Cosleeping and dummy experiences please?

[BelleSauvage9]

Evening.

Ds is 2 weeks old and have been considering introducing a dummy. Neither of my dds had a dummy but I've got a 16 month old and feel like being able to soothe ds temporarily would be really helpful going forward as sometimes their needs clash and I don't want to leave him crying while I have to do something for her (e.g making her lunch).

He's exclusively breast fed and we co sleep. My concern is that the health visitor told me (and I know I'd read this somewhere previously before I discussed with her) that if they have a dummy for any sleep they need to ALWAYS have a dummy for sleep or SIDS risk increases.

Because we cosleep I wake when he wakes and latch him to feed and we both go back to sleep. HV said that when he's finished feeding in the night I'd need to put the dummy back in, but I'm generally no longer awake when he finishes (and neither is he) so I don't feel I'd be able to make sure he had the dummy..

Had anyone used a dummy when bfing and cosleeping? Did you always put the dummy back in? I know if I leave it too long he just won't take the dummy (that was the case with dd2) and I really feel like I could use the lifeline but I obviously don't want to put him at risk! Thanks for any responses

I never gave any of my kids a dummy. I once met a orthodontist who said 90% of the braces he made were for kids whose mouth bones had been deformed by sucking dummies. He thought they were the worst thing ever. I was breastfeeding and cosleeping so it was easy to manage without one. So for that reason I don’t recommend it.

Well as I say @Bharath neither of my dds had one and I'm happy that they didn't (though they both used me as a human dummy which isn't always easy). And I breastfed and coslept with both of them and managed fine with them. But my circumstances are different now. We're managing okay atm because I have dp off with me and he's doing the vast majority for our toddler but I'm absolutely terrified about how I'm going to cope without him when he goes back to work and a dummy may help me with that so I'm considering it. But thanks for your response

Dummies are supposed to reduce the risk of Sid's.
Children who are given dummies 24/7 need them 24/7 but if you decide to give at certain times like going to sleep or distress then that's when you give it. When they are a bit older you then limit it to sleep time. You can wean them off as you want just like you would feeding to sleep or co sleeping. If it helps you then try it.

My son had one up until 4 months and it was easy to go cold turkey on it. So go for it and then assess whether you want to keep getting up to put it back in overnight when they hit that age (they can't put it back in themselves until 6-8 months old) or make the choice to remove it then.