Below are some views and experiences on the use of dummies. If you would like to share your own views or experiences please email the site at contributions@forparentsbyparents.co.uk.

Your Views and Comments

I am definitely in the camp for using dummies. Both of my children have had dummies in moderation since birth. They are not allowed to fall asleep with them but have them at times when they have a need for them - usually around 6 o'clock in the evening or when they have had an accident - the dummy always comes up trumps and calms them down. They also have them put in their cot when we go to bed so that if they wake in the night they have a comfort instead of one of us having to get up! Friends of ours are anti dummy and now have 3 children who are quite used to screaming for long periods of time and suck their thumbs - much easier to take a way a dummy than a thumb. Age 3 dummies were taken away by Santa - a bit of a trauma at the time but by that age children are old enough to accept what you are telling them if you give a good enough reason. My advice to new parents would be, if it works for you then use it in moderation and always take in away when they obviously don't need it any more.

Lucy

I have just watched your story on dummies. I'm a speech and language therapist and am concerned that you didn't give the full story on the pros and cons of using a dummy. I have 2 children and gave them both dummies when they were young babies - so felt very comfortable with the research being put forward suggesting the benefits of dummies for babies. I am not completely anti dummies (as some Speech and Language Therapists are) however I do think they need to be used with care.

Hope you have a chance to bring this other side of the dummy story to light. If you would like any further info on the topic I suggest you contact The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists for their views. - Great website by the way

Nancy Craven

Dummies? Not for me!

When I was pregnant with my daughter I was most definite that my child would not have a dummy. However, my daughter turned out to be a very 'sucky' baby and after 9 weeks of pacing the floor with her and singing lullabies to settle her, I gave in and purchased a dummy to try her with and she loved it.

I believe that the re-aligning of the bones would have happened naturally, over time with general development, but the use of the dummy speeded up this process. I feel that dummies have their place and are useful provided that they are used sensibly and not as a way of 'keeping a child/baby quiet'.

Lisa

My daughter is now 7 months old and is only given her dummy in the middle of the night when she wakes and cannot settle. She does not have it in the day time, nor when she goes to sleep - she goes to sleep by herself!

I had no strong views about dummys I was a finger sucker and my sister a thumb sucker I at forty have stopped she has not, why I don't know. Both my children where offered them my first loved them and was very happy but dropped them at about a year in favour of her thumb which we can't get out of her mouth or swap for a bribe so we are stuck with it the only comfort is that, other than her privet thumb sucking, my sister is very normal and has great teeth. My second daughter never did use a dummy willingly and never found her thumb in favour of a good yell so I dont know which is best I just know that if they will use a dummy it is much easier on the routines and the ears.

My twin daughters are 7 and they still have there dummies. They love them and I have tried all sorts of different bribes and tasks all to no use. I do have a rule and that is they don't have them whilst out shopping however I always take 2 in my pocket just incase they cry or demand them. I keep a stash in the car so we never forget one. My daughter was very naughtey in the doctors last week and I was glad to have a dummy with me. They both have them in constantly when at home and they fight over them so I end up buying between 2 and 10 dummys a week. If they are going to have them I like them to have new ones. They do still have bottles at home as well, only at night though.

Call them what you will, the use of dummies/soothers/pacifiers is still the subject of many a debate, both within the families of new parents and in professional circles.

I don't profess to be an expert on anything, let alone raising children, heaven forbid! I do however have fairly strong views on the use of dummies, based in part on my own experiences as a Mother of two, Step-Mother to two and expectant mother, but also in my professional life having recently completed my 3 years at University training as a Speech & Language Therapist, in my previous life as a dental nurse and in having observed the development of children, both dummy suckers and those without dummies, as part of my training.

My view, for what it's worth, is that many babies need to suck and get huge comfort from sucking. Not the nutritive sucking we see when they are feeding but a non-nutritive sucking that calms and pacifies them.

If your baby isn't one of these 'sucky' babies then good for you! you're very lucky, but the fact is that many are and those not offered a dummy will usually find a knuckle, finger or thumb to suck on just as soon as their co-ordination allows it.

My own children were allowed their dummies until they were around 3 years old, at which time I limited their use as much as possible, we then used Christmas as a deadline for getting rid of them. Most normally developing 3 year olds will understand enough to enable the parent to prepare them for getting rid of their dummy. I've heard various stories, but we used the approach that Santa takes your dummies away when you're 3 and gives them to the new babies, he does of course leave a suitably grown-up 3 year old present in their place :-) - all I can say is that neither of my children were traumatised by it, on the contrary they took it in their stride and handed over their dummies willingly, neither have orthodontic problems or thumb-sucking habits, unlike some of their counterparts whose anti-dummy parents have left them with what is, in my opinion, a far worse and more damaging habit.

Maggi