Dummies

[DeeSee]

My husband and I have a baby boy who is almost 3 months and lately, he has been more unsettled. He'll want to be held, but then cries not too long afterwards. He's OK with you reading to him briefly. He loved being in the pram, but now cries whenever he's in it. There's nothing wrong with the pram, nothing sharp sticking out, he has plenty of space in there etc. His naps have been more difficult as it takes him longer to settle, but even, he doesn't sleep for long.

He has a swing that so far, he is content with, but I don't want him spending all day on it.

I couldn't figure out the change, but then my husband mentioned that the other day, he offered our baby a dummy (we had bought it, but was debating if to introduce a dummy in the future) as he was preparing his bottle and it wasn't ready yet and the baby was getting more upset. Apparently our son would spit it out, but my husband would keep offering it to him and eventually the baby kept it in his mouth and when the bottle was ready, he removed it and offered the milk. He asked if that's why our son has been more unsettled because he wants the dummy.

Could that be the case? If it is should he have a dummy?

Could it just be him going through a growth spurt? Weather? Anything else?

We were debating because we have read different things about the pros and cons with dummies. It reduces the risk of SIDS, gives the baby comfort, but it can cause problems with teeth and speech.

Any help would be great at this point.

Never had issues with teeth or speech, but I never allowed it to be constantly in their mouth.

A dummy was a good comfort for both of mine.

Babies can go through a fussy stage, it's been boiling.
could also be some early teething, both mine popped a tooth at 4 month but seemed to be teething for awhile before.

if the dummy helps him keep calm then I don't see the issue.
happy baby, happy parents.

Dummies are good comfort for babies, if they’re happy to take them it often makes settling and sleep a lot easier. The main downside is that they can’t put it back in themselves until ~6-7 months so before then they can be ready to sleep through but still have you up to replace it for them. And then every time you leave the house you need to take loads of them for when they inevitably get dropped. So yet another thing! Teeth and speech will not be an issue if it’s kept solely for sleep especially after age 1 and dropped completely at 3.

Three months is when they start to wake up to the world and can get fussy about certain things. Doesn't mean he wants a dummy, it's just that dummy is calming.

Dummies are great for bottle fed babies as they spend less time sucking than BF babies so it can help with their jaw/mouth development

It also reduces SIDS risk.

There are no benefits over 6 months, but there also aren't many negatives as long as they don't have it all the time. Just naps and nights.

They can be hard to remove but most people find a way!

I have a nearly 3 year old who has had a dummy since birth (despite me being very against the idea initially). He found it very comforting for sleep, although it has caused upset sometimes if he dropped it at night, you’d need to retrieve it or put it back in his mouth for him.
We did also have a process to wean his usage down until it was eventually just for night time sleep.
In terms of teeth, dentist has reported no concerns. And my child’s speech has been significantly ahead of his peers for some time. (Not a brag, just highlighting dummy has not impacted that).
We have very recently removed the dummy from him completely which we dreaded as he did seem very reliant on it for night time but with a bit of preparation it’s gone remarkably well.

Overall we would say using the dummy was worth it for our child as he seemed to get comfort from it and kept him a little more settled. I would just say to be careful
not to end up relying on it too much as we did initially.

I have mine a dummy at 4 weeks, got rid at six months as baby would take dummy out but couldn't replace it, so we just had there tricky days and then we were off.

When baby was in hospital later with bronchiolitis, the nurses said it was a shame we weren't using one as it would help the baby settle. But we weren't about to reintroduce it then.