Binkies

[Hoping4peanut]

So the breastfeeding gurus say not to use binkies for 3 weeks to avoid nipple confusion.

What do you do if baby uses you as a human pacifier though? She is sucking me dry after a week and 1 day!

Do I start a pacifier anyways? Or wait the 3 weeks?

 

[lau86]

Both mine had them from birth and both were fine! I asked my midwife about it and she said it was fine, if they're hungry they will spit it out. She also didn't seem to believe in nipple confusion.
I know some people aren't comfortable with it but I needed some sleep!

 

[pinkpolkadot]

DD1 had one from a few days in, we did limit it though esp to begin with as sucking is good for building up your supply.

DD2 has had one from 3 weeks to help settle her after feeds as she seems to have a bit of reflux and it seems to help.

I know it's not recommended but it worked for us and didn't cause any probs.

 

[JenX]

I just served as a human pacifier. But you have to do what is right for your situation. No substitute nipple was ever sufficient for my LO; she demanded the real thing. Good luck!

 

[ChaiTea]

A human pacifier is the original pacifier! I didn't give my son a paci until after 3 weeks. He didn't want anything to do with it at that point. The pacis we have are just in toy baskets and get chewed on from time to time. Never really felt a need to give him one...

 

[Mapleroo]

My nipples were cracked and bleeding so actual feedings was about all I could handle. I ended up giving my LO a dummy at just a few days old. It gave my nipples a bit of a break and I had loads of milk. Still using a dummy and BF 9 weeks in

 

[WantsALittle1]

We introduced our son to his binky at 5 weeks. My cousin said that every single one of her babies has gone home from the hospital with a binky in their mouth, if that makes you feel any better. She said that none of them had trouble nursing, nor with weight gain, nutrition, etc.

My theory about the human pacifier thing is that it's likely a good thing, ingrained into us through millennia of evolution. Maybe babies don't actually know what hunger is; they just know that they have an urge to suck. Maybe through satisfying their urge to suck for comfort, they often find their bellies full, and that's good for them

For what it's worth, my son would try to suck for comfort and then spit out the nipple when milk came out or simply fall asleep, sometimes with milk pouring out of his mouth Then he'd have other times when he ate voraciously. When we finally gave him a binky, it was like his dream came true. He was so happy to have something he could suck on that didn't leak milk!

If your little one is not spitting your nipple out as soon as milk flows, then I'd be inclined to say that she actually wants milk, not just to suck, and that she's not just using you as a pacifier, but is just really hungry? For newborns it really isn't uncommon for them to be on the boob almost constantly!

 

[angela98661]

My baby has a binkie. She's been close to ebf since birth. Hubby uses when I'm at work and she wants to suck between meals.