Heh heh.... and another

** Hangs head in embarrassment....**

Lots of you have recommended a dummy to me, for various reasons.

We shied away from dummies, on the advice of Plunket, as sometimes they can interfere with feeding. But now he is bottle fed, I thought maybe it would be worth trying one.... hoping to improve his sucking coordination, and also to help him self-settle.

I fear I could be making things worse for myself if a dummy attachment is formed, but I am willing to try anything to make the wee man a bit happier at the moment.

So, does anyone know of a good dummy to try? Jackson is 4.5 months and uses the NUK wide teats on his bottles.

I tried a dummy just today for his midday nap, and he seemed ok with it. Had a wee suck, but fell out soon after falling asleep. But it is a 0 - 3 month Avent one, so probably not suitable for long term use!

Definately try the NUK ones, latex teats. They are very light and the teat part of the dummy is formed so they can latch on to it properly. When they are little they will often only suck the dummy until they fall asleep and it just falls out when their little mouths relax.

We use the Avent ones, Callum doesn't seem to like the NUK ones at the mo unless he's desperate! Like Saffron said, he just sucks until he's totally relaxed and then it falls out. He's getting better at keeping it in for longer on his own (sometimes I have to shove it back in a few times) but so far I try to use it as a last resort at home because I can't be bothered sitting in the room for 30 minutes putting it in his mouth. We use it a lot when we're getting Callum off to sleep while we're out and about though.

If it falls out once he's asleep (and he can resettle without it later in his nap) then that's good - less likely to get dependant on it, it's just for calming him at the beginning

Re interfering with feeding. Definitely hasn't here. Callum was given a pacifier in the NICU and at first I wasn't that happy BUT it's sposed to help them learn to suck and swallow and now *they* say that dummy use can prevent SIDS .. I think because they remember to breathe while they're sucking or something.

Cool, will try a NUK one and see how we get on.

I am hoping to use it as a calming tool before bed, as he always used to like to have a wee comfort suck (and he still roots for it, which breaks my heart).

Maybe that's what he's upset about? In any case, fingers crossed it works. It's horrible seeing him so sad.

I think they say dummies are good for reflux babies because if you are sucking and sollowing the acid can't rise up the throat. Thats the theory anyway, Isobelle just throws up around her dummy. Whenever I go in she is sleeping in a puddle of sick, constantly worried about her choaking but she won't settle to sleep without the dummy so can't take it away. Thats the only problem with dummies is that they do get so dependant on them.

I have a Nuk one as well and Cooper took to that really well.

I was against Dummy's too but each baby is very different!

No confusion here, If it comes out & he doesnt' want it and is actually hungry he won't allow me to put it back in. I've gone from 1 hourly snacks to proper feeds at the right intervals.

Funny is he only needs it during the day!

If you can put up with it for a wee while longer, Daniel should learn how to find it himself and put it back in on his own Flissty? We're going to wait until Jimmy is old enough to understand and then tell him eg "Santa needs it for another baby" or some such lie . I don't really mind him using them at the moment - he's only allowed them in bed, and more often than not spits them out quite quickly anyways.

Laurie, personally I don't like the latex ones as they seem to wear out faster - looked like the teat part was peeling, whereas the silicon ones lasted longer and were easier to keep clean. Have only tried the Tommee Tippee latex ones though. Jimmy now has Avent silicone ones that glow in the dark, which is quite handy!

I was against them as well until Tom came along and I tried one and he instantly settled.  He still has it but only for bed time.  He has to cough it up before he gets out of bed.  however he often finds one he has hidden under the bed and will come out of his room with it. 

 

One day we will ditch it but at this stage hes happy so I am happy.

 

Havent tried it wih James yet and to be honest I think I would rather not but that seems hypocritical.