Whether you decide to give to give your child a dummy is a very personal decision. It is something that's been ingrained in me since I was very young.
My mother didn't believe in them, she always said it was 'the lazy way out' and that's the only attitude I'd ever really known. Now I'm about to have my own child, it's a discussion that the hubby and I have had.
I can appreciate the arguments for it - it helps to soothe the child and keep your sanity in check to help with the crazy screaming episodes. On the other side people argue that they kick off bad habits, and that it's a way to ignore that your baby needs your attention.
Now, I'm somewhere in the middle of that. I don't intend to use a dummy on Squidge, but who knows, maybe a few weeks/months in I'll change my mind and buy a load of them, but for now it's not something I want to do, I want to at least give it a try/chance without them and hope we can cope.
What did you do or what do you plan to do?
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Me and Stuart have had this discussion and feel that we will use dummies at sleep time only
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I was the same when I was pregnant and thought I would never use them but in a moment of weakness one day when I couldn't take the crying for no reason I resorted to a dummy. Which got spat out 2 seconds later and he will not take a dummy which I'm quite glad about really!
ReplyDeleteWe agreed that Beth will have it for a year (I had mine for waaay too many years) but she decided herself that she wasn't going to have one. Everytime she would spit it out and prefers to take a muslin to bed to snuggle up to.
ReplyDeleteI have two little boys and we introduced dummy to both of them and it helped them sooth themselves to sleep or if they were in a suckling mood which happens a lot when they're newborn. My friends who exclusively brestfed their babies and didn't want to give them dummy were nearly constantly with the baby at their boob eating, drinking or just comforting himself. I'm pretty sure dummy didn't do any damage to my boys. You'll see what works best for you and your baby!
ReplyDeleteI was anti dummies before I had Grace but after about 3 months I started to use one. I don't agree that it's the lazy way out. I think it is if it's the first thing you resort to every time your baby cries but if your baby is fed, changed and alright in every other way as far as you can see, then I think they're fine. Sometimes baby's just cry for no real reason, mostly when they're overtired and using a dummy then comforts them and helps to soothe them to sleep. That's the main time to use them. I think it's a decision you have to make once your baby's here and you can see how things are going. I think moderation is the key and only using them as a final measure after trying everything else. And to wean them from it by about 1 at the latest so you don't have a grown child still sucking a dummy x x
ReplyDeleteI think a dummy is a good idea for soothing and when they're newborn it helps to encourage sucking. Once they start getting a little older, I think they should only be used for sleeping and as a last resort for soothing. And once they're about 2 its time to start weaning them off it!! :)
ReplyDeleteLike you say tho, its a personal choice and a journey you just go with once baby is here... x
Lianne | TheBrunetteSays...
I have two sisters and we were never given dummies, so instead we would suck our thumbs. As a result we all grew up with wonky teeth and had to go through years of braces and dental treatments, it was also a lot harder for us to stop than I expect it would have been to stop with a dummy, as you can't take a child's thumb off them! It hasn't really had a lasting effect on my life (although my teeth still aren't completely straight) but if I had a child that started to suck their thumb I would definitely give them a dummy to save trouble down the line!
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