Freaked out over dummy

[jacobsgirl]

Hi i know this will seem mental and over bearing but I'm a FTM and I'm not sure what's okay and what's not

So my wee one is nearly 7 months old and his been in his own room for about 2 weeks

He does great sleeps in a sleeping bag , feet to foot , on back , no problems

I thought my sids knowledge was pretty good as it's something I've had severe anxiety about since he was born

However today a cot safety page I follow on Facebook posted a "spot the dangers"

I got them all but one.

The baby didn't have a dummy in its mouth and this was good for reducing sids

My little boy hated a dummy from about a month old and he just won't have one at all but now I'm so paranoid that this is my bad parenting and I should've pushed the issue

Does anyone else's little ones dislike a dummy ? Is it okay he doesn't sleep with one ?

Erm lots of people's babies don’t use dummies. We certainly didn’t with our twins.

Of the 8 babies in my NCT group only one used a dummy.

Don’t panic, all these things are about balance. There are several good reasons not to use a dummy.

I vaguely remember something about dummies and SIDS but honestly, the difference is negligible I'm sure. You're not letting your child down by not forcing a dummy onto them. And you won't have to scrabble around at 2am, night after night, searching for the bloody things either

It never even crossed my mind having one was something for safety! Just that time of night and I hit a panic

Thanks so much I feel better x

I don't think there's a lot of evidence either way about dummies. We got DC to take one just in case, but there's not enough evidence there that I would worry if he didn't like it.

Here is some more information for you, more informative than the Facebook post hopefully.

*Gummy
*
Thank you so much for the link - just had a quick skim and it's made me feel so much more at ease x

Awww, OP! It gives a small reduction to SIDs for newborns. I can't remember the exact reason though. Your ds is 7 months old, able to move around, pull things from as well as put things on his face, the SIDs risk is really reduced now. As long as you keep his cot clear of things he could choke on or get tangled in, and check his body to make sure he is a pleasant temperature, you will be doing everything you need to

The dummy advice is only for when a baby is under 6 months so don’t worry about it for your baby. They don’t say that you should use a dummy but there’s some mixed research. Lullaby trust advise stop using it between 6-12 months which I think is just developmental

Don't worry, your baby is too old for this to be a concern OP. I think that the research for younger babies shows that if you use a dummy you shouldn't stop until over 6 months. Sounds like your baby is as safe as can be! And the risk is going down every day for him.

My daughter didn't have a dummy, not sure she would have taken one as she refused all bottles too. I don't think you need to worry about it.

First thread I’ve seen about a baby not taking a dummy - they are usually about people (like me) trying desperately to get rid of them!

I don't think it's really possible to push the issue and make your baby take a dummy. My ds has one sometimes. Sometimes he will take it, sometimes he won't. Sometimes he will take it and keep it in til he falls asleep, sometimes he pulls it out and tries to put the wrong end back in. Every single time he falls asleep with it in, after a few mins he stops sucking and it naturally falls out. We cannot make him keep it in. So although I'm aware it's linked to safer sleep, I'm not sure there's much anybody can do about it, just it's a bonus if your child will take one.

Dummies are considered generally pretty bad as they distort teeth growth. And can be difficult to get kid to give it up so you end up with an idiot looking four year old still sucking a dummy with bucked teeth.

So not using a dummy is perfectly fine. You are being a bit daft and flapping.

Most people I know consider dummies bad parenting and didn’t use them. Fortunately no one I know has lost a child to sids. Ultimately there really isn’t anything that you can do if your baby refuses to have one so I would suggest that you don’t worry about it.

I think the issue is more that if your newborn has a dummy, then you shouldn’t take it away before 6 months. Rather than them never having one

I was very fearful of sids as my sil DD died due to it. But you need to relax a bit the chance of sids is much lower now as long as it's a comfortable warmth, any blankets are not covering the chest, they don't have a pillow and are on Thier back with the cot without any soft toys in you have very little to worry about Sid wise. You can always get a mention detector thing which monitors breathing but really just get a baby monitor xxx