How to get my baby to take a dodey

[Jemima14]

My little one is 5 months old & sucked her thumb from day 1. She has developed eczema & scratches & I would always keep one hand covered & her thumb free but I just can't anymore & now have to keep two hands covered - but its hard to take her thumb off her. She WONT take the dodey / dummy!

What could I put on it? I'm tempted to dip a bit of honey on, but have heard thats really bad - but just so she would take it initially & get used to the suck - any tips???

Could you modify some clothing so just one thumb is free?

Not honey! Babies under 1 shouldn't have it. Putting anything on dummies isn't recommended. I understand why you want your baby to have one but don't think you can force it.

Babies under 1 aren't allowed honey so please avoid that!

My dd wouldn't take a dummy for ages and I just ended up trying various different ones until I found one she liked (which happened to be a cheap Avent one). I think it's just trial and error, and some babies just don't like dummies. Hopefully you can find one she will like.

I've been using socks so far & have just ordered some scratch sleeves - I think I'd be worried a finger would get caught or something if I go messing trying to cut a hole for her thumb! I don't want to force it, its just she gets distraught when she can't suck & I end up taking her thumb out for a couple of minutes - and all it takes is a few seconds for her to scratch & draw blood :(

I did dip in calpol once & she sucked away - obviously wont be making a habit of that - or of any 'dip' - just while she got the 'suck'

I have pear & apple jam?? Would that be bad to try that do you think? I've heard gripe water but I cant seem to find any chemist selling it.

Why not just keep her nails trimmed and blunted? (File after trimming) Then she can't scratch herself.

Excma get her to the health visitor for oilatum (apologies if you;ve already done this)

But I wouldn't expect an easy transition from thumb to dummy. They aren't remotely alike lol.

My dd refused a dummy. She tried to suck her thumb but I wouldnt let her cs im mean like that lol. Some babies simply dont want them

I'd try and get the eczema sorted, my ds has it (well under control now) and at 5 months if I "missed" a nail would scratch really badly. I had a few hv and even gps who suggested socks etc but can you imagine having some incredible itch that you couldn't scratch? It must drive them nuts. If gp won't help ask for a dermatology referral. Sorry I'll get off my eczema soap box now, we had a bit of a nightmare getting ds' sorted!

I have a daughter with razor talons too. I use a nail buffing block (the "file nail" side) to keep her nails rounded and bearable, rather than clipping them. I have to do it more or less every day, otherwise both of us get covered in scratches!

Have been using Oilatum lotion too. It's lovely and seems to really help with the dry patches.

When you put the dummy in their mouth, tap the outside with your nail as it stimulates the sucking reflex.

Try cherry dummies to get them to take a dummy then switch to the ortho ones. For some reason, they will often prefer the cherry ones to start with.

For the eczema we used;

bath emolient
oilatum ointment

My LO would only take latex ones so we use TT orthodontic latex ones xx

Thanks for suggestions! What are cherry dummies? Is that the shape of them? I will persevere with it - I have a dummie box of all sorts & keep trying different ones. I have nuk, mam & one other one!

I keep her nails trimmed & filed but they still scratch. I am treating her eczema & have a dermatology referral which I'm waiting on & she reacts to oilatum! Another product for the bin!

We used these... www.lloydspharmacy.com/en/tommee-tippee-essentials-cherry-soothers-0-6m-14238

They are latex and cherry shaped. They're not the best for them, the ortho ones are better for teeth but like I say, DS got into the habit of them and then we changed them to ortho ones.

Give the E45 bath stuff a go instead of oilatum, we got it on prescription. I know what you mean about chucking product- i seriously considered giving 2L bottles of Diprobase/Doublebase as gifts we had that bloody many laying around the house.