Thumb 's dummy

[Sparrowlegs248]

DS is 4.5 wks and EBF which i am finding quite demanding. Also feeding often at night and not settling in his basket.

He has recently found his thumb. Often he seems to comfort suck on me, no swallowing.

We planned not house a dummy but am wondering if it would be preferable to thumb, and if he would gain comfortvfrom iy and give me a break

Thumb V's dummy...

I always reckoned it would be better to use a dummy as you can take a dummy away when they get older but you can't take away their thumbs. Spoke to a dental nurse friend who said thumb sucking is usually worse for teeth development than dummies, as dummies as mostly all 'orthodontic' flat design now.
Some people are very against dummy use, but I introduced one to ds at one week old and it was a game changer! Really helpful to settle him. He still sucks his thumb/fist sometimes but his arm jerks away and he gets frustrated.

I would always rather have a dummy than the thumb. As pp said it's better for their teeth and you can take it away. There were 14 year olds at my school that would still suck their thumb! Ds is 20 months and loves his dummy-it's made for some really good nights sleep. I'm not sure why there seems to be so much snobbery around them tbh.

Also- it was a life saver when ds was little as he'd comfort suck on me indefinitely.

I'd rather a thumb as you don't have to keep going in to put the dummy back in . Plus you can't lose a thumb and always have it to hand, literally.
However DS has had a dummy from day 5 of life and is only this week starting to find his thumb, the joy!! (He's 13 weeks now)

I don't know what I have against a dummy, just feel that i would prefer not to use one.

However, I am struggling. DS is 5wks on Friday. DH out at work 5 am - 6pm and not really able to settle DS when he is here, if he gets unsettled he wants to bf regardless of when he last fed. I wonder if a dummy would enable him to settle while laying down or when with DH to give me a break. Its been pretty much me 24/7 for 5weeks and at the moment i feel it would be easier on my own as at least i wouldn't expect DH to have an input. Which is a bit unfair as he can hardly bf. But also he's not great at coping with crying/grizzling.

Try the dummy. Honestly op, I agonised about giving ds one when he was tiny but it really helped him settle. I'm currently trying to get dd (5.5 weeks) to take a dummy as she can be quite hard to settle and I simply can't have her attached to me at all times because I have ds (20 months).

I'm going to mothercare tomorrow to look at pushchairs so will have a look at dummies too. Any sort better than others?

My ds lost so much weight because he was comfort sucking on.me rather than feeding the we ended up in hospital for 5 days.
We gave him a dummy on the recommendation of the midwives.

They say the nuk soothers are the best for breastfed babies but my ds will take nothing to do with them or any of the small, flat ones that are recommended! He likes the standard tommee tippee soothers you can buy in supermarkets (the teats are long and kind of wedge shaped. Costs about £5-£6 for two)
I think these are them www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00LSN8KQY/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1440605842&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=tommee+tippee+soothers+0+3&dpPl=1&dpID=41eTSot45EL&ref=plSrch

But think these are the kind more recommended
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B007G98SA2/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=1440605842&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX110_SY165&keywords=tommee+tippee+soothers+0+3&dpPl=1&dpID=41sLGyOII6L&ref=plSrch

Hope those links work!
Cherry teats are the ones that cause problems with teeth. They tend to be the cheapo ones you can buy in corner shops.

Just a word of reassurance about not having a dummy = thumb sucking. It isn't a far gone conclusion that babies who don't have a dummy will suck their thumb.

My two girls didn't have a dummy, the oldest found her thumb and sucked it for a few days then never again, my youngest never did it. I've six nieces and a nephew, none of them had dummies and none of them suck their thumbs.

If you went one to help settle your baby go for it but I wouldn't worry unnecessarily that not having one will inevitably lead to thumb sucking