dummys?

[CharliesMummyMeg]

I didnt/havent given my ds1 a dummy - did a little when he was newborn but never carried on with it - dont know why just didnt did you give yours a dum dum? if not why?

Didn't with DD as she wounldn't have anything other then a nipple, but I wasn't keen on her having one anyway so didn't really persaver with it.

DS has never been a sucky type baby and didn't need one so didn't see the point in ever trying one.

first three didnt have one, ds4 sucked his thumb, dd has a dummy, she is 15mths and its just for sleep time now or when in pushchair/carseat, she needed one or i may have gone slightly mad! we call it a 'num num' in our house

Was encouraged by my health visitor to use a dummy with my son. We used one and it was a nightmare to get wean him off it, he got so attached to it, we managed to wean him down to just night and finally weaned him off it completely when he was 3 and a half. It has however damaged his baby teeth, they are almost shaped around his dummy, despite having it only for bedtime. With DD we did not try to encourage any sort of comfort, but she developed her own comforting techniques, she has one of those "taggies" which she suck and cuddles in bed, there is no problem with weaning her off it as she only has it in bed and there is no health problems associated with it, so she can just grow out of it when she is ready.

We didn't use one. I wasn't that keen as I didn't want a fight weaning her off in the future, I would prefer she sucked her hands (as they can't get lost and don't need me to put them in her mouth), and I didn't want dd choosing between sucking and vocalising. We bought some dummies in case I changed my mind at 3am, but we never used them.

It has been ok (dd is 10 months now), the downside is that any time dd isn't feeling well she wants to spend hours bfing to comfort herself. I'm not sure if we'd do it the same again, because there have been some really hard nights because of this. That said, maybe it will pay off when we don't have to wean her off the dummy later.

I have a friend who's baby had (and still has) a lot of extra night wakings because her dummy falls out and she can't resettle without it. That would be a big downside for me.

Gave both my DC a dummy.

DD weaned herself off it after a month and a half (when her teeth started coming in).

DS lost his after about 6 months and barely noticed. He hasnt had one for months now.
I know I've been lucky though as friends and family have had a nightmare weaning their children off it.

We did and it was a godsend especially with sleep training. Did not use it much during the day and she gave it up of her own accord when she was 6 months - just wasn't interested in them anymore and would spit it out if offered. However she is very attached to a blanket, and still loves her nightime bottle and is nearly 2!

Both mine have one.

DS is now 3.5 and only has his at bedtime, but his baby teeth are misshapen despite us being really strict about it only being for bedtimes from about 6months. BUT I wouldn't have survived newborn hell and colic without it. Will wean him off eventually but we've just had a new baby and a massive move so figured we should let things settle first.

DD is 15weeks (ish?!) and has hers more and more, which I'm frustrated at myself for - she still wakes frequently in the night but to feed rather than for the dummy (cried if given dummy then will feed for a good 20mins) and I'm trying hard not to get into the habit of her having at night because I fear even more wakings when it falls out. When napping she seems to pop it out quite quickly and she has it constantly in the car - I think we've become too attached and maybe give it to her quicker than we need to as sometimes she's fine just sucking on her fists.

FWIW I hate them for no real fathomable reason but they have made my life bearable easier and I reasoned that you can at least wean them off a dummy by cold turkey taking it away, much harder to do that with a thumb

I hadn't planned to give DS a dummy but he had a serious operation when he was 3 weeks old for which he had to be starved for a day in advance. It was the only way to calm him down. We carried on with it afterwards and he still had it at bedtimes when he was about 3yo. Few problems self-settling, great sleeper, no problems with speech, his teeth were fine and his adult teeth are perfect.