How soon did you give a dummy?

[Twinkletwinklelil]

Can we give a dummy from birth?
I want to combi feed but don’t want to be the babies dummy like I was with my last!

DS1 2 weeks. I was never going to give my child a dummy..
He gave it up at 4 before starting school.It was useful and I had no regrets.
DS2 flatly refused to have one.
Both fully BF

People saying that it's better for dummy than thumb. Even if they have a dummy they can still find their thumb. My friends bairn did .

My midwife suggested you could do it from day 1 as she was not really in favour of mothers becoming dummies for their babies. She said it just made the whole breastfeeding journey needlessly hard if you were pinned down under a baby who was suckling for comfort and not food. She said that babies who have dummies can sooth with the dummy and then will spit it out when then they are hungry. I breastfed till dd was 18 months and she had a dummy from the second day at the hospital as she was a very sucky baby. We got rid of the dummy at 2 and she has brilliant speech (in 2 languages!) and her teeth are fine according to her dentist.

There are still term babies in NICU, just so you know!

I did after about 2 weeks with my second and she was EBF. From birth is maybe a little early but from when you know she's feeding well and your milk has come in it's fine

Straight away , my hospital actually recommended them due to the possible help against SIDS

Within days!

DC was lactose intolerant and it helped his tummy. Significantly reduced vomiting and pain.

Hospital recommended it. It was brilliant!

As soon as you feel is necessary from birth

Nothing wrong with dummies at all

DS1 - 3 weeks old I think?
DS2 - day he was born! That kid could have sucked milk out of a rock and didn't care what he was sucking on as long as he could suck.

I never had any opinion on pros/cons of them. As far as I was concerned, if it helped me rest, recover and stay sane in the early days, then I would deal with whatever came after (weaning them off it).

DS1 gave his up around 1, when all four top/bottom teeth came in.
DS2 gave his up around 3 (used just at night).

Also had no issues with nursing - I introduced a bottle of expressed milk once a day from 2 weeks old with both, once I knew feeding was established and both were gaining weight.

Neither had any trouble going between breast/bottle/dummy.

Day 2. I feel like dummies must be one of the oldest inventions known to humanity!

Mine didn't take them. Dc1 was in nicu and they tried to get him to take one, but he wouldn't. I made them stop trying after seeing a nurse holding one in his mouth whole he struggled to get it out when I arrived.

Dc2 I tried at several points because I was a human dummy for dc1 and wanted to avoid that. I couldn't see how I would have the time with two. So I tried once a week for about 8 weeks. She was having none of it.

So be prethat it might not work whenever you try!

*be prepared

DS1. Day after birth ,gave it up aged about 2
DS2 At about 2 weeks and lost his aged about 3
Absolutely no drama loosing their dummies,perfect teeth etc

My son was given one in NICU, I can't remember which day but he was in there for a week, I didn't have any say in it. But I definitely didn't want him to suck his thumb, every kid I know who has done this has ended up wearing braces for years. My son had his dummy until he was 3, and his teeth are perfectly straight.

It is easier to break the dummy habit than thumb sucking. My daughter wouldn't give up her thumb until the dentist told her it was affecting the roof of her mouth. We weaned our son off the dummy by saying no dummy outdoors. I'd put it out of sight and he started forgetting about it

Bloody hell, the judgemental bullshit on here.

Dummies are fine. DD had one from birth and we successfully BF until she was 14 months. No teeth issues, and no rods or backs were harmed in this process.

None of my three kids had one.

Genuinely curious as to why you would click on the thread to answer then?

I am too @GrumpyCactus

A reason other than smug judgery, that is. <waits patiently>

Day three with our first as I couldn't breastfeed and he wouldn't sleep without something to suck on. Saved us all from going insane from lack of sleep.

Interesting! I sucked my thumb for years and needed braces because of it. My thumb also now dislocates on command which is a fun party trick 😂

used MAM ones from day 2 and it was a godsend for those early days as he would scream if he wasnt on the breast. but i wasnt consistent with it (only used at night to help him sleep) so by week 8 or 9 he refused to take it. not sure how i feel about that because while i'm glad he doesnt need it now, when poorly after jabs it could have really helped

My dc is in his thirties now and I had no intention of giving him a soother but I was quite ill after his birth and he was taken to the nursery at night (I was unable to lift him from his crib and needed someone nearby while I held him in case I became weak), after his second night in the nursery a laughing nurse brought him back to me, she told me the matron had actually walked to the local corner shop and bought him a soother despite having always preached against them, he did have an exceptionally powerful pair of lungs. He had one until he was two years old when his 14 year old uncle told him he'd have horrible teeth if he didn't throw it away. I never regretted him having it, it really soothed him when necessary.

The thing is you have no way of knowing whether you would have needed braces anyway regardless of whether or not you sucked your thumb.

Obviously not a scientific survey, but all I can say is that neither I nor my DC needed braces despite all being enthusiastic thumb suckers and that my dentist told me it would do my DC no harm.

I'd be interested to see if there is any research on the subject.