Help! I am a dummy...

[HelloKitty]

Help, my baby is 9 weeks old and has decided to use me as a dummy. He wont go to sleep unless he is on the boob. which is giving me sore nipples :thumbsdown: and then he wakes up every 20 minutes nad wont go to sleep unless he is on the boob again. i tried rocking him to sleep and putting him in his pram but it doesnt work. how do i break the cycle????

[Mum&bubs]

Does he take a real dummy at all? This could help :)

[HelloKitty]

no.. i was hoping not to use one. my husband is a dentist and doesnt think it advisable

[katherine]

my baby doesnt use one...
but i remember my other son would only sleep while feeding...
hard that yours keeps waking... but he is only 9 weeks old, so remember that....
cant think of any advice at the moment.. sorry

[Mum&bubs]

Oh Okay, I'm like this too we don't use dummies here. That's all I can think of atm hun, I hope you sort it out. I know it's pretty stressful being used as a dummy :hugs:

[mum23girls]

Bmmer!! When hubby is blisfully off sleeping in lala land and you are up to your last thread of hair.... try a dummy :p :laughing:

What about the ortho-whatever dummies, are they any good or is it just a selling gimmik?

:fingerscrossed: bubby doesn't turn into a thumb sucker;) (sorry couldn't help it!)

It is no good having a comfort sucker. My DD was like that and with reflux, and I found the dummy worked wonders...

[lukaelmo]

Does he get drowsy when you rock him? I rocked/patted my bubbas to sleep during the day, but always popped them into their beds just before they actually went to sleep, so that they learnt to fall asleep by themselves. DS2 is only a week old now, and I am doing this with him, this afternoon I had to put him down four times before he fell asleep by himself.

At night I let him fall asleep on the boob, like that it's wake, feed, then straight back to sleep.

Anyway, this method is what worked for me. DS1 now goes down for him naps/sleeps with no trouble at all, I pop him into his cot and he waves me bye bye :laughing:.

[sam's mum]

ooh, I remember this. Then I went and did a day stay.

1) try to stretch out the time between feeds a little bit at a time so that he is hungrier and taking more before falling asleep.

2) try to have someone else doing the rocking, holding etc - he can smell the milk and knows it is there

3) try to get him into sleep, eat, play so that he is eating when he wakes up and going to sleep not on a feed. This is hard, but I found that working on recognising the tired signs and wrapping him worked.

4) feed him when you have to.

:fingerscrossed: I hope it gets better for you soon

ps, I tried a dummy (not very hard because I don't like them) but DS wouldn't take one. we got through it and you will too. :hugs:

[GraceUnhearing]

no.. i was hoping not to use one. my husband is a dentist and doesnt think it advisable

i was dead set against dummies too
never wanted to give DS one

but unfortunately DS is th same as your bub.
all he did was suck on my boob.
or my finger and wouldn't settle or go to sleep either.

in the end for the sake of my sanity i got him a heinz dummy from the shop (after going trying quite a few dummies that he didn't like) they are apparently shaped better for orthodontic purposes (whether or not thats true i don't know but it works for us)

he loves the thing. i don't know what we'd do without it now

hes a comfort sucker and sounds like your bub is too and theres no other way to get him to settle other than sucking :(

[mim1]

that's what josh does when his reflux is bad - the comfort from sucking helps ease his pain and the milk settles him too. have you considered that it could be reflux? reflux doesn't necessarily mean vomiting by the way.

as for a dummy, i was going to try and avoid one, but then when josh went straight into special care they said that sucking on a dummy provides comfort and they thought it was important for him to be as comfortable as possible. he took it to straight away and it really helps soothe him when he's distressed. the happy baby brand is the best - you get it at coles. it's all very well to be idealogically opposed to dummies, but if it means you don't sleep then i suggest you might want to rethink your opposition to dummies.

[GraceUnhearing]

it's all very well to be idealogically opposed to dummies, but if it means you don't sleep then i suggest you might want to rethink your opposition to dummies.

thats exactly how i felt

got him a dummy and have never looked back!

its always attached to him now :)

yeah i still hate the thing but its what works for my little comfort sucking DS :)

[immarni]

My dentist said its better to use a dummy then have kids that suck on their fingers....which if your bub likes to suck away then he will eventually find his fingers. I was against dummies until i was at my last tether and too sleep deprived to care and it worked wonders!! Also if he is just using your boobs to suck and not feed every time he probably isnt attatching properly which is why your nipples are getting so sore. Good luck :)

[allysophia]

Welcome to Bubhub you human dummy! :D

Same thing happened to me, and for the first few weeks of life, thats how it is..

BUT, you will have the BEST milk supply ever if you
keep going. Baby is saying "mum, I want morrrree.. now, I'm gonna get it all ready for tomorrow. And isn't it nice having my mum so close to me.. she is right here! *suck suck*"

Might I suggest co sleeping, a tv/good book/telephone in the bedroom? Really saved me :D Bubs just used to fall asleep on the boob (still does!) and I'd read/watchtv etc, then slowly and skillfully pry myself away :)

[allysophia]

Your doing really well, by the way! :yes:


Well done! It does get ALOT easier! I remember how hard it was in the first few months... Good luck! :hugs:

[allysophia]

My dentist said its better to use a dummy then have kids that suck on their fingers....which if your bub likes to suck away then he will eventually find his fingers. I was against dummies until i was at my last tether and too sleep deprived to care and it worked wonders!! Also if he is just using your boobs to suck and not feed every time he probably isnt attatching properly which is why your nipples are getting so sore. Good luck :)

Sorry to keep posting.. but I never used a dummy. It can be done. And I was never sleep deprived :D
Your attach is probably PERRFECT (you'd know if it wasnt) its simply him getting milk ready for tomorrow. Babies are very intelligent, and the more he sucks, the more milk he gets later on (cluster feeding, I think they call it?)

[Beany]

Babies are born with the sucking reflex and it's a natural calmer to them. Try the dummy - he might give it up before it becomes an issue. My son took a dummy when I was at my wit's end. After 8-10 weeks of age, he refused it in favour of his thumb. A few weeks of that later, he sucked on nothing at all.

Also, if you choose not to use a dummy, your nipples will get used to it. And it all does get better. Typically at around 3 months of age, the babies learn to self-soothe and don't require the breast for nearly as much or as long. My boy still needs to be fed to sleep most of the time but he doesn't stay on for nearly so long as he used to.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel! Don't lose hope!