Sorry, I meant JOHNNY, I really can't spell these days

Hi people, being one of four siblings, my mother BF us all on demmand whenever we wanted it. Which was hard work as there is only a max of 22 months between the four of us. However, my eldest brother had awful colic for 7 months, and he had a dummy, maybe for that reason. My other brother sucked his thumb. I also sucked my thumb, and my sister had a dummy. There were no problems with the BF, but I think some babies just need that little extra something other than being fed. Especially when we have cases with babies having problems as reflux, it's not as simple as feeding them as this can increase their discomfort.
I have read some of the facts to do with the use of a dummy though. All I can find that promotes the use of a dummy is that is can help REDUCE sids. Only for one simple fact. As a baby only naturally breathes through it's nose, the dummy doesn't interfere with breathhing, and it allows the babu to stay 'semi-concious' throughout sleep time. As when baby falls into a deep sleep, the risk od sids is increased.
But we all know there are lots of other factors there.
Hovever, I don't agree or disagree with using a dummy while BF as my son only BF from myself for a week, then I expressed for several weeks following, and none of mine have had dummy's.
Although my friend is BF her son and swears my his 'diddy' as he is a very SUCKY baby and from what I have seen, he nurses almost all the time, and then ends up being sicky all the time and constantly wearing a bib. So in that case the dummy works for her.
My daughter however is FF (on demmand against health visitors reccomendations) and sucks her thumb.
I think all the little tots are different, if they could speak to us and tell us what THEY wanted, I think we would all be VERY suprised.

hi hysteria, i have nothing against anyone using any method, AS LONG AS they are aware of all the risks. i note what you say about SIDS, however, the UNICEF link i posted earlier is very clear that you must be CONSISTENT in using the dummy every night if you are using one. using it infrequently actually increases the risk of SIDS. that is really important.

i am obsessed with teeth which is my own personal numero uno reason for never using a dummy. at the time that my son was born i was not aware of all the other risks, i am now.

only today i saw a very distraught newborn given the dummy every time he cried. his mother tried to rock him and then put dummy in his mouth every time he cried. he/she was only about a week old. i have no idea whether he was bf or ff, but whichever, i just didn't think that much dummy use for a week old baby looked right. my personal view.

my son cried loads in the first 5 months too. it was just his personality and the fact he loved being held, he wasn't sick, he only had colic for first few weeks (back arching in pain, red face) but colic doesn't last for ever. he just cried because he wanted bf and being held. 3 and half years later, and he is still an incredibly tactile child, loves his hair being stroked, hugging and kissing and loads of cuddling at bed time. with hindsight i can only say, yes all babies are different, mine likes being held and dummies would only have interfered with his time at the breast and vitally, skin to skin contact.

a friend of mine used a similar tactic, dummy in mouth practically every time i saw her and her son. she continued to bf until baby was 5.5 months old and still very very skiny and unhealthy. i never dared open my mouth that her excessive dummy use meant that her baby wasn't given enough bf, but in her case it was the truth. her husband also hated having the baby in the same bed/room, again leading to excessive use of the dummy instead of bf when her baby woke at night.

in the end she called me very upset one day with her MW lecturing her on how she hadn't bf properly and that it was now "too late" as baby was not thriving and needed to be put on formula asap. she put the baby on goats milk formula on the advice of her GP.

she called me, asked for my advice, i gave it, suggested she contact LLL or NCT, then suggested she ditched the dummy, ditched the schedule and demand fed with baby in same bed/room. she said ok, but a few days later told me she was fed up, didn't enjoy bf and was happy with excl. ff. fine. she also said she had flu and the GP had said you can't take antibiotics and bf and even more stangely that you can't have a fever and bf (makes me laugh as i have fed my son thro' antibiotics and numerous infections, flu and severe fevers, as long as you get meds. that are safe when bf, there are thousands of meds. safe with bf including many antibiotics). the best thing for a sick mum to do is bf and pass on her antibodies to her baby. why did my son not catch my flu i wonder when i bf him ?

i just feel guilty about not saying something sooner beacuse her baby was so thin he could have become very sick. this is the problem you see, where you see a baby that is obvioulsy not thriving on whatever method is being used, but as a society being too scared to open out mouths because we don't wish to be seen as pushy and arrogant. but at whose expense ?

I agree with you on the dummy side of things OLIVEGREEN. But it is not simply dummies that cause these problems. I sucked my thumb from about 3 weeks old, and was still doing at 12 when I had my forst visit to the authodontist!!!!! It was only then that I stopped when faced with my bottom jaw having to be broken to meet the top ones that were so overcrowded form the years of thumb sucking. (I also had a slightly receeded bottom jaw also) And this is no joke or exageration. It was what I faced. As I was given a few other choices, I went with having teeth removed from the bottom, and a head brace worn for a year to pull top teeth back in my mouth to meet all the bottom ones. I was then fitted with the classic 'train track' brace top and bottom and a neck brace to be worn for as long was needed (which was 2 years) After 2 years sleeping on my back from the head and neck brace, I had the 'train tracks' removed and fitted with the good old retainer, and a mouth guard type plastic gum sheild thing to be worn on the bottom.

All in all it was total hell for about four years. All that is what I had to go through as a teeneger.
My Mum wished I had taken a dummy, but I refused.
Now I am faced with my daughter, who also sucks her thumb.
And I DID try her with a dummy, as after the reccomemded year, I would have taken her off it, weather it be weaning her off is or cold turkey. I don't have that choice as all she wants now is her thumb as it is probably tastes much nicer than silicone in her mouth.
But in some cases, I think it is not as simple as what the rules, and health reccomendations say.
I had too much emotional and physical pain to go through. And if a dummy for a year can prevent that if used 'properly' (EVERY NIGHT RELIGIOUSLY) then, m aybe sometimes it is what is best.
But That is only my personal opinion, based on my experiences.

I hope I didn't scare any of you who's little ones are thumb suckers, my daughter is a thumb sucker, and loves it, all I tell myself is that it's her comfort, it's not a problem yet, so I will cross that bridge when I come to it.