Introducing dummy at 6 months - yes or no?!

[luckysocks]

DD is nearly 6 months old. She was EBF for the first 5 months and we've been gradually introducing some formula this month and then some baby rice/veggie solids into her diet over the last week or so.

I've managed to get to the point at which she rarely needs feeding to sleep. But it's extremely rare that I can get her to go to sleep from being put down awake and predictably, her sleep suffers. Naps are rubbish and nighttimes are hit and miss, but never with more than 3 hours between feeds (she can last for longer in the day and doesn't feed for long when she wakes). I also have a toddler and I'm knackered so often end up with her tucked up with me at some point just to survive the next day.

I tried to get her to take a dummy early on, but she wasn't interested. I wonder if now she's used to sucking cups and bottles if she might be more inclined to give it a go.

I used a kind of CC-for-wimps with DS and it worked really well. But DD is far more tactile and reaches panicky-cry very quickly; I know that, for now at least, I'm just not up for doing the same thing with her.

Does anyone have any views on whether using a dummy to help instill a good sleeping pattern is a good or bad idea at this stage?

TIA

We re introduced dummy at that point and it def helps him sleep. He goes down with a bottle and often falls asleep when he has drunk it but if not then a dummy send him off. He never has them unless it is sleep time and I take them out during the day when he is asleep so he does learn to sleep without one in which should help when we want to get rid of them. Get glow in the dark ones as they are hard to loose in cot at night.

I think if you've got this far without one you might be better off not introducing one. My ds is 5months and loves his dummy - only has it at naps and bedtime, but during the night I end up replacing it multiple times, he wakes up and whimpers for it constantly.

She sounds like my DD!

I was very anti-dummy, but I introduced one at about 5 months as she hadn't got the hang of sucking her thumb and it really helped calm her down at bedtime (she often chews on it if she's teething). I only give it to her when I'm settling her in the cot and she doesn't have it every night; she will often give it back to me or fling it across the room when she doesn't want it! I take it off her once she is asleep. And the nights when she plays with it rather than trying to go to sleep, I just take it away from her altogether.

Would love to use the glow in the dark dummies but DD gags on them, so we are stuck with (lots of!) the smaller ones.

I would. I wish I had done. I used one at 11 months to nightwean and wish my 16 month old still had it. She cosleeps or uses a bottle or screams and it's all exhausting with constant illness and change. Embrace the dummy! If I ever have another baby I am goin to. I've managed without fr 2 kids but I've had to do SO much soothing myself!

Go for it.

I asked this question at 6 months and 12 mnths and wish I had known what I know now.

Thanks for your replies, they're really helpful.

claudiebell you've expressed the main reservation I have about it. Everyone else, you've said what I want to hear!

There's still no guarantee she'll take to it anyway, but as I'm not tough enough to do any kind of CC with her yet, I think this may be our best option for now.

We'll see how it goes later, anyway - I've stocked up today!

Luckysocks - on the plus side it is an immediate soother and settles him very quickly. Just wish it could be Velcroed in at night!

Why not buy a sleepytot and teach baby to find it in night. My daughter has soft rabbits in her hands very night and has since 6 months. If they had dummies tied to them she'd easily find them.

Think not finding dummy is a short term problem. Plus I have never found it easy to do cc... And it doesn't get easier...

My nights have become much easier since we started letting our sleep fighting 8 month old DD have her dummy at night. She goes down around 7pm but has really struggled to stay asleep from birth. She tends to wake every hour or two on average, but every so often we get a 3-4 hour stretch. Prior to using a dummy at night, she could only resettle with a cuddle, rocking or a feed. Left to her own devices she would become hysterical and be up for hours. But now when she starts fussing and thrashing about we pop the dummy back in, roll her on her side and gently rub her back for a minute or two. Unless she's hungry she will usually drop off again within 5 minutes and do another hour or two. We have been able to cut down to two night feeds around 11 and 4. We co sleep from the second feed until she wakes up between 7 and 8. Realise this probably sounds awful for some but for us its been a real improvement. DD is classic high needs baby - short naps, unsettled sleeper, super alert and inquisitive, meets developmental milestones early - and my coping philosophy is to use whatever works to get sleep!

That sounds v similar to us, mitsouko.

No success yet unfortunately; the first time she sucked it straight away, looked quite impressed, sucked a bit more then spat it out in disgust and upped the crying. I've had no luck since.

I bought some mam 0-6 months and not sure whether to try a different brand/age (6 months this week) or whether it's just throwing money away.

Also, she likes to hold them in her hands and chomp on them and gets annoyed when I take it away or try to show her how to use it properly. She gets a good amount of the plastic surround into her mouth and I worry about it causing a blockage in her throat - maybe they are too small for her?

I miss sleep :(

I gave my DS2 a dummy at 6 months when I stopped BFing. He had never slept more than 4 hours prior to that but the dummy really helped him stay settled and he would put it back in himself in his sleep (I watched him do it) so did not get up a lot in the night searching for it. It made a massive difference to my sleep and therefore sanity.

DD's 6 months now and had it from birth. From 4 months she started waking up to have it replugged and it soon became every hour for a while. It was grim. A few weeks ago we got a sleepytot and stuck them on that and she's finally learned how to replug her own dummy now! Sleeps about 9 hours solid every night. It took her a couple of weeks to learn how to replug because she was swaddled for ages and not used to having her hands free, she kept just pulling it out and not knowing how to put it back in. Plus at first she just waved the sleepytot around and would lose him in the cot. Think she was too young to look for it when she couldn't see him where she'd flung him to. So I sewed the sleepytot onto her grobag and problem solved!!

Don't worry she can't choke on the 0-6 month ones, not at just 6 months anyway. You could try the bigger ones though as she might find them easier to keep in her mouth now. Maybe let her play with the dummies during the day, especially when she's teething and might want to suck. Don't interfere with the way she plays with them and she might get it by herself. You don't want her associating them with frustration. It's possible she's just not a dummy kinda baby though. Some apparently just won't do it. If she's a tactile rather than very sucky baby you might try a lovey instead. She can have one in her cot from 6 months. The sleepytot doubles as a lovey if the dummies don't work out.

Sioda are you sure you're not on commission?

Some great advice there, thanks.

muriel that's reassuring too! It would be nice to get some sanity back

Hehe I really should be lucky!!