Breastfeeding and Dummy Use

[MintGreenLife]

My DS is one month old (just) and so far breastfeeding has been going well for us. He had bad jaundice from birth and needed three lots of the light therapy, and feeding was key to the plan to help him get over the jaundice. He is still being seen for ‘prolonged’ jaundice, but no longer needs treatment.

At the moment he won’t sleep unless on me or DH, which means we are getting next to no sleep. When I put him down even after settling him to sleep on me he is so noisy - mostly grunting and straining, and this can go on for as long as you leave him in his crib.

Out of desperation we thought we would try a dummy, but I’m really worried about how this may impact his feeding. Has anyone breast fed and used a dummy without any issues? Thanks x

If he’s already nursing well then I would absolutely introduce a pacifier.

I introduced one at 4 weeks with DS1 and it took a while for him to get used to and then he was fine.

DS2 I introduced on the day he was born! He was so efficient at nursing that he could get milk out of a damn stone, and was a very sucky baby. Neither of them suffered with any “nipple” confusion, nor did my supply suffer.

If you know he’s feeding enough generally and is gaining weight then definitely introduce and see how you go. If babies are genuinely hungry they’ll cry if there’s no milk.

As long as the jaundice is dissipating then see if you can introduce when you know he’s sucking for comfort rather than food. Both my DSs were jaundiced as well so I understand.

With my first I did this as he was using me to suck on as well as feed, and it was too much. We never had an issue

We introduced a dummy to our breastfed baby around 2 weeks of age with no problems. Also took it away at 5 months with no problems either

Has anyone breast fed and used a dummy without any issues? Thanks x

Yep, DC1 got a dummy from about 4 weeks. DC2 about 24 hours. Both ebf to 6 months with no problem.

Brilliant, thanks so much everyone ☺️ Does anyone have any tips on getting him to take the dummy? Tried earlier a few times and he’s not keen so far x

Never had any problems using a dummy with my 2. But they took it straight away no persusasion needed.

I introduced one at 3 months because we were going on a flight. It worked really well for the flight and is handy for distressing times like car journeys or trips to A&E. She is a bit too keen on it now and I’ll have to think about taking away at some point but it has served us well and soothed her at times when she’s really needed it

It's fine to intro if the feeding is going well. However I have failed with all my kids to get them to want it and when they did take one they just spat it out so I'd end up getting up to put it back in. In the end I've given up and accepted I'm a human dummy for the first 14 weeks. I decided to follow the "fourth trimester" principle where you accept that they're just adjusting to the big wide world and just need the constant reassurance of a person cuddling them or being nearby. It's worth a Google if you are interested. It gets much much easier at about 12-14 weeks.

Yes my DS was bf and had a dummy from about 4-5 weeks. He was bf until he was 15 months with no issues. He actually gave up the dummy at around 18 months but I suspect it was due to the fact he had chicken pox and it was sore to have the dummy in his mouth more than anything.

In comparison my ebf DD refused a dummy completely. She ended up sucking her thumb instead. I wasn't particularly happy about that tbh, I would have preferred her to have a dummy. In the end she stopped with the thumb just before her 2nd birthday anyway.

DD was given a dummy in NICU and sucked it until she found and preferred her thumb at six months. No problems with BF although I did also introduce a bottle.

Tried getting DS to have a dummy and he point blank refused from birth. Just didn’t like it. Your little one may not take to it, sometimes they don’t.

All 3 of mine were EBF and had a dummy. Took well to the MAM ones x

Brilliant, thanks everyone ☺️

Re. Getting them to accept the dummy, I would try lots of different types - my little one preferred the bigger BIBS dummies (also made of natural rubber too) rather than the orthodontic ones (which are unnecessary before their teeth start to come through). Just a bit of popping the dummy back in as they sometime spit it out at the start.

From 3 weeks. Not one issue.
In fact I'd bet that helped her learn to take a bottle of expressed milk at 4 weeks too.
We exclusively bf till a year and she's been fine.