...where do I stand ??? I was going to try and wean her from it but now I just don't know????

thecattleareALOHing · 09/12/2005 21:19

Hywel, I posted to you on the other thread. At seven months your baby is past the peak age for cot death anyway, and I would think that as long as you followed the other guidelines as much as you can then I would probably do what you are doing and feel confident in that choice.

The study said that parents should not replace the dummy if it fell out in the night.

If I only had my dd (who didn't want and wouldn't take a dummy) I'd probably assume that babies are fine without and no baby 'needs' a dummy. But my ds was entirely different in his needs (and gave up his dummy without any fuss or bother at all in the end).

thecattleareALOHing · 09/12/2005 21:20

Oh and a dummy was very much my ds's own choice! You can't force a baby to have a dummy, and ds was VERY vocal about wanting his! Just, in fact, as dd was pretty clear about not wanting one.

milward · 09/12/2005 21:23

sackache - it always strikes me as strange that when someone just states facts about the benefits of bf some people get really upset. Think if bf could be made in a factory everyone would hail it as the greatest thing for children. It's free & made by mums so it is always devalued in our consummerist society.
Mums need support to bf - happy to be a "stuck record" on that count.

eniddeepmidwinter - Would like to echo your comments on sackcloths experience. SC - Sorry it didn't go the way you wanted.

chipmonkeys37today · 09/12/2005 22:00

Sackache, the main reason why we get infections from raw meat is largely to do with the conditions in which cattle/poultry are reared and killed, not so much to do with the weakening of our digestive systems. Ever tried carpaccio? Also find it a bit strange that a human baby needs a dummy. I refused to give ds3 one but think I would give a potential dc4 a soother for other reasons!

ruty · 09/12/2005 22:20

forgive me if i'm sleepy and missing something but if the research did not take into account other factors like whether parents smoked or co slept, low birth weights or breast/bottlefed as Hwyel illustrates, how do we know having a dummy further reduces risks after the already known risk reducers are in place? I may be wrong and please tell me if i'm misunderstanding the research - but it seems unclear to me how much the dummies reduce SIDS after normal guidelines are followed.

Socci · 09/12/2005 22:32

Message withdrawn

CaptainDippyInTheSnow · 10/12/2005 09:52

Oh for goodness sakes - these things just float in and out of fashion - Like sleeping on tummy, swaddling, bottle / breast feeding, weaning at four months / six months etc etc etc - It is just another fad - All babies are different (my 2 couldn't be more different!!!) and each baby needs to be treated according to their own needs and personality. Next week they'll be telling us that dummies heighten the risk of developing learning difficuties after the age 15 or something.... Who cares ..... Really!!?

CaptainDippyInTheSnow · 10/12/2005 09:53

HURRAH FOR DUMMIES!!! btw - I have used them for sleeping / calming down with both of my DD's and I think they are wonderful - Yippee!! (Totally on your side sackache!!)

benny2 · 10/12/2005 17:43

And hurrah from me too!
(Also on sackache's side....bf is great for those who can...those who couldn't are always made to feel inadequate....)

ruty · 10/12/2005 22:26

i really don't see anyone trying to make anyone feel inadequate - milward was stating that there is not enough professional support or encouragement for breastfeeding - i know this from experience, at the crucial early stages when i needed help and didn't get it. Of course it is a personal choice, but evidence does suggest breastfeeding has important health benefits for babe and mum - and if those that point it out seem to be banging on about it i think they are only trying to readdress the balance.

Elf1981 · 10/12/2005 23:31

I think there is the tendency to misunderstand how upsetting it can be for women who haven't been able to breast feed for one reason or another. A close friend of mine could not breast feed. I'm breastfeeding my DD, and though I never harp on about breastfeeding, it always brings up the defensive side in my friend, mostly to quieten the voice in her head pointing out that she failed to do it.

Elf1981 · 10/12/2005 23:31

Failed being her words, not mine. I dont want to start a riot!

Harktheheraldcabewillsing · 10/12/2005 23:32

OH - M'GOD! SackAche - put a sock in it! Can I refer you to a counsellor with that nasty CHIP you've got there?

Milward - Too right! and no new 'report' will encourage me to use a dummy with a baby who's perfectly happy without something shoved in his gob 24/7!!!

Medea · 11/12/2005 09:39

Despite this new report, I'd still prefer not to use dummies. (Both my kids took dummies but I wish they'd been the kind of babies who didn't need them.)

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