Ok, so it's a bit early to be thinking about these things maybe..
But I've had a few people ask me (well my mum and some other family members) whether we would be using a dummy with our little one. I instantly say no, ill try not to. They dont say whether I should or whether I should not, I just thought they caused buck teeth? Sorry to offend anybody here, as I probably will use one to shut the little one up when I go insane..
But I have seen alot of newborns with dummies. I remember I had one and my lil brother had one and we had to hide it from him as it got addictive.
My mum seems happy with my decision of saying no.. but I dont know why. What else is bad about them?
we introduced one at 4 days but most dont like using them coz of BFing i dont know coz i didnt make it past 5 days but DS only took one and that was $10 ones i lost one and i cried lol
In the early days, they can confuse the dummies and nipples when they're learning to suck. I think. Plus, all that feeding will help to establish your supply.
We introduced a dummy with #1 after awhile (don't know how long sorry) when it became clear that he wasn't hungry, but was comfort sucking. As in, he'd be on the breast but clearly not drinking. Many parents are happy to let bub comfort suck, others like myself use a dummy to help bub self settle a bit. If he fussed and I didn't think he was hungry, I'd offer him a dummy, and if he actually was hungry he'd spit it out straight away. He was good at feeding by then too.
I can't remember how old he was when he ditched the dummy for his thumb. Younger than a year I'm sure. His front teeth do stick out a little, but I'd say that's the thumb if anything. My sis and I had dummies and our teeth are okay.
Anyway. I didn't plan to use a dummy, I was adamant I wasn't going to offer a dummy, and then after days of feeding a bub who clearly wasn't hungry, I gave dummies a try and they worked out for us.
You don't need to plan on using a dummy, dummies will always be there if it comes to it.
Your bub might not take a dummy anyway. I offered a dummy to #2, and he wouldn't have a bar of it, sucked his fingers from a really young age instead.
There is some research that use of a dummy decreases the instances of SIDS, but equally it has been linked to less successful breastfeeding, which is also a factor in SIDS. It really needs to be a judgement call, you may find you don't need one (I didn't with my first 2) or that you are clawing at the walls for one (as I did with my twins). Each decision was correct, different child, different treatment.
My advice - this is such a little thing to worry about so if you feel you need a dummy please don't feel guilty. Equally don't feel you should be getting a dummy for any particular reason. Your baby may not want one, and you may not see the need. Trust your instincts.
"they" say that it can interfere with bf, teeth and speech development. Dummies definitely weren't the problem when it came to my breastfeeding. We didn't intro them until six weeks with both my girls though....dd1's teeth are fine and her speech is fine. We took her dummies off her at two years of age mainly because I was worried about her teeth although I've heard thumbs are worse for that. My sis and DH have crooked teeth and they both sucked their thumbs....(no offence intended at all to thumb suckers. Just seems more than a coincidence). Dd2 still has her dummy and will have it until 2 as well unless she gives it up earlier. You just go with however you feel once bubs arrives. Some babies don't take to a dummy at all even if you try. DD2 took a bit of work but for me it was worth it. Each to their own I say but it's worth finding out the info like you are for sure
I said I wouldn't use them either, but I did! For comfort sucking, as a PP has already mentioned.
I was very strict with DS' dummy usage, only allowing him to have it when he was very unsettled and never let him go to sleep with it, so he was spitting it out of his own accord by the time he was 3 months old. He was fully breastfed and as the first child I had plenty of time to give him a comfort breastfeed. His teeth are perfect.
DD on the other hand was on formula full time by the age of 3 months (another story) and needed more sucking time, as a bottle feed is over much quicker than a breastfeed, so she was allowed the dummy far more. And I didn't have as much time to settle her to sleep because I had a toddler so we allowed her to use the dummy to get herself off to sleep.
However when she was 12 months she had her first dentist appointment - only because DS was having his and they offered to check DD as well. The dentist was actually a paediatric dentist and she took one look at DD's teeth and said "well I can see she uses a dummy." I was most taken aback because DD didn't have it in her mouth all the time (we wouldn't allow that) and would spit it out once she was asleep. But the dentist showed me that the dummy was actually preventing her 2 top teeth from growing down properly and said that if we got rid of it asap that should be rectified. However, she couldn't say for sure if it would have already affected the way her adult teeth will grow in.
So we ditched it straight away and within 2 weeks DD's front teeth had grown down more.
The dentist explained that the sucking on the dummy changes the muscle forces in the jaw, which then changes the way the jaw grows and then the teeth grow in crooked.
That said, I was a finger sucker and my siblings were dummy suckers and my teeth were by far the worst. So I would encourage dummy use over thumb sucking but then get rid of the dummy as soon as possible.
It does seem to be a bit "luck of the draw" and dummy or thumb sucking seems to affect the teeth of some kids more than others.
With Ds1 we introduced a dummy within a few days (actually the hearing test lady at the hospital kinda recommende it). We did struggle with BF a little though i don't think it was caused by the dummy as he was rather small and i know i wasn't getting him latched properly. DS1 refused the dummy by about 8-9weeks anyway. We still bf'd though til 11months old, so it must not have caused too much damage on the bf issue i guess.
With DS2 i decided to not take the chance if it did contribute to DS1 initial BF'ing issues, but ended up offering one in hospital on day 3- cause i thought it might help me get some sleep (the hospital was so busy and noisey that neither me or DS2 was able to sleep and my nipples were getting sore from the constant settling they were doing) but he didn't seem to want it, so i didn't bother again until last week, DS2 was 10 weeks last week. But we've had no issues with bf this time around cause both he and i have known what to do from the start pretty much. I thought it might help around dinner time which seems to be the unsettled time for most babies so this would allow me to make dinner and feed DS1 when i know DS2 is not hungry and so far it seems to be working. I don't give it too him all the time, just when i need to attend to something else. But if he does up wanting it more i won't refuse it to him.
I remember discussing it at a parents class when DS1 was a newborn about dummies and most agreed that its better to give them a dummy then if they were tempted to suck their thumb, as obviously its easier to take the dummy away from them then the thumb and i've seen what long term thumb sucking can do (a childhood friend had really bucked teeth and one thumb was smaller then the other. Also a cousins son whos only 4 now has big blisters from thumb sucking too) .
I think it'll all be a play it by ear. Maybe have one ready, just incase as it may come in handy one tearful day/night.
Last edited by Frangipani; April 20th, 2010 at 10:08 PM.
: spelling
As for us, when our DD was born she BF for 1.5 hours without issues and then sucked air for the next 1 hour until we were told it might be worth while putting something in her mouth so she doesn't become one big ball of wind. I was open to the idea of a dummy, i figured that the baby would decide and as I work with babies in my job and get to talk to lots of mummies it really is a thing often of either the baby will take a dummy or wants nothing to do with it.
For me personally though I was fine with it but it did take me a few different dummies to find one DD would take, she had to have the cherry shaped ones as the rest just flew out her mouth when she tried to suck. She never slept as a newborn with it we only used it as a comfort tool. DD was BF until we had to comp feed her around 3.5 months and i don't believe the dummy had anything to do with that issue. She has her dummy now when she is upset or when she goes to sleep but whenever i go to put a blanket on her etc she has generally spat it out and not using it. We'll ween her off it just after she turns 2 i would say.
Oh Thanks so much everyone!
So much good infomation to absorb. Shed's a different light on it, All my siblings have perfect teeth and we had dummies, but dh never had one, and I guess his teeth are a little bucked from the thumb sucking he did instead. I guess it's probably wise just to have one on hand then, might be a good idea
Thanks again!
My DD has a dummy and she had it from about day 3. She was prem and they gave it to her in the hosp when they were tube feeding her so she could practice sucking. She now only has it for sleeping and we are looking at getting rid of it soon just working out the best way to do it! She knows the rules though and as soon as it is time to get up she hands it to me to be put on the shelf. Her teeth are fine, I was told by a dentist that it really doesn't effect their teeth until their adult teeth are coming through anyway and by that age if they still have a dummy then there is a problem!
I was an adamant anti-dummy person, but then I had my DD.
She had blisters on her wrists after she was born, bf beautifully and would spit my bb out and go rooting around her her wrist as soon as she was done bfing. We introduced the dummy at three days to save her poor hands from further damage! She only had her dummy while sleeping (never had any problems if it fell out or she 'lost' it) and she was easily weaned from it just before she turned two. She sort of stopped using it for one nap and I kept it away. She bf until she was four.
She has seen the dentist and her teeth are perfectly fine. Dentist never even asked. I don't have perfect teeth, but I never sucked any of my fingers/thumbs or used a dummy, I just got the dodgy teeth gene.
LOL Poopie it looks like the photo on your ticker pic that bubs is already a thumb-sucker
Both my boys had dummies and breastfed well, spoke early and have straight teeth. DS#2 sucks his thumb now, which is a pain, because it is hard to get him to stop. So I do think dummies are easier than thumbs in that you can get rid of them easier, but by the same token a dummy can be a pain when you are getting up 5 times a night because your baby has lost it in the cot and needs it to get back to sleep.
WRT having one on hand, personally I think its a good idea. There are times with a new baby that you will do practically ANYTHING to get them to sleep, especially at 3am....I think it is at 3am that most mummies decide to go back on many pre-child ideals they once held
At our antinatal classes, the MW asked the group if we would give our babies dummies. We were the only ones who said we would. Funnily enough, at the reunion we had, several babies had dummies. lol! The only reason anyone could come up with in that class was that they didn't like the look of 2 yo's with dummies. My DS loves his dummy (he has it for sleep time only now) and it was a life saver when he only wanted to suck constantly, giving himself belly pains from overfeeding. Our reasoning for a dummy was that it would be easier to get rid of than a thumb.
The infant drop-in clinic actually recommended we use a dummy. They showed us a DVD called "The Happiest Baby on the Block" which went through a list of settling techniques. I'd never even thought about using a dummy but we bought one of the way home and when we put it in DD's little mouth it was almost like "oh... THAT'S what I've been wanting" and she fell asleep.
I've never really paid much attention to dummies before but the funniest thing is that DD wiggles it around just like the baby on the Simpsons.
DD never confused the dummy and the bottle. She would make complaining noises if she was hungry and we gave her a dummy instead of a bottle.
Reply With Quote
Registered User
Dummies?
Bookmarks