Dummies - can someone help?

[usernoidea]

My son is 6 weeks old and becoming a regular thumb sucker.....many people are suggesting I use a dummy but I've always been really against them.....can any parents give advice please? Xx

Yeah my son gave his up when he was 3. It's was painless but we talked about it happening well in advance then one night he stopped asking for it and a week later talked about how he was a big boy so didn't need one (I think he needed us all to not mention it that first week).

Apparently, there is a genetic link to thumb sucking, it runs in families! My niece sucks her index finger and so did her dad. I find that really fascinating. Many babies start sucking their fingers before they're born. Seeing as you sucked your thumb, it is likely your baby will, too. I wouldn't worry about it - anything that gives comfort is fine imho.

My cousin is a thumb sucker so gave her kids dummies to try and avoid them thumbsucking ... They were absolute dummy addicts, and at 7 and 5 they still use their dummies sometimes. I think that if that addictive sucking gene is there it will find a way!
My DD is almost 2 and has a dummy at night and for long car journeys. She asks for it whenever she's tired or whingy (but doesn't get it in the daytime). It does drive me nuts but she sleeps well and can comfort herself in the night by finding it. When she was tiny and I was exhausted the dummy was a godsend instead of standing up rocking her for hours on end. We already talk about how dummies are for babies and I know in 6m or so she will have the language to understand it all and hopefully decide to give it up by the time she's 3 or so.

I was a thumb sicker, I didn't stop till I was 20!
My DD had a dummy from 6 weeks till she was 2.3, we had the dummy fairy visit. First night was horrendous, but after that she never looked back. She still talks about the dummy fairy, but doesn't ask for her dummy.
I'd say, based on my experiences, it's far easier to get rid of a dummy than stop thumb sucking. My parents tried EVERYTHING to stop me as a child.

Dummies are amazing. Used sensibly they won't affect speech or teeth (i.e. Mostly for sleep but it's ok to use when ill, scared, tired, car etc).

There's also a genetic link to needing braces. I think the dummy/thumb link is overblown. There's no actual research on it. It's a convenient way to make parents feel guilty as usual.

I've seen what happens to a thumb that's been sucked for years. It looks like a letter opener in the end, tapered to a flat nail. I think they do more damage to teeth too. A dummy isn't hard to wean away from. My daughter asks for it as soon as she gets into the house at the age of 4 but she doesn't kick up a fuss if I tell her it's only for PJ time. She has it for a couple of minutes when it's time for bed. A couple of minutes a day is better than thumb sucking out of habit for god knows how long.

I'd give my left arm for Ds to take a dummy but despite offering since he was 2 days old he just won't have it. Loves his bloody hand though and has been sucking his thumb recently (he's 17 weeks). Mil finds it funny which is the only thing I don't like about her. No one in my family have been thumb suckers. Both dp and sil were the suckers.

It isn't necessarily difficult to get rid of a dummy, I think it depends on how you use it and on the child. We gave one to my bf DS at about 8 weeks out of desperation when I had breastfeeding thrush. It was well worth it as it helped me heal, and meant he would self settle for naps.

We were always strict about only giving it to him for sleep. There were many times it would have made my life easier to give one to him while he was awake to stop him fussing, but my sister had so much trouble getting rid of my niece''s dummy I was really determined to keep it to a minimum. We weaned him off it completely and onto a comfort toy at about 10 months with very little trouble.