Am I making a mistake giving my child a dummy?

[Pinkflipflop]

I have been reading the 'crappy' advice thread and this comes up quite often.

Is it not ok to give a child a dummy? I really thought it soothed them but it seems to be old fashioned advice.

I was very much against a dummy. DH got one for ds after a lot of unsoothable screaming. It soothed him very well, and he didn't use it after three months, so all was well.

In retrospect, I am glad we got it, despite my worries about the possible problems for ds AND the disapproval of the world

Anything that helps your child get to sleep and you to be sane is a good. Thing. But make sure it's a sleep thing not a shut-up thing and once they can sleep well at night, take it away and let them learn to self-settle. Anything you give a child to suck needs to be limited or their teeth can be misshapen requiring years of expensive orthodontics (lifelong thumb sucker and brace wearer here)

Mine never wanted them, but were thumb suckers. At least you can take a dummy away.

Do it, I wish we had as DD is a determined thumb sucker now.

I agree with everyone else. I have a 6 year old DD who permanently has her thumb in her mouth, keeps getting told off by the dentist as its making her teeth protrude but stopping her is proving impossible!

Wish I had given dummies instead.

Nothing wrong with them
When used appropriately. Some
Babies are sucky babies.

I am quite ashamed to say I thought you had to give a dummy to a child because they liked the sucking sensation. My ds will often spit it out and I'll try to put the dummy back in.

He doesn't need it at night and just falls asleep.

Should I get rid of the dummy? I genuinely thought babies liked dummies and I didn't know it was controversial!

It works for some babies not all. For my friend it was a godsend to use one for her dd. My DS was never interested in it (preferred the boob)

You can take a dummy away, but it would be cruel to remove thumbs

Two of mine had them, my youngest wasn't interested, he just spat it out. I gave up offering it to him after a few days as he obviously wasn't interested.

Some babies find them soothing, some don't, my baby that didn't like a dummy didn't go on to be a thumb sucker thankfully!

Ps, are you the pinkflipflop? did you used to post on another profession related forum? [you won't know me I was a lurker] if you are, nice to 'see' you

I always swore no child of mine would suck their thumb as I was never stopped and its damaged my teeth.
DS had colic and sucking a dummy really soothed him. He gave it up by himself when he was 3 (was only allowed it at night by that stage)

One of my twins refused a dummy which made looking after her as a baby really difficult, but the obvious benefit was her ability to self soothe or go back to sleep if she woke up at night. The other twin was a dream baby because of the dummy but at 21 months now, and attempt number four I think, it has been horrendous getting her to give it up! Never mind the three days of cold turkey other people seem to speak of. We have just had two weeks of constant despair and screaming. We still haven't managed to wean her off them for sleeping, but at least she is without for most of the day now. It seems to be swings and roundabouts really. What it buys you in peace you pay for when you take it away. I'm undecided as to whether the next baby will have one.

I think I offered my two to swap their dummies for something else that appealed to them, something that only big boys who didn't have a dummy could have.

Good old fashioned bribery.

Well people do get all excited about stuff like this but seriously it does not matter if you do or if you don't.

And I could be making this up but I'm sure I read somewhere that they can help reduce the risk of SIDS

We never needed one but DS adopted a blanket to suck as teething started. Still in situ 6 years later. Is a genuine health hazard.

why would you not give a dummy to a baby if they want want and it soothes the baby?

Niether of mine suck their thumbs and niether now have a dummy either, they both gave them at by about 2 and a half and then they were only used for night time.

Pinkflipflop - if your DC isn't sucky and not interested I wouldn't bother. No point encouraging a habit that you'll have the hassle of breaking later.

They held reduce SIDS and if you have a baby who is feeding for comfort (DD wouldn't be put down!) then they are a life saver. I would have been walking around town holding her to my breast all of the time if it weren't for dummies!
Only thing I think I have noticed is that she won't talk as much when it is in. We try to use it for naps/bed only now but she has a secret stash and appears with them sometimes! Hoping to get rid of them totally by 3.

I'm on the cusp of giving my dd one at the mo and feel exactly the same. So far because she has colic and reflux I've used it to soothe her when she takes her screaming up a notch, as soon as she calms a bit I take it out. I've only used it once or twice. It's such a personal preference you have to do what's best for you and gage your own child.

I think it really isn't a big deal either way. I didn't even have any trouble getting rid of them.