hmmm the ins/outs pros/cons of dummies?

[visitor10]

Ditto to allot of ladies above!

Okay

Pros: 1) I thought it was way better than a thumb/finger as it can always be gotten rid of 2) A baby is going to want to have something to comfort them whether its a blankie, thumb/finger, dummy or you (which is very hard indeed if they get into that routine) so I thought the dummy was going to be the best idea 3) This is going to sound a little negative...but sometimes when you are out & about you need them to be not so "vocal" & I find the dummy does the trick! 4) It is great for easing teething pain..the poor little ones do get awful miserable sometimes! HOWEVER I would like to mention that Alana really does have her dummy with her very rarely at home...that way they get used to it not ALWAYS being with them.

Cons: 1) They can drop them during sleep & this can unsettle or wake them (sometimes this also depends on the dummies you buy...we use avent ones...and even though they are a very different shape to my nipples Alana still loved them AND me...lol. Though some friends of mine have been using the cherry ones & a few of their bubs wake constantly..but I have a feeling it is because of the shape that it just "pops" out) 2) Sometimes (depending on the baby & the way you do it) it is not easily gotten rid of. But there has been lots of suggestions made such as buying a teddy if they give you the dummy or getting them to give it to the dr...but all of this has to wait I believe until the little ones can understand what is going on though so a least you can reason with them to a certain extent so they give it up willingly & you can remind them of it later .

Hope this helps sweetie!

PS You are doing wonderfully gorgeous! You will work it all out as you go along

[Olive]

DD2 needed to suck alot for comfort/sleep as a newborn, we gave her a dummy on occasions then she stopped using it at 4 months

[Jandals]

We're dummy users here. DD had silent reflux and the dummy was such a life saver - she only used it to settle to sleep though. DS only uses his to get off to sleep (and not always) then spits it out. I've been thinking of getting rid of it but if it's too hard I'm happy for him to have it. I use the Nuk dummies as I found the Avent ones fell out too easily when DD was a baby because they are very flat.

DD is seeing a speech therapist and I asked if having a dummy would have contributed to her problems and she said that as long as the child has the opportunity to talk ie. dummy's not in all day and hanging out of their mouth while talking, then dummies can actually help as the muscles used for sucking are the same as what we use for sounds/talking. I was really surprised and relieved at that because I'd always felt guilty for allowing the dummy for so long (DD was close to 3)!