Should I give her a dummy . . . ?

[RedPandaFluff]

DD is ten weeks old and in the last few days has started sucking her hands - the sleeves of her babygros are usually sodden! I'm breastfeeding and when I notice her doing it, I feed her, but she's not always hungry so maybe if it's a comfort thing I should give her a dummy?

Whether you give a dummy or not is your choice. Sucking her hands is quite normal. She has found them! She may do it more if she is hungry. I dont think this is a reason to use a dummy

My DD started this at 10ish weeks too, we thought about giving a dummy but didn't bother in the end, she's 16wks now and still sucking on her hands. Took me ages to work out the difference between hungry sucking and oooh i have hands sucking!

I don't have anything against dummies, my only concern is that it might be tricky to get it back off her again when the time comes!

For some reason I feel bad for her when I see her sucking away

If she's self-soothing with hands then you don't need one! :) they love their hands at this stage. Mine also does it when tired, has wind and needs any form of comfort

Get a gummee glove instead or the hand rattles if she’s sucking her hands.

I rather would give a dummy.

But that's because you can take a dummy away.

I ended up needing braces because of thumb sucking which can't be stopped especially at night.

@Surfer25 the babygro mitts cover her hands so she can't actually suck her thumb - agree that we definitely don't want her to do that!

Off to google gummee glove . . .

I personally hate dummies, mainly because a lot of parents seem to let their kids have them for years. My daughter sucked her thumb. She stopped when she started reception because she didn't want anyone to think she was 'a baby'. Her teeth are fine, but I imagine if she did it much longer it might have affected them.

yes it's a comfort thing for them.
1 of mine thumb sucked and still does age... 14!
other two had dummys. no problem removing and no teeth issues

Why are the hands of her babygrow still over her hands at 10 weeks? Id understand at night so she doesn't scratch her face but I think by now surely she's old enough to start discovering her hands without the mitts on xx

Our dd has dummies for bed/nap time, she spits them out just before she goes into deep sleep.

@muddypuddles12 we uncover her hands any time she's not napping - the hand-sucking seems to happen when she's in her next2me or Moses basket. She's always been a terrible face-scratcher

@RedPandaFluff Ah in that case yes, it does sound as though she's doing it for comfort.
You know that thumb suckers are often the best sleepers as they essentially use it in the same way as a dummy, without someone needing to constantly go in there and replace the dummy. She can find the thumb herself.
I was a thumb sucker for years and just outgrew it as I got older. My teeth have never suffered, in fact I never even had a brace and my teeth are pretty much perfect.

With regards to a dummy for sleep - my best friend is a sleep consultant and she advises to use dummy until baby is 11 weeks old and then to ditch completely, otherwise you risk being one of those people who
Is up 10 times a night putting the dummy back in!

@muddypuddles12 then that settles it - she's ten weeks, so for the sake of a week I won't bother!

Don't do it, it will be a nightmare to get rid of! My daughter had a dummy until age 3 and i was forever finding it in the night as she'd wake up when it fell out and I regretted ever giving it to her at times haha. When the time came to get rid, it was horrendous as she was obsessed with it and I felt like the worst mum in the world hearing her cry so much. Only took 3 nights but I never want to go through that again!

Obviously not everyone gets so attached and my example is a bit extreme, but if you can get away not giving the dummy, then try that first.

Good luck!

As you can tell, dummies are divisive! I was against but mine also sucked her hands and I was worried about her mouth (the shaking of it) so gave her a dummy. Getting rid of it really wasn't hard, 18months seems like a sweet spot for this.

Another downside of the hands is that because you can't take them away(!), when they're crawling it does mean even more dirt into the mouth. I think dummies are more hygienic. Also their hands won't get sore which is something else that happens with hand sucking.

@Flumpywoo but 3 nights of crying isn't that bad.

My DN is nearly 6 and her thumb is in her mouth almost constantly. Even if you tell her not to do it in the daytime, you can't stop her doing it at school or at night.

You can't remove her thumb!

At that age she will be affecting her teeth with constant thumb sucking

Ah very true, maybe the dummy was the less of the two evils!
My nephew had his until nearly 6 and my poor sister thought it would never go.
In the grand scheme of things 3 nights was easy, it was the nightmare of 3 years getting up in the night to find the dummy in the cot/bed and it being thrown/lost when we were out and about that was the hardest. She would actually have one in her mouth and one in her hand, so if “another dummy” (on the hand) went, we would need to find that as well! She is 5 now and i am so glad to be rid of it! Dummy was her best friend but now it’s her teddy.
But as others have said, maybe the thumb is worse as it is always going to be there x