Thanks girls! I especially put Flynn on the cheapie Happy Baby dummies, partly cause of cost (my SIL warned me off the expensive ones) and partly cause the "cherry shape" is rec for BF babies. IK and Nickers, Flynn is like Oscar and Nixon in that he settles almost immediately with dummy, and is a great "sucker". A lactation consultant in hospital actually noticed this in him at 2 days old and actually suggested we use a dummy at some point. Heck, his 13 week ultrasound even shows him sucking his thumb, and we're not talking a "gee I think he has his thumb in his mouth" action, but a full-on, rhythmic sucking action.

Bath, my main concerns was the whole "my dummy is lost" wail in the middle of the night but then I remembered Dr Phil's mantra "is it workin' for ya?" Well, at the moment it's workin'. He is in a cot next to us so popping it in during the night is early enough, and like Nickers and Simone I will try the wean thing when it stops "workin".

Re: Steve Irwin, I was thinking alot about his death last night, about how "unfair" it is. Then I came to the realisation that I now feel life is not about "fair" or "unfair", but rather living every day in a way that you are proud of, and happy with. We never know when our time is up or why good things will happen to bad people, these are things we have no control over. What we do control is us - our own emotions (to some extent) and actions. We can choose to live in a way that is good, regardless of what life throws at us.

enuff musing from me - off to buy a battery-operated lint remover from Coles for my friend mel - the best piece of s##t gadget I have every found. It seriously works and only costs $5.

ciao bellas