Kellie - We have been using a dummy since Kieran was 3 days old. He was sucking his thumb, but kept gouging his eyes with the rest of his fingers so I thought it was safer to use a dummy! I gave Joel a dummy at around 5 days old. With both boys there weren't any problems with b'feeding since introducing the dummy because they were already feeding well. The MCHN said she was glad we were using one because it is a great way to settle bub (she is an absolute expert on settling babies, I didn't want her to leave!!). I wouldn't be without a dummy! Don't feel bad if you have to use one, sometimes your sanity is more important. With Joel I used the Nuk dummies which are a good shape, this time I am using the Avent dummies because they are a bit cheaper and seem to work fine. I was told those cheap Happy Baby dummies are fine too, but they used to make Joel choke because they are so long.

Vivienne - Re: what Nic said about possibly feeding too much - I rang the maternal child health line last week because Kieran seemed to be in so much pain with wind and was really unsettled all the time. I told the nurse that I was feeding him every 2.5 hours and she said that is probably too much and to try to stretch him out to 3 hours. She said his tummy probably wasn't getting enough time to recover and he was getting wind pain. He seemed to want to feed all the time, but she said this is a natural reaction when they are in pain. She said if he wakes early to try putting him in the pram or baby carrier and going for a walk, or giving him a bath until 3 hours comes around. We did this and he was so much more settled after that feed. I am not saying you have to try this, I'm just passing on the info that the nurse told me! I hope things settle down for you soon.

Kieran is sleeping really well at night now, we are getting between 4 - 4.5 hours between feeds overnight! I am feeling much more human at the moment.