who you calling a dummy?

Yesterday, the lovely Scobes left a rather interesting comment after I posted a photo of baby Jackson with a dum-dum in his mouth.

He said: "Ok, time for a discussional hand grenade........
dummies are bad.....discuss....."

Now, knowing Scobes in the small way that I do (if it ever stops raining, Scobes we really need to sort out that BBQ at Clare's) I am pretty sure Scobes has chucked this comment in to be cheeky rather than he detests the idea of dummies (although I have a feeling you don't like them am I right?) and thinks all mothers who uses them should be shot, so in the spirit of discussion - let's open up the floor (but no Scobes attacking please!)

Dummies Are Bad...Discuss

In my opinion (humble as it is), dummies are both good (but can be not so good too). Before we had Arlo I was quite convinced I wouldn't use a dummy. I think I probably fell into the school of thought that dummies were a lazy substitute to soothe a baby when a bit of time and patience was all that were needed.

As I said, that was BEFORE I had a baby. The first night I thought Arlo might need a dummy, he cried all night long. There was NO WAY on earth this boy could have been hungry and indeed, when I gave him his bottle he spat it out. He got himself so frustrated and angry and red, it was quite frightening so I put the tip of my pinky in his mouth and he sucked and sucked and sucked and sucked. He stopped crying, his breathing regulated, he stopped being red, he fell asleep. I took my finger out and that was that.

We bought the dummy 'just in case' (interestingly, dummies are called 'soothers' in America) and have used it ever since whenever Arlo needs to be 'calmed'. This is usually when he is over tired and needs to sleep but is fightingfightingfighting it (which he does with wide open screaming mouth, flailing fists and legs and a determination to succeed witnessed only in The Apprentice). Pop the dummy in his mouth and........instant calm. When he falls asleep, the dummy falls out and that's that.

And that is why I think dummies are good. They provide an instant soothing that nothing else will offer. Some babies don't need that - and some parents will persevere through it and find an alternative which is great too. Arlo has a strong need to suck and a dummy provides the solution to that.

New research (find it yerself, I can't be bothered looking up the science bit!) suggests that dummies are actually a good thing in terms of regulating breathing for small babies but they recommend taking the dummy away from 4 months.

I'm not going to do that because he likes it and I have a feeling he'll stop soon. I hope it doesn't get to the stage where he uses a dummy all the time and I don't want to get to the stage where it's gone on for so long that I have to wrestle it from him (mentally and physically) but then I am in control of that and I need to work it out if it ever gets to that.

All in all, I'm for them. And there's some lovely dummies out there to make accessorising more fun (joking!!!!!!).

What do YOU think? I'm listening!