Anyone regret giving a dummy? And anyone done it after 5 months?

[Bumperlicious]

Apols, I have done a dummy thread before.

Has anyone regretting giving their dc a dummy? Dd2 is nearly 5 months & not a great sleeper. She needs a long morning nap which she does beautifully at home in her hammock. If she doesn't get it she is crabby and fights sleep for the rest of the day.

If we are out and about she is not very good at staying asleep, takes her ages to get of and if the (usually car) journey isn't long enough she will wake when we stop and rarely go back to sleep in her car seat. This makes life awkward as i basically have to chose between a social life or a happy day.

Dh reckons we should try a dummy. We half heartedly tried when she was tiny to no avail. I have read so many threads on here about what a PITA the arse they are, & I seem to remember having to replace dd1's in the middle of the night. Plus the hell of getting rid of it at 2.5. Dh doesn't think it was that bad and is encouraging one.

Fwiw I don't have anything against dummies, couldn't give a toss what other people think if I use one, but would tend to keep it for naps. My issue is that I don't want to use one if it is going to make life more difficult. What do you think? More hassle than they are worth or a life saver?

I posted on you other thread - but hey, I'll post here too in the hope of bumping for you.

Not a fan here - think they cause more probs than they solve, especially if you mean is it a good idea to use one for naps - as soon as it falls out and your baby enters a light sleep cycle they will wake up looking for it IME.

That said, my DS would scream the house down for hours every evening without a dummy. I would say only use them if incessant crying is a problem, or you havea baby that's impossble to settle any other way. In which case it's probably a comfort to everyone concerned...

I used to give DS1, cos he was a screamer, and giving it to 3 month old DS2 occasionally, if that's easier for him to settle. Both were/are FF and it says that due to being bottle fed they need additional sucking time.
My DS1 was weaned of dummy at 1.5yo within a week, so I see no probs with dummy at all.

Thanks, she's not really a screamer but she is a sleep fighter. It's one of those things that could either save my sanity or send me over the edge!

I gave my daughter a dummy when she was a few months old because she wasn't settling well, similar to your DD. It seemed to help her for a while. But then we found that she was waking up when it fell out in the night. So, it was causing as many problems as it solved.

We got rid of it at about 9.5 months old and she slept through since then. I don't know what things would have been like if we'd never given it to her, of course.

Some babies do seem to need to suck more than others, so I wouldn't rule it out for other babies.

If I were you, I would see if I can use other methods to help her settle first - but if you do choose to give her a dummy, try to get rid of it at around 12-18 months, not 2 1/2.

Have you tried a taggie, comforter or teddy bear, something like that?

One thought, bumper, if you are going to use one - how about just giving it to your DD to calm her down and get her almost asleep, but removing it from her mouth before she is really completely gone? That's what I've been trying to do with my DS these last few days. Doesn't always work but if he's being vigorously bounced sometimes it does.

Problem is, apart from when falling asleep in her car seat or sling she still needs to be swaddled or she doesn't settle. I'd prefer her to suck her fingers or something (know that's not ideal but she'll not lose them!) but she gets to distracted by her hands or startles when not swaddled.

The dummy fairy took our dummies away two weeks ago. Dd is 2. I swore blind I'd never use one as I'd seen teeth affected by them when I worked as a dental nurse.

I soon gave in when dd was comfort breastfeeding and so she had one at 3 weeks. From then on she was heavily reliant on it to sleep. If you can get by without it, I would. You've come this far.

My experience was that at around 8 months dd would wake up for the dummy and I'd have to go in searching for it. My dd has always been a terrible terrible sleeper and the dummy made no difference to that part. It just made her quiet but still awake!

2 years on I noticed her front teeth were pushing forward so the dummy fairy came that day!

I don't regret using it as it saved me through breastfeeding but it wasnt a sleep aid.