Snobby about dummies - were you?

[mears]

I have seen this expression in a few threads so thought it warranted one of it's own.

My first ds was never going to get a 'dummy' and I sat for hours at a time with my pinkie in his mouth thinking that was superior, then he got his thumb.

My second ds was a thumbsucker but contracted meningitis at 6 months and couldn't suck his thumb because he was so ill. He was in pain though and his mouth was getting dry sucking my pinkie so I sent dh to buy him a couple of dummies - a yellow one and a green one. He looked really cute and more importantly got comfort from sucking.

My third ds was premature and I had bought dummies because I knew he would be in special care in an incubator. He didn't need them because he was on a ventilator for a week! When he did start feeding he was settled in between initially but when we got home I used it if I was too busy to breastfeed straight away. I stopped him at 8 months by not replacing it when it burst. He never did find his thumb.

My last baby dd also got a dummy because she was stuck in an incubator under phototherapy needing exchange blood transfusions due to incompatable blood groups. She stoppd about 9 weeks when she got her thumb.

Contraversially I much preferred the thumb sucking because they could find it themselves during the night. None of them have buck teeth by the way.

The point to this ramble is that some babies definately are comforted by sucking. As long as they are not restricted at the breast within the first few weeks and are fixing properly, there is no reason why they can't have a 'comforter' which is a much better term.

I think I may just be a snob generally!! Honestly though, hated the idea of dummies but going to boarding schools and seeing 14/15 year old girls sucking their thumbs and stroking their noses with bits of rag..NOT NICE. So it was dummies form e, but a vow that dummies would be gone by the time they could walk! None of them wanted them beyond 9/10 months and ditched them themselves...

DS2 still has milk in a bottle at night and in the morning (when noone will see) but cups only in the day...THat said, was horrified to see a mum in Cardiff give her son with dummy, aged about 4, still in a pushchair, a bottle she'd filled with coke and a packet of skips. I have a real problem with crisps, especially the wotsits, skips kind...Almost phobic in fact..

I too was a dummy snob until dd was 6 weeks old, hadn't slept and was desperate. Of course by then, she just spat the thing across the other side of the room. Eventuillay found her thumb, though and abandoned that last winter (aged 3) when it became all red and scabby.

Tried ds with a dummy at 1 week and he spat it out aswell, just used me for 6 months instead.

Now I don't think badly of anyone who gives their child a dummy (although, now that the early baby memories are fading, I am probably a bit smug that mine haven't had them)