Dummy/soother size help for first time mum please!

[Sophie2309]

Hi everyone, I am due my first baby in just over 5 weeks time.... I am planning on using dummies and would like to try get my baby to accept the tommee tippee brand bottles and soothers.

I have noticed that for young babies, you can either get 0-2 months, or 0-6 months dummy size. Is there any difference? Is it worth getting the 0-2 month at first then the 0-6 or are they both the same size and just another way tommee tippee tries to get more money out of parents?

Any help would be much appreciated

Thanks in advance :)

I always go for the smallest size possible because I think it looks a bit uncomfortable having a huge bit of plastic pressed into their podgey little cheeks. Although that's probably me overthinking things!

I would highly recommend the glow in the dark ones for night time too - makes them easier to find and helps the baby figure out where it is when they get a bit bigger, so they don't have to keep waking you up in the night to look for it!

I used to be dead against dummies until MiL insisted I try one with dc1. They were amazing for calming down both my babies when they were tired/sick/colicky/refluxy/teething and I'll 100% be using one for dc3.

My two had dummies, both were sucky children (I breastfed) and they saved my sanity a few times. Removed later with no real drama.

As for breastfeeding, you say you feel a bit funny about it all, which is fair enough. Why don’t you do one or two feeds after she’s born and see how you go, colostrum is full of antibodies and all kinds of good stuff for baby. However, see how you go.

As for dummies, I used the mam newborn ones, the others all seemed too big for their mouths.

Fwiw breastfeeding is a lot less hassle than preparing bottles. Also makes life easier if your newborn gets poorly less often, and its a useful tool to have in your arsenal for soothing them if they do get ill, or are just upset.

😂😂 preparing bottles is hardly hassle ffs.
And insinuating that bottle feeding will make OPs baby more likely to be poorly 🙄

She didn’t ask for opinions on how to feed her baby. Why do you feel the need to criticise?

I bottle fed my first and breastfed my second. I wouldn’t bother doing it again, it’s painful, tiring and quite frankly a pain in the ass that no one else can help feed the baby.

OP you crack on with the dummies and do what you think is best, way too many judgemental people on here!

@SparrowNest yh I've seen a few leaflets about hand expressing it, may try practise before she is born and see if I can harvest some for her

@Trinpy my whole family is dead against them too other than my sister but as I see it, my baby my choice aha! I bought two packs, the normal clear plastic ones, and then a pack of nighttime ones for that very reason aha!

@BlueCookieMonster thanks hun, my Nan did say to me I might totally have a change of heart once she is here and want to exclusively breastfeed, time will tell I guess. You saying that though, it probably would be worth trying her and see how I feel when actually feeding her and go from there. I have bottles and milk packed in hospital bag ready so either way she'll have something for her ready. But yeah, I may try and see how I feel

@TwilightSkies Thanks for your reply I didn't read the other posters comment in that way so don't worry about it, it's totally fine

I'm used to doing bottles so they aren't an issue for me, but everyone's different aha. That's another thing that puts me off though, the fact it can be sooo painful, and I have sensitive nipples as it is lol. That and yeah the fact that no one can help feed baby, only me. So if I need a wee, it's tuff. Or it means family members can't rob her for a few hours (we all babysit each other's kids lol, this is my first but I often help with cousins, used to with siblings etc). Means my partner can't really help much either, bottles mean he can bond with her more too I think. I go back to work January too, but long story short she will be with me all day as I work with children from my mums house lol. But even then, if she's being a madam and wanting to latch on all day long, means I'll struggle trying to work too, answer the door to parents etc. Bottle feeding, I can put her down, or answer the door with her in my arms etc so the pros on the practicality side of things really outweigh the cons for me.

As I've mentioned in other replies though, I may completely change my mind once she is actually here... I may end up wanting to breastfeed, but it just isn't my plan at the moment, I may try give it a go and see how I feel, but I'm not getting my hopes up/fussed if it doesn't work out if that makes sense?

I have seen the Mam soothers, they seem quite flat on the teat so those or the avent ones will be my go-to if she doesn't accept the tommee tippee ones

I always liked the leaflet the nct produced about reasons to be proud (www.nct.org.uk/sites/default/files/related_documents/Reasons%20to%20be%20Proud%20FINAL%20WITHOUT%20BLEED.pdf) and it talks about the benefits for even just the first feed. It’s just quite sweet.

Of course, just take it one step at a time. You can always try after she’s born, and go from there. Have you got one of those starter packs? They’re pretty handy for a hospital bag.

My youngest hated the tommee tippee ones, my oldest loved the damn things.

Just make sure whatever you get is likely to stick around a while, so perhaps get a mainstream brand and not a fancy one. My oldest used some odd brand (I can’t remember now) that were supposedly special breastfeeding ones. Then five months later the company stopped making them 🤯. Luckily, oldest took to a different brand no problem.

OP you sound very well informed on everything. Absolutely your choice, all of it. Reading your posts, I think you’ll make a lovely mum. 😊

We have both SIDS and thumb-suckers in the family, so used dummies for sleep times from early on. We only use them at night time now, at 14m.

Absolutely second the glow in the dark dummies for night time. Saved my sanity.

We tried the TT ones but our DD wasn’t a fan. Someone on here suggested cherry-shaped ones when I was pregnant, which we did get and they seemed to stay in her mouth much better. Also seemed to help with reflux. We had the NUK ones and they come in two sizes. Would recommend getting both.

More by chance, we ended up with 5 identical dummies and rotated them as they fell on the floor/under the cot etc. They were all the same shape but different colours and some glowed in the dark while others didn’t. This seemed to have stopped DD getting attached to one specific one. Also less of a chance to pierce them by gnawing with those first teeth!

@BlueCookieMonster Thank you I'll have a read of that and I've got those complete feeding set from tommee tippee so I've packed the small 5oz bottles, and I got some of the ready made aptimel milk that just pour into a steriliser bottle and it's ready to go. Got those as much easier than faffing with hospital kettles etc to use the powder formula aha. I do have some powder ready at home, but not taking it with me.

@BlueCookieMonster I've got the standard shaped ones from tommee tippee, the orthodontic type ones so I should be ok aha. I have seen the weird bottle teat type ones that can see into babies mouth with but I find them super weird!

@StargazyDrifter Aww thank you so much, I do hope so😊

Sorry to hear that about the SIDS 😔. My mum was hot on me and my siblings when we began thing sucking and stopped us from doing it, my 1 yr old twin cousins did have a tendency to suck their fingers for a while though. That's my plan when I begin to take them away, go to nap times only (no more settling in between feeds etc, only at sleeps), then at bedtime only then not at all. I've got some nighttime ones thankfully for the glow in the dark side of things to help find them lol! I got two packs, one plain plastic, one nighttime pack of 2, so I have 4 0-2 month dummies and 1 0-6 dummy that come with the TT complete feeding set that I have. If she takes to them, I'll buy more as I don't want her getting attached to a specific dummy for its pattern or colour etc. So once she's accepted them, or another brand if needed, I'll definitely be getting several more to try avoid that happening 😊