Best way to use a dummy?

[Sunflower654]

I have a 5 week old and I’m wondering if I should introduce a dummy. I know there’s some ‘snobbishness’ around dummies but I’m looking for advice on the best way to introduce.

Baby tends to have short naps during the day rather than extended ones. He also has quite long wake windows as can be quite difficult to settle. He is formula fed and actually drinks quite a lot, he has jumped a centile since birth (and was on the bigger side to begin with) so I have no worries about feeding cues being mistaken. He’s started putting his hands in his mouth more and more over the past couple of days when crying (even when there’s not a chance he could be hungry) and found his thumb this morning which worries me as I know thumb sucking can be a tough habit to break.

Reasons I would introduce a dummy:

• he hates the car seat and will scream throughout a journey - I’ve tried making sure he is full/sleepy/asleep but it hasn’t worked
• he doesn’t like being in the pram and will cry after about 10 minutes
• he will have 5oz of milk and appear full, begin to settle and then become i”unsettled. I’ll make another bottle just in case and he will literally suck a few times then zonk out.
• he will fight naps during the day and have 3hr+ long wake windows

I’ve read that if a baby has a dummy to fall to sleep, they should have it all the time when going to sleep to lower risk of SIDS. My thought is to only give the dummy for car and pram journeys but would the same advice apply?

If I do introduce a dummy, when would the best time to wean baby off it be? I’ve seen some people suggest before 6 months but is SIDS risk not still higher before this?

If anyone has any links to reading/Instagram posts/sleep consultants advice regarding dummies I’d really appreciate them!

Equally, if anyone has advice on how to get baby to calm when in the car/pram without a dummy, I’d appreciate that too!

Dummies are fine. They can really help with sleep and settling. We just stopped giving them to DC before they turned 2. Absolutely no issues.

Mine loved the pram and car, but I always found white noise helpful (brown noise in particular) or just music, plus engaging pram and car toys. We used toys specially for the pram and car so that they wouldn’t find them boring. 5 weeks is still very young though, they may prefer a sling at that age. It’s very normal to hate the car then too. Things will change considerably over the next few months.

I thought I’d never heard of brown noise but I’ve just googled and realised I know exactly what it is, it’s what I like while I actually get irritated by white noise so maybe I’ll try that!
I have a sling and it’s very mood dependent with him. Ideally I’d like to get him in his pram more as he also only contact naps during the day so it would be nice to have some time where he isn’t attached to me, as much as I adore him! He is quite an alert baby so I think he hates the carrycot as he can’t see anything.

I hate white noise too but like brown noise! We also have a pink noise machine (I think Tomee Tippee) which has been so handy, it glows pink and creates a nice womb-like glow 🤣

Mine always hated the sling but loved the pram. I remember going for an NCT meet up when baby was the same age as yours, mine was the only one in a pram as they all hated it. Most grow out of it. It’s exhausting with the contact napping but things will change so much in a short space of time.

Thank you!

I would try a dummy. I did with mine and he just spat it out so I didn't use one at all.

A few others things you could try:

In the car - have you got a sun screen on the window? Mine used to be grizzly and then I realised the sun was on his face sometimes. I was also told to check his nappy wasn't too tight as it might be uncomfortable around his tummy when in the car seat.

With the milk do you make a 5oz bottle and he drinks it all? Could you try making up a bigger bottle so he can finish when he is full, not when the milk runs out. I found my babies appetite really fluctuated, sometimes it was 2oz, sometimes more like 7oz! It's also totally normal for babies to want to cluster feed/snack, so it could still be hunger even if they were fed 20 mins ago.