Lohtown Life: The Dummy Challenge

Both my boys have been dummy boys from pretty early on. Mr Sociable liked to comfort suck (for hours), so the lactation consultant suggested I use a dummy after each feed. They were a lifesaver when he was a newborn! After trying a few different brands, Mr Sociable settled on some cheapish Tommee Tippee ones. Once he had grown attached to these, he wouldn't use anything else. He maintained his love of dummies until he was almost 3 years old. One day, he announced that he was a "big boy" and didn't need dummies anymore - so we threw them in the bin!

Mr Sociable, at 5 days and 16 months

After such a positive dummy experience first time around, I planned to use dummies with baby #2. While I was pregnant, all of the "BPA-free" baby products were starting to be released. I felt guilty about all the BPA-containing products that we had used with Mr Sociable. I purged our baby bottles and Tupperware cupboard. I researched bottles and dummies that did not contain BPA. At the time, the only BPA-free dummies were Happy Baby (which had been recalled) and Avent. So, I bought the expensive Avent dummies, hoping I could later convince him to switch to a cheaper brand when other manufacturers caught onto the BPA-free trend.

At the hospital with Mr Fun (1 day old) - he looked so cute with those massive Avent dummies!

Mr Fun has had good times with his Avent dummies. He has worn them rock-star style; he has learned to put the entire thing in his mouth; he has worn them two-at-a-time.

My rock star; Mr Fun thought the plastic part of the dummy was better for teething ;)

But then, he started to bite through them. Buying the Avent dummies started to get expensive. I had a packet of the cheaper latex ones that Mr Sociable used to like. I threw out Mr Fun's precious Avent dummies and gave him the Tommee Tippee ones. He looked at them, put them in his mouth, spat them out, put them in, spat them out, put one in his mouth and.... left it there. Success! He made the switch. No dramas! Hooray!

Within a week, he had bitten through both of the Tommee Tippee ones. They didn't seem so cheap anymore either...

So this week, I tried the cheap, cheap, cheap cherry-shaped latex dummies from Kmart. They are BPA-free & only $2 for 3!! I washed one at the shops and gave it to him straight away (in case I had to buy something different while we were still there). He accepted it with no dramas. Apparently, he is not as fussy about his dummies as he is about his food ;)