Just wondering if you used dummies with your gorgeous multiples.
I have seen on 2 twin videos now and heard from a 'been-there' mum that spoke at an info session that they found dummies great with twins during feeding times as one may be content for a few extra minutes sucking on its dummy whilst you attach and start the other baby.
However, our local hospital where we are doing ante-natal class (but not where we are hoping to have the babies) is very anti putting anything artificial into babies mouths such as dummies and bottles as it interferes with their natural latch or something. So I just don't know.
I am sure I will get help from a lactation person after they are here and they will help advise and I have packed newborn dummies but I just want to know what others did.

Thanks!

Cat & Nath
Finally BFP on ICSI attempt#1.
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Hi Catnat,
Dummies are really a personal choice, our first son had a dummy from about day 3 as he just liked to suck on things. He was breastfed and never had any attachment issues etc. With our twins we had also read that a dummy could be used to hold off hunger cries for a few minutes and it does work with Jack sort of If he's really hungry it just keeps falling out and India won't settle for anything less than food when she is hungry.
I think be prepared and do whatever works for your family.

elke

Hi Cat, getting close now...where has the time gone?

My 2c...Dummies saved my life (well at least my sanity). I didn't use them until after the girls had established feeding properly (I think they were probably about 3 or 4 weeks old) so I wasn't concerned about that too much.

The only problem with dummies is when to get rid of them. If you wait too long (which we unfortunately did), then you will have a battle on your hands!!

Unless you have a personal objection to dummies, then its probably worth having a couple on hand and wait and see if you need them. I wouldn't use them unless they are absolutely necessary but you don't want to be driving around looking for a late night pharmacy with 2 screaming babies in the back of the car!

Nicolie
DDs Paige & Hannah (23/09/03)

We didn't get a huge say in this as with Scarlett she just arrived in my room one day from the SCBU with a pink dummy in and the next day Joe arrived with a blue one! When I questioned it they said they were helping the bubs to develop their suck reflex as they didn't have one when they were born. In fairness their feeding did improve after they got dummies so I was happy to keep them.
Joe weaned himself of his dummy at 13 months old, and we weaned Scarlett off at about 19 months (with no real tantrums at all, using the same techniques we had used with DD!)

Good to see your ticker moving along so nicely





This message was edited by Zebette on Wednesday, 19 October 2005 @ 3:04 PM

Hi Cat!! Getting exciting now!!

We took them to the hospital and didnt intend to use them....Day 4 come and *OMG* Brooklen was not happy unless she was sucking, she was the best drinker of the two and was later diagnosed with LI. If we knew that it was the milk that was not agreeing with her we would possible have stopped feeding rather than give a dummy. She took to the dummy and was heaps happier after that so we left it.
Hayden didnt use one util he was about 2 months or so and that was for the reason that you noted, to occupy him whilst Brooklen was still feeding etc...It seemed to work and now he doenst even use his (but I dont go out without it LOL)
Brooklen on the other hand loves hers and we tease her with it..she is so funny pulls it out waves it around and then puts it back in her own mouth LOL'

As stated its a personal choice for all, but I took them to the hospital with me and my open mind!!! *LOL*

I was open minded about using them but after trying them for a couple of weeks I gave up, my two wouldn't keep them in so I would have to hold them in their mouths, kind of defeated the purpose.

Though we have used them both times we travelled for their ears in the plane.

A friend of mine who used dummies for about 3 years with her son, advised me to just buy the cheapest ones from the start and not get the fancy types as they get used to a particular style and so obviously its cheaper replacing the cheaper ones over the time especially for 2 babies.


cheers
Beth
dd Alana 3 yrs
dd & ds Charlotte & Samuel 11mths

My mum went and brought dummies for me at day 4 in the hospital. Like hayfilfy my DD wouldnt settle and my milk still wasnt in so they used the dummies and they were heaps better and settled. Until that day i hadnt really had any sleep. I got a little bit more sleep that night. I think take them just in case and use them if you feel you need to. Dont worry about what the hospital says. It is your choice.

hugs and Kisses
Catherine

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YAY for DUMMIES!!

The hospital would not let me use dummies with the boys because of all the usual blah blah, but I bought some on the way home and haven't looked back.

Definatley took care of the comfort sucking, If i had to "get one out" everytime the one of boys wanted a comfort suck I would have been topless 24/7.

I don't think I missed the hungry cues because of dummies, if they were hungry they would just spit it out and demand food.

Once again personal choice but worth a try IMO

Lauren
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My 2 had the suck problem so were given dummies. We had plenty but at 6mths old one of my girls spat the dummy & the other did a few mths later, without any help from us. We just had to pick up the collection from under their cots.

Thankyou.

It is hard to believe that in about 8 weeks at the most they will be here and these questions won't just be my hypotheticals but my survival strategies!!!! I am getting strangely excited but also very nervous.

Thanks for your experiences. I have nothing against dummies (and are almost tempted to use them just to peeve MIL off who hates them :eg:) so will keep them in the bag and use them if it seems appropriate. I have bought NUK newborn ones which are really cute and also some Tommee Tippee ones. If they make life easier and they like them I suppose they will get used, otherwise not much lost really!

Cat & Nath
Finally BFP on ICSI attempt#1.
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I bought my girls the Nuk newborns, I thought they looked cute But they hated them so there went $10 or however much I paid for 2! I also tried the tommee tippee ones - again they didn't like them. Funnily enough they love the cheapest ones you can buy, the happy baby ones - they are soft and the right shape. The nurses recommended these types while my girls were in the special care unit, apparently the rounded ones with the bulb at the end are best. Unfortunately I forget their reasoning for this LOL.

Dummies have been my saviour with the girls - I'd rather them have a dummy then suck their thumbs thats for sure

Dummies were MY LIFE SAVER!

When the girls were first born I was encouraged to give them one to help them to learn how to suck.

Just before they came home, a lot of mid wives showed their disapproval at wanting to give them a dummy!

To be honest I don't think it makes much difference to them to have a dummy in regards to breastfeeding. Maybe this is more so for prems? If you read some of the posts in the BBE thread by Butterscotch, she asked a few questions about this issue (that dummies confuse the baby & interfere with them learning to feed). I NEVER had a prob with this.

Also, my girls just wanted to suck. I can tell you I was getting tired of them sucking on ME & found a dummy easier to cope with.

I also found that the ONLY dummies they could suck were the cheap cherry shape ones! ABA told me that the cherry shaped ones are best for breastfeeding mums.

I don't see anything wrong with using dummies! If you keep them clean & use them when they are needed (like when you have 2 screaming, whining, unsettled babies). I use to tell people that I was the one that had to cope, so it was MY choice to use dummies!

I'd recommend that you just don't get them into the habit of falling asleep with a dummy in the mouth. I did this & then had times when I had to get up to out a dummy back in.


Hope that helps

Belinda

Hi, one of the midwives in hospital suggested my (3 day old) son Patrick be given a dummy as he was very unsettled- and we did and it made life so much easier. We used Happy dummies as this was the brand the lactation consultant said to use if we used dummies. When the kids were older we only gave them dummies at sleep time and stopped using them when they were about 18 months.
Maycee

Maycee (36)
DH (34)
Twin boys (4/12/01)
DD (7/10/03)

must admit yes we did..

the boys were so unsettled at teh start that we needed help and they were a life saver.. THe nurses of course were dead against it (as i think most are), but they are a lifesaver..

Rach :-)

Rach (27) & BJ (35)

Hi Cat
this is definately a personal opinion but we used dummies from about the third week because our girls just loved to suck. At the time they needed it. Now we are paying for that a bit as they are now 13months and wake during the night if they lose their dummy. My girls were BF and they never had a problem feeding AT ALL. It is your decision and it is easy for other people to tell you how against it they are but it is not them who has to nurse TWO screaming bubs. Dummies have really been a godsend in this house.
Jodi

I have never been particularly keen on dummies, mostly because I have friends who have had the nightmare of never sleeping because of having to constantly replace dummies. I had planned to not use them but had bought a couple just in case we got desperate.

Then, as you know, the girls were born prematurely. Whilst they were in the NICU the nurses asked me if I was happy for them to have dummies (Jo - I'm horrified that the hosp where you had Joe and Scarlett just put dummies in without asking you!!). They explained to me that it helps them to learn the suck/breathe/swallow reflex that they needed. I explained that I wasn't particularly keen on dummies but if it was going to be the best thing for them then I agreed. They were given tiny little dummies specially for prems. They would sometimes suck on their dummies and sometimes we'd dip the dummy in some of my breastmilk whilst they were being fed via the tube to help associate the taste of my milk with a full tummy. Neither of them seemed particularly fussed about the dummy tho. Now, 4 1/2 weeks later, Emily loves her dummy if she's unsettled (but will only suck on the prem dummy, not a bigger one which may cause a problem as the little dummy will become a choking hazard when she's bigger). Kaitlyn is not interested in her dummy at all. I'm hoping to wean Emily off her dummy. I have also been tandem feeding which as someone else said means you don't have anyone waiting for very long.

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JenM~ Yep I agree with you! Mine couldn't really use the expensive bottles either! We used the cheap teats & they worked well here too.

Belinda

Hi,

Here's my two cents worth. I was not realy planning on using dummies, didn't even buy any but had nothing against using them - Maddy was a very unsettled babe with an upset tummy and was a very 'sucky' babe, she just wanted to suck so about day 6 after hours of crying we gave Maddy a dummy - she was born to suck on a dummy LOL Happy babe. So the midwives advised me to use the very cheap happy baby cherry ones as they said because of the totaly alien shape they don't confuse it with feeding like the more expensive shaped ones designed to simulate the nipple Anyway I never had any latching probs with her after that. She still has one that she uses in bed and yes sometimes she wakes up looking for it but not very often.

On a funny note - Saxon has never had a dummy but is obsessed with Maddy's if he see it he screams in glee and try's to get it out of her mouth and then runs around with it until you take it off him LOL

Vanessa

TTC #1 for 6 years
DSS Matt 22-7-83
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Hi Cat,

Using dummies is very personal thing. I am another mum who never wanted to use dummies and I guess I was very lucky that I never had to. Neither of the girls were at all bothered with them. I had a couple in the house but just never really had to use them. I tandem fed for a couple of months and then fed them one after the other and still didn't really have a problem with crying babies. I reckon as a twin mum your tolerance for listening to crying babies gets higher sooner....it has to! I've heard that if you can get through the first month or so without a dummy then the babies finds other ways to comfort themselves like sucking fingers (not sure if this is better though!).

I guess its one of those things you have to play by ear.

Beth

Sophie and Daisy 9/4/03

I think the key is to be flexible.

A "friend of a friend" point blank refused to give her daughter a dummies even after a pead adviced her it was the best think to help with her daughters reflux. Poor little bubba is 9months old and is constantly upset/in pain.

Lauren
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We didn't use them - I think if they work for you and your babies, go for it. Our girls "found" their hands and sucked on those from quite early on - they don't any more. The advantage with sucking on a hand rather than a dummy is that their hand doesn't fall out of the cot!

I think like everything else it's a matter of being flexible and doing what works.

Maree

Eleanor 1/8/03
Harriet 1/8/03

I too took them to hospital... Unwillingly as I didn't want to use them. About day 5 one of the midwives told me to stop trying to kid myself, I had twins if a dummy buys you 5 minutes then use it. Amber took to it straight away. Olivia never used one( coincidently I couldn't get her to take a bottle for ages either) I never found it interferred with Amber's feeding and I cant think of how many times I could put the dummy in and she'd go straight to sleep!!!

Dont worry too much about brands of bottles or dummies. All babies r different. Amber would only take the nuk orthodontic dummies and only use avent bottles despite us trying cheaper brands 1st.

Good luck for the coming weeks.. Its so exciting isn't it..

Rebecca 32
Nathan 28
Fraternal twin girls Amber & Olivia 08/05/03