Soother success stories: share your positive experiences and tips

[LibbyMumsnet]

We all know that parenting comes with its fair share of challenges and triumphs. Today, we’d love to hear your experiences with soothers – those small yet mighty comforters that can sometimes work wonders.

Whether it’s calming a fussy baby, helping with sleep, or providing comfort during teething, soothers have been a go-to for many parents. We’re keen to hear your positive stories and any tips you might have for using them.

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Looking forward to hearing your stories and advice!

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I have 2 year old twins. We used a soother with our daughter but not our son. She was really collicky as a newborn and very unsettled in the evenings. The dummy was a godsend and really comforted her.
My tip would be to stock up as easily get lost!

I was not a big fan of soothers before having my DC's, BUT at night time they became invaluable for soothing back to sleep, I could hear them stir, and feel for their comforter and begin to soothe back to sleep -(at a time when night feeds had stopped) When they were 2, and a 'big boy' they put them into the rubbish bin - a cloth soother was used (an old baby blanket) till the age of 5.

We forgot ours on an overnight at the Grandparents, best thing ever to happen

We tried the dummy with our first, but he didnt take to it. Friends told me much later that we should have persevered He could never self-settle and often woke in the night, so felt very regretful we didnt persevere more with it

The extra small soothers were a godsend for our newborn, really helped settle after a feed and winding, we moved through the ages of the soothers - I had several in cases, always sterilising between use - so we had 6 on the go at once, and always threw away once they were a few weeks old.
When my DC's got older they would just hold their soothers in their hand in bed - a real comfort for them.

I bought a Velcro clip which attached to what the baby was wearing then it didn't drop onto the floor as much, and when they got older the could pop the soother into their mouth.

I'd a soother a dummy?

A while back now, I had 2 DSs. With my firstborn I listened to my DM who was anti-dummy. DS1 sucked his thumb instead, a habit he was unable to break until well into his teen years.

When DS2 was born, I used my own judgement and bought him a dummy (or several!). When he reached the age of 2, we said goodbye to his dummy and that was that. He asked for it a couple of times at bedtime but accepted he was now a 'big boy' and no longer needed a baby's dummy.

I've since heard about the dummy fairy, who collects them for the new babies who need them. They should be carefully cleaned and wrapped, ready for overnight collection. Similar to the tooth fairy, they leave a small gift for the donor, a small toy I believe 🤗🧚‍♀️

A while back now, I had 2 DSs. With my firstborn I listened to my DM who was anti-dummy. DS1 sucked his thumb instead, a habit he was unable to break until well into his teen years.

When DS2 was born, I used my own judgement and bought him a dummy (or several!). When he reached the age of 2, we said goodbye to his dummy and that was that. He asked for it a couple of times at bedtime but accepted he was now a 'big boy' and no longer needed a baby's dummy.

I've since heard about the dummy fairy, who collects them for the new babies who need them. They should be carefully cleaned and wrapped, ready for overnight collection. Similar to the tooth fairy, they leave a small gift for the donor, a small toy I believe 🤗🧚‍♀️

My baby is 8 months old. As a newborn he didn't really take to a dummy and used to spit it out. We've tried many dummies and finally found ones he likes. He uses it for all naps and nighttime sleep and spits it out when he is asleep. We use a safe fabric dummy clip for daytime and he often puts it back in himself when he wants it in the day. Eventually we will try and wean him off it but right now there is no rush as it makes him happy and calm

A dummy is tried and tested, and works helping soothe and calm a baby, especially if they get overtired. There are several shapes and sizes, so try a few at first, and replace regularly especially if you sterilise regularly.

I was really unsure about giving our baby a dummy - what if she insisted on keeping it until she was 9?! What if we could never get rid of it? But it helped soothe her so brilliantly, and the memory of her using her dummy sleeping at night is still the cutest thing in the world! We stopped BFing at 10 months and she ditched the dummy herself (😱) a week or so later! Bizarre little miracle, I never had to do a thing! I’ve kept one dummy still as a little keepsake 🥲

My top tip - find the brand your baby loves and stock up, and keep a few in your bedroom, a few in your car and one in your nappy bag - they’ll throw theirs on the floor and a clean one hidden away is a lifesaver!

My 4 year old still has one, he has complex disabilities and an uncoordinated swallow but the one thing that keeps his swallow going is his soother.

My 10 month old absolutely loves his dummy and I swear it’s part of the reason he sleeps so well. We started on day 1 even though I was exclusively breastfeeding and had no issues with confusion, I think that’s a myth! They are called soothers for a reason!
He used to wake and cry if it had fallen out, but recently he’s been able to find it and pop it back in himself. He’s been known to fall asleep with one in his mouth and one in each hand 😂 We put him to bed with a few in the cot, just in case they fall out overnight. One morning he woke and was absolutely chuffed to discover he was surrounded by dummies.
We have begun reducing use during the day to only if he’s particularly upset, and I think the dummy fairy will pay us a visit in the future.

Our eldest never took to one but our youngest loved it. She had a few and wanted one in each hand and would lose them in her cot or bed. We always had some on hand.

I was determined not to use a dummy after seeing how difficult it is for some parents to stop their child using theirs- but at just night 2 I caved after he showed signs of wanting it for soothing! Fortunately it isn’t the only thing that settles him so I only give it him to get him to sleep and then it falls out of his mouth the second he’s asleep anyway! I work with toddlers so I’ve already given myself rules and a plan of how to make sure he doesn’t become over dependent on it- time will tell if this actually works or not 😅

Daughter was breastfed and did not have a dummy. She sucked her thumb but once she stopped breastfeed at 12 months, she became very orally fixated and chewed on everything - long past teething. Her dolls' hands, clothes, toys, all got chewed. She's still a big finger nail chewer. Son had a tongue tie and struggled to breastfeed. He was on bottles and we used Mam dummies to soothe him in the absence of the breast. By 9 months dummy was for bedtime or when he was unwell/tired only. Once he got to around 18 months, the 'Dummy Fairy' offered to exchange his dummies for a toy he wanted. She came in the night and he never looked back. No finger or thumb sucking and no unnecessary chewing. Dummy strap attached to clothing is a must.

We had twins who were born prematurely, before the sucking reflex develops. We had no choice about dummies as they were given them in the prem baby unit. All went well. After they were 12 weeks old we only gave the dummies to sleep, without any problem. At 18 months, Christmas Eve, we told them Santa wanted the dummies and they would get an extra toy in exchange. It all worked beautifully. Friends’ children sucked their thumbs and had protruding teeth. One still does suck her thumb at 12 years old.

They were a godsend when DS was tiny. Sucking was the only thing that soothed him. He would wake at night and cry for his dummy, which would be lost somewhere in the cot, so I was delighted when I discovered those comforters that have Velcro straps to attach dummies to. We had one with four dummies on. DS had just got the hang of grasping it and finding a dummy by himself, when he decided he didn’t want dummies anymore and only boob would do. That was the start of a long phase of sleepless nights. Life would have been so much easier if he’d stuck with the dummies! 😫

We didn’t use one with either of our children…for whatever reason I felt it would be a failure to use one. My tip is just use one if you want!!!! I should have done with ds1 it would have been very helpful

My first didn’t use one, the second did as he was very unsettled after illness. We used to have one in each corner of his cot so he would always find one when waking. As he got older I wondered how to break the habit but one day he did a big sneeze whilst sucking and bit straight through it! We thought it was funny, I said pop it in the bin and that was the last time he used a dummy. He never mentioned it again!

I never used a soother with my first 3 children as I was so concerned that it would be difficult to remove them as they got older and hinder their speech. Then I had my 4th child. Due to her having very bad reflux (undiagnosed intolerance) she wanted to feed constantly - it was difficult coping with this anyway, but I also had multiple bouts of mastitis and I was in agony feeding. She would cry anytime she wasn't breast feeding and would not go to anyone else without sobbing endlessly. One day I just couldn't cope anymore - I drove to the supermarket and stocked up on soothers. It was the best decision I made during those difficult months. My daughter would happily go to another adult for a short period without getting upset and I was able to rest a little and get better. I actually felt guilty buying the soothers, which in hindsight was ridiculous. It was great for both of our wellbeing.

My tip is to really gently pat the soother with your fingertip to help relax the baby, it worked like a dream for us!

It does what it says soothes - so why not, if it helps your child, and helps you cope with the sleep deprivation by soothing and lessening the crying, you are doing what you need to do to get through -each day at a time. They won't want a dummy for ever. I used them for mine, even though some family members were against it. My tips would be buy many, buy a clip to save them falling on the floor, and don't judge yourself if you swore you would never use one - but did to help you through the baby stages

My girl had a dummy from birth as I read that it could reduce the risk of SIDS, and I was an anxious first time mum. She loved it, helped calm her and slept well at night with one. We reduced the use to nighttime only at 2 and had her off them by 3 completely. I'm a fan.