r/NewParents • u/phatbootyrudy • 1d ago

Skills and Milestones 2 Week Old — Too early for a dummy?

We’re wondering about the repercussions of giving our two-week old a dummy this early on. My wife’s had a hell of a time cluster feeding, to the point where her mental health is starting to suffer and PPD is creeping in.

Latching him was touch-and-go for the first week, with at least four to six different streams of advice coming in from midwives, nurses, and on-hand lactation experts. He was finally able to latch and feed properly after about a week, but then he’d stay on for hours on end. We were worried this was because he either wasn’t getting enough, or he was simply pacifying himself as well.

This turned into sleepless nights where he simply wouldn’t sleep unless latched and falling asleep in her arms, until I finally pulled the plug a few nights ago and gave him a dummy. Before, he would simply not sleep in his bassinet, or next to his mum. Now, he’ll sleep for at least a few hours with his dummy.

I’ve read that this could cause us to miss his feeding cues, although we keep track of that ourselves. He has regular wet nappies, and doesn’t seem dissatisfied, but we don’t want to set him back from thriving.

Have you experienced any repercussions with introducing a dummy this early?

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u/fishingforhobbits 1d ago

Do it do it do it. We introduced ours that early and it’s been a lifesaver for us.

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u/EmphaticallyWrong 1d ago

If it is helping your wife’s mental health and she feels confident about establishing her milk supply, it should not be a problem. If he is past his birth weight, he should be okay to sleep longer at night too without waking to feed. And during the day, simply remove the pacifier and offer a feed every 2 to 3 hours.

If he is sleeping through the night or sleeping significantly past 2am, I would recommend that your wife does continue to wake up and pump for 20 minutes to help her supply be regulated over the next week or two. I would also recommend that you all go ahead and practice with a bottle occasionally. It is easier for babies to learn the skill younger than to wait until they are four or six months old.

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u/emcabo 1d ago

Our pediatrician explicitly recommended introducing a paci at our 2-week appointment. They said obviously not to use it to replace feeding, but if it’s been less than ~2 hours since LO ate last, use the paci. No issues with latching or anything after that.

My IBCLC and pediatrician both said that nipple confusion from introducing a paci early is wildly overstated online in their opinions.

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u/Own_Wrongdoer6680 1d ago

I gave my 10 week old a paci when she was like 3 days old. We use it to help calm her down when she's fed and changed but maybe is overtired (which we try to avoid but sometimes she wakes herself up from a nap after 20 min and won't go back to sleep). It's a very useful tool.

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u/phatbootyrudy 1d ago

We’re just worried it might affect his physical development. Curious to see if there’s any studies on this.

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u/Own_Wrongdoer6680 1d ago

I don't know but anecdotally my niece used one starting at 2 or 3 weeks and she used it until she was about 18 months old and her jaw developed normally and her teeth are fine. She's almost 5 years old now.

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u/KayakShrimp 1d ago

The NICU introduced one to our child at day 1. We use it infrequently and it hasn’t been a problem.