So a few weeks ago my son began teething, anybody who’s met my son knows he is not a baby who cries often, so since teething has been a lot more clingy and upset than usual.

Shortly after he began teething, we decided to go out for some food with my Nan, whilst sitting in a pub waiting for our food, our son started to get upset, by his cry I could tell he was tired, and he wanted his dummy. When I gave him his dummy I heard a heavily pregnant woman say “only lazy moms use dummies” I honestly couldn’t believe I’d heard it. She then continued to say how she would never ever give her baby a dummy, and I remember myself saying that before I had my son. I remember telling everyone I didn’t want to use a dummy but I still bought some just in case I changed my mind.

Not many people know the benefits of having a dummy, as well as the disadvantages.

Disadvantages:

• Baby’s can become dependent on the dummy and refuse to sleep without one

• You need to have multiple in case you loose one

• The later you allow your child to have a dummy the more chance they could end up effecting their teeth and the way their teeth sit in their mouth

• It can effect their speech

• Young babies cannot find and put their dummy back in if it falls out so in the night this could effect not only their sleep but yours.

Personally I find that dummies are extremely helpful, my son finds them soothing, although he gets upset if it falls out (sometimes he pulls it out on purpose) as soon as he has it in his mouth if he is stressed, upset or tired it calms him straight away. At 4 months he is quite reliable on his dummy, the recommended time to to remove a dummy is 6-8 months. As it stands I don’t think I could take it away from him just yet, but I do hope before he’s 1!