Do dummies help or hinder babies to breastfeed?

I started a dummy at 3 weeks old. My baby has infant dyschezia and a dummy just helps her to relax a bit when trying to go to the toilet or when she is struggling with wind. She also has it at night if she falls asleep with it in her mouth. Babies who suck dummies have lower rates of sids so that gives me some peace of mind when she’s sleeping although she does often spit it out

I was adamant I wasn’t going to use a dummy. But I had to, she was using my nipple as a comfort and suckling so much on it.

He didn't know how to use it haha. he was just playing and biting a bit. So we didn't 😊 but yes I think he uses my nipples a lot for comfort. (2 years)

Before my son was born I was open to dummies, my partner was not. Now that he’s here I’m not open to them at all, I think it’ll deter baby from breastfeeding but also confuse him into thinking he’s hungry when he’s not or for him to actually be hungry and prefer the dummie over milk. I let him use it for one night as I was so sleep deprived but it confused him and he kept spitting it out. I already fought off the bottle feeds as I wanna breastfeed MOSTLY so I definitely don’t wanna fight with a dummie 😅 hopefully this makes sense I’m up on a morning feed 🤣 Also I’ve seen so many kids end up buck toothed from using dummies. I used one with my first and got rid of it just after 1 years old

We gave our LG a dummy from day 1, but she wasn't interested in it until about 2 months old. We kept offering it to her and it never caused issues with breastfeeding. Once she was interested in it, she's only really had it for sleep which helps with SIDS. She's 9 months only and still breastfed.

Hinder for sure

I gave my daughter a dummy from about 2 days old, and we breastfed for just over 2 years. It was hugely helpful in the first few months when my daughter was extremely colicky, and later for comfort especially when she was settling into nursery at 6m-7m. Weaning off the dummy wasn't an issue and she was off the dummy long before she was a year old. I wouldn't hesitate to use one again Every baby is different, and you know your baby best. Dummies might be a great solution for one baby but no good for another

I didn’t want to introduce it so I didn’t but I’m finding he does use my nipples for comfort a lot that I do need to unlatch him. I did try to introduce it to him when he was 1 month old a few times but he didn’t like it, he kept spitting it out 😅

I was against before giving birth and was convinced i would only use a dummy as a last resort, but i was pretty naive about how cranky my little one would be once he was here so he ended up with one at about 1.5/2 weeks. I wouldn't say it 'helped' breastfeeding in any way but it definitely has not hindered it at all for us. He still feeds from me absolutely no bother and has also been super easy to introduce a bottle to (one a day) without any nipple confusion. He's still putting on weight steadily so we know we're not missing any feeds. However I have friends whose babies simply refused so it is also fully dependent on the baby whether they'll even take to it. Just do what you feel is right 😊

Pacifier are PROVEN to limit risk for sids in babies. There is no such thing as nipple confusion only preference. A baby isn't going to prefer a pacifier, they might prefer a bottle because it's easier to get milk from. The only reason to wait to introduce is so you can learn their hunger cues

I did not want to give one to my baby but the 2nd day we were home I made my husband go out and get one. Bubba was using my pinky as a dummy to soothe during nappy changes, so dummy was the only thing that would make him not scream during nappy/clothes change. I EBF and it didn't impact breastfeeding in any way. Bubba naturally weaned himself off dummy by 4/5months and would spit it out. No right/wrong with this, if it helps you with baby then great. If you don't want to use one, then no issues. Only thing I was concerned about was dummy changing baby teeth/bite and would have weaned him off when he starting getting teeth

I breastfed exclusively and we had zero teats, with my first I gave a dummy and it use to drive me potty it would fall out so many times at night and she would cry for it to be put back in, so I said never again!

I was always against it and aftee baby came i wauted a couple weeks but it really helped baby to sleeo thwn whe he was like 3 months learned to self soothe so havnt used it since but now sucks on his fingers i dont know which one is worse

Ok am I the only one who’s never heard of a dummy?

My son never had a dummy - I never gave him the option. He was always quite a content little guy and when he got upset nothing that some boob or a cuddle or some attention wouldn’t sort :)

My daughter will take breast, a bottle and a dummy. No issues at all. Every baby is different, do what works for you and your family x

My 6 week old has one and is ebf. If she doesn't want it she spits it out. It's not affected her feeding but it gives me a rest when she is just sucking for comfort, which I know is natural but when it's almost constant in the evening, I need a break

Didn't hinder breastfeeding. If baby was hungry then she'd not take the dummy but did if she wanted comfort ... dummy helped me survive the cluster feeding 🙈

The evidence of SIDs reduction and dummy is actually very weak and a lot of experts don't recommend dummy use, for various reasons, change in facial structure and teeth are some. The most recent UK based evidence suggests that dummys make no difference to SIDs. Here is the evidence broken down. The NHS website also states the evidence is weak. https://www.basisonline.org.uk/hcp-dummies/ I have no used a dummy other than one day when I could breastfeed as in strong pain relief.

@Lindsay “dummy” is the European phrase for what we call a pacifier in the US 🙂

Ive never heared of dummy either untill i got this app and just kinda figured out wat people were talking about lol