Dummy?

[bunhead34]

What are the benefits of using a dummy?
For a breastfed baby especially?
DD is 9 weeks old, and fusses a lot during the night, and waking up very early, wondering if a dummy could help?

You can certainly try it. I’d suggest trying something like a Mam dummy if you’re BF. I tried with DD because she was very fussy and had reflux..she would suck the dummy, realise it wasn’t a boob then projectile launch it across the room! She found her thumb eventually…but I wish she’d taken a dummy because they’re easier to give up than a thumb!

Wish I'd managed to get dc3 on a dummy. She's 6 and still thumb sucking. The dummy fairy visited dc1 and DC2 and left a lovely little gift for them in exchange for all their old dummies. We never looked back there. Dc3 now getting mouth/teeth issues....

Benefits - helps with self settling. Stops babies using your boobs as a dummy. Gives a load of comfort.

Drawbacks - can be a PITA to wean off them. They get lost a lot so you need a couple around the house and you need to wash them (also steralise them if baby is young). During the night the can fall out the babies mouth and they wake up missing them, which means you end up doing dummy runs during the night (until they're old enough to find it and pop it in themselves).

FYI I use dummies. There seems to be some sort of bonkers moral debate about using them on MN. Dont get drawn into it - use them if you want too.

Give it a try.
Tbh it us better than them finding their thumb. I swore off dummies after our 1st was such hard work to get off them but then ended up with 3 thumb suckers, 2 have caused damage to their teeth/jaws with it which will need correction. Thankfully 2 have pretty much stopped sucking but our 10 year old waiting on ASD assessment has proven very difficult to get out of the habit and the dentist has warned us he could end up with surgical correction if we can't stop it. A dummy you can simply take away, you just have to endure a rough period, can't take those thumbs away.

Ds was formula Fed but loved his dummy. One day when he was tiny tiny he was fed and changed and settled but screaming. I popped my finger in his mouth and he instantly settled so we gave the dummy. He had reflux as a baby though was pretty OK with it but I wonder if the dummy helped. Once he got nearer 1 we said only for sleeps, then not in the car then at just over 2 he started biting through them so it became a safety thing and we told him about the dummy fairy. He put his dummies in a box and in the morning he had a small present outside his door and never looked back.

Benefits - makes them happy, can help them last longer between feeds if they’re not hungry but feel “sucky” which can be helpful for refluxy babies.
Disadvantages - another thing to sterilise and keep track of, some people don’t like the aesthetics, can be difficult to wean them off, potential tooth damage if used for too many years.

I don’t know how people manage without dummies! Me and my 11month old daughter love them 🤣. The only time I hated them is when at around 5 months she would lose the dummy and it would wake her up but she couldn’t put it back, it didn’t last long though. In my opinion anything that helps you stay calm and happy is good for both of you

I never thought I would (my siblings and I hadn't had dummies, and my mother scorned them). But they were a godsend for DD.

She had one from 4 weeks until 18 months.

As a poster above mentioned, it's great for when she was feeling 'sucky' but not actually hungry.

From the age of 11 months onwards she only had it at night/to sleep. Taking it away at 18 months was fine, it took a few nights of her waking a few time a night but she settled.

Though even now, at 4.5 if she's sad she'll occasionally moan "I waaannnt a dummmyyy".

(we don't have one, and she wouldn't get one even if we did).

We didn't use one with either of ours and neither suck thumbs. Not sure what benefits are,.I think it's usual for b fed (and formula fed) babies to wake and fuss in the night though. I don't think dummies would particularly help, but you can try

Dummies definitely help with settling although don’t get me wrong they are not a magic wand.

There is also research which shows that using a dummy can lower the risk of sids.

There is also research which shows that using a dummy can lower the risk of sids

^ this is exactly why we started using a dummy for DD - yes it calmed her (and I believe allowed her to join 45 minute sleep cycles better over night), but the real pro factor was the suggested link between dummies and reduction of likelihood of SIDS.

@Opalfeet

We didn't use one with either of ours and neither suck thumbs. Not sure what benefits are,.I think it's usual for b fed (and formula fed) babies to wake and fuss in the night though. I don't think dummies would particularly help, but you can try

If you have no experience of using them and have no idea of the benefits, then why comment?!

@Letsallscreamatthesistene because I can and because the op said wondering if a dummy will help and in my opinion a b fed baby will wake up and fuss in the night regardless of whether they have a dummy or not

I also mentioned the thumb sucking because it's not a given that just because they don't have a dummy they will suck their thumbs. 🤷‍♀️Didn't realise I wasn't allowed to comment.

You can comment on what you want, though id assume you'd comment on something you had experience of. Seems bonkers offering advice otherwise.

We use the word "pacifier" along with "dummy". DD1 used to call DD2's dummy a "piece of fire".

Dummies for each of them helped a bit but were not the magic wand godsend I had been hoping for. Good luck OP.

So so so much easier to get rid of a dummy than thumb sucking. I've had 3 dds, all bf, all refused dummies and I had a god awful time getting dd1 out of the habit of sucking her thumb. Nothing wrong with dummies for sleep as long as you get rid once they're about 1. Didnt work for me but I know bf babies whove loved them so it can work.

We used one until about a year old as helped to get him to sleep / settle him when he was fussy but only used it for getting him to sleep or when he was really tired.

He stopped using them around a year old as we realised he'd not had one for about a week as he'd fallen asleep either breastfeeding or in the car so we hadn't needed one and we just put them all away after that with no fuss.

I used them for both my babies, DS1 from 4 weeks. I noticed a correlation between the sucky baby needing it, and my firstborn who wasn’t a sucky baby and slept well without nursing.

DS2 had one from the day he was born as he was sucky but not actually feeding. Indeed, he would suck anything that went in is mouth and was so efficient at nursing that I had overactive letdown within the first week!

I didn’t care whether other people liked the look of them or not, they worked for my kids and that’s all that mattered.

@Opalfeet

We didn't use one with either of ours and neither suck thumbs. Not sure what benefits are,.I think it's usual for b fed (and formula fed) babies to wake and fuss in the night though. I don't think dummies would particularly help, but you can try

But you didn't use one so how would you know?

Yes they help A LOT to settle a baby in the night. The big round Tommy ripped ones are the best in my opinion.

Tommy tippy not ripped!

@Letsallscreamatthesistene yes, I have experience of b fed babies that won't settle at night

[quote Opalfeet]@Letsallscreamatthesistene yes, I have experience of b fed babies that won't settle at night[/quote]
But......not using a dummy?

I have briefly tried to use one. I know lots of people who have. My point was b fed babies are just that...difficult to settle. I know lots of people who used dummies for sleep and their little ones were no better sleepers than mine ( if anything worse) once past the frequent night feeds.