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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Here’s what MAM has to say:
“We’re MAM, and we love babies! We’re the world’s leading manufacturer of premium baby products because we believe they deserve only the best quality. That’s why we’ve been developing extra-safe baby products for over 45 years. For peace of mind and a happy baby, MAM is a business you can trust.”

Looking forward to hearing your stories and advice!

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ
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I had an oversupply of breast milk and my little boy just loves to suckle to sleep. He would get so angry, bouncing on and off the breast because he wanted to suck but didn’t want milk. I was pretty anti-dummy but gave in and honestly, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. Happy baby = happy mommy

Way past this stage - but to say all kids who had a dummy as a baby /toddler had got rid of it before end of ks1, but do know thumb suckers who still are sucking their thumb at the start of secondary. it’s really not the problem some people make out to be.

also very useful for flights. Give a dummy for take off/landing. Saves little ears hurting.

I was influenced by my DF who preferred thumbs to dummies - Mistake! Had real trouble weaning my DS off his thumb. From memory he was about 13, and it was starting to affect his teeth. At least with a dummy you can "lose it"!

My only experience was when I was a child myself - I can remember that I loved my dummy but when it was time for me to give it up my parents told me that the baby ducks would like to use it so they told me to throw it to them which I did and I never wanted it again as I thought the ducklings needed it more than me!!!

My eldest had a dummy and it was great, it helped sooth him for naps and he associated it with nap time as he only had it then. We let him keep it until he just before he was 3 and it was Christmas, we told him that if he sent all his dummies to father Christmas for all the new babies being born he would get a special present. That worked well and he got rid of it with out any upset.

I didn't think I would use dummies (typical pre-kids person thinking you can plan things.....😂). Then I had twins and everything changed. Mine were born by C Section 7 weeks early, and spent three weeks in NICU. I tried to breastfeed but didn't manage to express much and they were too small to want to suck when bottles were less effort. So I took them home all trained up on bottles, with a regular schedule of four hourly feeds.

The NICU nurses said I should try to feed both at the same time, and stick to the schedule - otherwise I would be feeding one or the other all day long. But DS was quite a bit bigger and hungrier than DD - and used to get hungry before the next feed was due. Obviously I didn't want to leave him crying - but the nurses said to give him a dummy and he should be able to wait that extra half hour or whatever.

It worked a treat - he would soothe until his feed was due - and if it was night he wasn't disturbing his sister.

We stopped at about 6 months - but dummies were an absolute godsend! I've always been grateful to those nurses.

It's called a dummy.

I thought that 😂I wonder if they’re trying to move away from that word because it sounds like you’re calling it dumb 😝

My tips would be to look at the reviews, buy branded, look at the sizes for newborns and babies - and don't worry - they will not need one forever, babies suckle to soothe, and if a baby is crying uncontrollably and you can't soothe any other way - give it a try, a content soothed baby is a happy baby.
Don't forget to sterilise

Both of mine had Dummy's, my son gave his to my friend at 3 years old when she had a baby and she gave him a bucket of dinosaurs in return and all was well!

My daughter on the other hand just couldn't give them up and it was heartbreaking so we just left her to it and she gave them up when she started reception. They never left the bedroom and she was well aware that she was too old but I just decided to let her choose and it was nice and easy with no tears.

People talk about them like they're the devil but I'm all for what makes them happy and content. My kids are 10 & 16 now and have no issues.

I think it's another American word people use to sound trendy.

I was adamant that I wasn't going to use one for DD. After a sleepless night on the ward when I was the only one up with a crying baby I decided to try one and it really helped. The nurse that gave me one was a star.

I was the same- I caved at night 2 haha! It’s a good job I did so soon because his mouth was too small for a shop bought one so they gave me one made for prem babies that he used for almost 2 months until he was big enough for a shop one! Even then he had to have a tiny baby one 😅

I prefer soother to dummy or pacifier. It does what it says and feels less judgemental.

I didn’t even consider using one for my daughter. Plus I can’t bear seeing kids of 3 or 4 going round still with a dummy!

I can’t even begin to explain the frustration of working in a nursery where the parents say “we don’t want them having their dummy anymore” then take it off them at the front door suddenly so the child comes in crying and screaming in upset with no dummy to comfort them. Only for parents to then turn up at home time and shove a dummy back in their mouth when they don’t even need soothing!
Its made me so careful with mine where even at 3 months he only has it for naps and sleep

Used by many, for good reason...

With my first, my nipples were his soother 24/7.

Introduced a soother very early with baby number 2!

When DS was tiny I found making them smell of me (sleeping with them a Couple days!) before I gave them to him seemed to help. He’s much bigger now but found one in a drawer the other day and back out it’s come for bedtime!

We have used a dummy for all 3 of our children at different times and for different reasons.
My middle child was born very premature and a dummy was used for him to help him learn the relationship between mouth/ sucking and food when tube feeding. The teeny tiny preemie dummies were so cute.
With my first born I initially was against using a dummy, I had heard about nipple confusion and was determined that nothing would disrupt breastfeeding. However it became very clear that my daughter would only sleep while sucking. And after 3-4 days of only catching a bit of sleep here and there while she cried in someone else's arms I was willing to try anything and we introduced a dummy. Following this experience for my last baby we had a dummy ready and it was a godsend for getting us through moments where a feed needed to be delayed, like school runs etc. And now they have become less necessary, the dummy fairy will soon be visiting him, as she did his sister before him.

I did for a few months with ds2 but found it so annoying him losing it in the cot that had a hell of 24 hours with out one at about 7 months. He forgot about it!

I think a dummy/soother is the one of the best ways of soothing a baby, who isn't hungry/overtired or ill. It helps them sleep, definately soothes - why spend hours trying to soothe a crying baby when you can pop a dummy in and listen to them suckling in their sleep. Choose the correct size, and if they don't like the ones you try first, their are different sizes and shapes. It really is worth it.

Only use a soother to help her fall asleep. She doesn't use it during the day. She recently turned 1.

I found my daughter's soothers were a particular godsend on holiday or if slept over at a relation's house. It helped to give her the familiarity she needed to settle and sleep.

Mine had dummies, from the newborn tiny ones to the 1 year onwards versions. I found they slept well and were able to soothe themselves with them when tired, My tips would be don't judge yourself if you always were against them then decided for yours and babies sleep give one.

My 20 month old has a dummy, I wasn’t fussed on her having one when newborn but she just wouldn’t settle at night so we tried a MAM dummy and never looked back.
I wouldn’t take a dummy as a baby, and consequently sucked my thumb and did so until I was about 8, my teeth were absolutely shocking and protruded to the shape of my thumb in my mouth. Ruined my self esteem and had years of braces as a teen.

I think I’ll take a bit of future upset of taking the dummy away than all that!