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Just wondering when i should introduce a dummy
DS is a week old and my milk is in. He has a really strong suck with a slight tongue tie which is causing a bit of pain when feeding. The pain isn't too bad except when he comfort sucks.
So when would you introduce a dummy? It will only be to settle and sleep, not all the time. Thanks.
I think DD was about two months old when I realised she was using me to comfort suck to sleep, so we tried the dummy. She only liked one style but it worked. I let her fall asleep with it and then took it out of her mouth. She used it until she was about 9-10 months and then refused to have it after that. HTH.
I gave one to ds.when he was about 2.months old as he was using me as a dummy when going to sleep but then getting upset when he'd get an explosion of milk. I kept it just for sleep time, and times when he was super grizzly due to teething. It was a serious life saver during teething!
He is 11.5 months old.now and.he gave it up at 9.5 months. Which is great, but means I am the dummy again at night when he is teething, which is the only time I wish he'd still take it lol
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I've given dd a dummy from day dot. But I only use it when I can't physically get myself to her (eg in the car, or trying to make everyone dinner) and only when she's not long been fed.
They used to say not to introduce a dummy until 6 weeks for fear of causing nipple confusion, but newest evidence says this is a fallacy and the dummy will not cause any issues with breastfeeding, so you are safe to introduce one any time you like. Personally I would suggest offering it after a feed when he is trying to go to sleep if this is the time that is causing you discomfort, but remember that by comfort sucking he is also putting in tomorrow's milk order so try not to stop him doing it altogether.
Have you spoken to someone about getting his tongue tie snipped? It can make a huge difference to nipple pain to get it done.
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Was going to say this and also to take it off him once he is actually asleep so he doesn't get into the habit of searching for itin the middle of the night.
I personally think getting the tongue tie snipped will make a huge difference, a little comfort sucking is a nice thing to do for your baby too, BF is more than just about a meal;)
Nae x
I'm not sure as when to introduce a dummy but an LC told me to go for one of those dummies with a very round ball, cherry shaped end.
Really Trav? Where'd that info come from?
Are you getting the tongue tie sorted out?
I asked in hospital to have it snipped but is is very small and they said to see if it goes by itself. But if I keeps causing probs ill get it done sooner rather than later.
I'll try the dummy as you suggested after a feed and when I can't get to him. I really don't want to stuff up the bf'ing. Thanks trav - ill see if I can get a cherry shaped one.
Funny you post this thread today as I was going to ask something along the lines of what's wrong with a dummy! ds had a play date earlier this week and the little girl picked up his dummy and her mum snatched it out of her mouth as if it was poison :confused: We gave ds a dummy within the first 24 hours I think. He's always been a fantastic feeder, 10 minutes and he's done. He never had any confusion either. I think whoever made that up must not give babies much credit for their intelligence. I mean yummy mummy milk comes out of the boobies and a dummy is rubber! ds loves the dummy to go to sleep and it gives him stacks of comfort during the day when teething.
My advice is to get both the cherry style and the flat side style if you can. Both my DD and my niece refused the cherry style but took to the flat one. I figured it was better to have both on hand in case DD chucked a wobbly because she didn't like the dummy (my niece is older than DD so my SIL worked out the dummy problem and told me).
I gave DS2 a dummy on day 3 lol :) it hasn't interfered at all with BF (he's a machine ;) ) that said, he's only really "liked" it the last week or so. He only uses it to wind down to sleep or I use it in the car etc.
Agree with Traveller. I have seen a lot of babies have a dummy very early and have never seen it cause problems feeding.
Thanks everyone. DD1 had one early and we had heaps of problems feeding, DD2 had one later and we had no issues so I wasn't sure when to introduce earlier. I'll get him one and see how it goes :)
Sent from an iThing so will be short and shiny cause I hate the keyboard.
DD got hers on day 3. We have had no issues feeding because of it.
this is a hard one
as for the nipples... try lansinoh ... it's great for sore nipples and mine were bleeding !!
all my firt 3 had dummy from the earliest time possible.. and they just became reliant on it.. waking if they didn't have it etc etc
so with DS 4 i am not giving him one.. we have one and i have used it a couple of times when i have been out and i need him to wait a little bit for a feed but apart from that he doesn't have one.
i dont know how long it will continue but i really dont wanna create the problems i had with the others when it falls out in the middle of the night and they wont sleep without it.
it's a personal decision
but the breast feeding specialist said you really shouldn't use one til baby is feeding really well with no probs at all as it may confuse them and make it harder to feed. she said 6 weeks ...
hope this helps
good luck
I personally wouldn't like some other kid sucking on my DDs dummy, and visa versa. She might have nothing against them, just be hygiene conscious :):
Just FWIW I know several ladies who introduced a dummy very early on (within days of bub being born) who ended up needing to FF their babies after only 6-8 weeks due to lack of supply and babies not being able to suck properly. Could just be a coincidence :dunno:
I personally do not like them or use them and would also snatch a dummy away from my kids for 2 reasons. first being I would worry about hygiene (just like you wouldn't suck on your babies dummy if it fell ont he floor (transferring your mouths bacteria to your baby)). and secondly, they don't need a dummy and I wouldn't want to encourage something that I personally consider a bad habit (in older kids and remember JUST my opinion).
:D Nae x
MadB it was one of the first things we learnt in our mid class. The topic was how research can contraindicate commonly held beliefs. Have a look at
:
Pacifier use versus no pacifier use in breastfeeding term infants for increasing duration of breastfeeding.
Jaafar SH Jahanfar S Angolkar M Ho JJ
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Mar 01, 2011, No. 3
Although the discomfort of comfort feeding is there now, I would be finding other ways to feed and try different positions as well as cuddles, etc. while bub is so young rather than a dummy if you don't need to use one. Neither of my kids used a dummy early on (DD started having one after she turned 1 - don't ask!) and DS didn't ever have one at all. I preferred to just feed as needed and even though bub might be comfort sucking, they are still feeding as well ITMS - it's not just sucking for comfort they are filling their tummy too? That is JMO though and if you feel you do need to introduce one I would be waiting a few mths and make sure feeding is well established. xoxoxo
I tried a dummy last night and all he did was pull a face, spit it out and cry for the real thing. So in the end it increased his appetite :lol:
Thanks Trav, interesting. If mothers are motivated to breastfeed (whatever that may mean precisely) then it doesn't seem to affect duration of breastfeeding up to 3-4 months (which is as far as the study went). I think it's worth noting that that larger study they are drawing on here recruited mothers at the 2-week mark.
Ryatha, I strongly suggest you get it treated regardless. A lot of babies with (even minor) tongue tie end up exhibiting symptoms of reflux and get treated for that, when it's actually the TT. Not worth even a small amount of pain really.:
Implications for practice
In motivated mothers, there is moderate evidence that pacifier use
in healthy term breastfeeding infants before and after lactation is
established does not reduce the duration of breastfeeding up to four
months of age. However, there is insufficient information on the
potential harms of pacifiers on infants and mothers. In the light of
the current review we recommend that until further information
becomes available on the effects of pacifiers on the infant, mothers
who are well motivated to breastfeed be enabled to make a decision
on the use of a pacifier based on personal preference.
Implications for research
Further research is recommended to address the effect of paci-
fier use on duration of breastfeeding that include less motivated
women. We also recommend well-designed RCTs to assess the rate
breastfeeding difficulties faced by mothers associated with pacifier
use and the long-term effect of pacifier use on mother and infant
health.
NEither of mine were ever keen on dummies either :)
we gave DS a dummy at 5 days when he wanted to be attached 24/7 and my nipples were bleeding and he was screaming. it never interfered with his feeding, he knew when he wanted boob!! he would only have the "orthodontic" ones that were round on top, flat on the botom, and only one brand. hes just getting over his dummy now tho after a stage of wanting it all the time, hes started handing it to me when he wakes up.
I only just started using a dummy with DD at about 5 weeks, when she wanted to be attached 24/7. She is fussy with hers, either she will take it or not, if is suits her. She had bad Colic so during the day sleeps she uses it to get off to sleep and spits it when shes asleep.
At night after a feed she will go to sleep without it. If she dosent want it she will just spit it right back at ya ;)
If it gives her comfort, I'm happy to do so, TBH I dont really like the thing but it means sometimes the difference between sleep and not, as none of the rocking, patting shhing in the world will get my DD to sleep
with DS he had it about day 3 when MIL thought i needed it and i did but i ended up giving up the day after nothing to do with the dummy and he had it till 2 and 3 months i think he threw it in the bin
DD had hers from day 2 wasnt risking the pain i had with DS did other things too she took it a bit but never got attached