The Dummy Debate

Something that often causes quite a stir, is should your child have a dummy or not? Now before I had Noah, I thought there was no way on earth I would give him one. It was unnecessary and if he never had one, he couldn't miss what he didn't have. Very naive of me.

When Noah was very young, and up until about 10 weeks he really, really wasn't fussed about having one. I did find myself offering him them when he sometimes seemed inconsolable, but he only got frustrated as he thought it was a bottle. I quickly had decided that if he would take one he could have one, anything that would soothe him or help him out, was completely fine by me. Now Noah does take a dummy, but not all the time, he only has it for maybe 1 hour a day? Which we give him to fall asleep, he doesn't cry for one or anything like that, which is the perfect position to be in for us. He even drops it out once he's fallen asleep and it's no issue for him.

I know people do think a dummy is bad for a baby, and of course, if he's hooked on a dummy at 2 or 3, I'll be starting to worry about the development of his teeth and gums. But at the moment, it's really not an issue. We will wean him off it at 1, but I don't think it will be a problem as he isn't all that reliant on it. I do feel like there is a stigma attached to dummys these days, like often getting funny looks from people when he has one in. I even had a women in Tesco once ask me if he took a dummy, I'm really not sure what relevance it is to anyone? Whatever makes my child happy, makes us happy. And if it isn't harming him, then I don't see any problem.

What do you think about children having a dummy?

A Month In Photos

This month we've not done anything too exciting. We took a trip to Lincoln one weekend, we took a walk around the lake & just relaxed. We also took a road trip down to Manchester, to visit my sister & her fiance in their new house, which was Noahs' first night away from home. This weekend Noah will get to meet his Grandma (Johns mum) for the first time as she is over visiting from Spain.

 

Noah 4 Month Update

I've been a bit naughty lately and kind of absconded from blogging. I have been super busy and to be honest, haven't had the energy. When I've had spare time I've just wanted to relax or do chores that have mounted up. But I vow to be back on track now.

Noah is almost 5 months! Where has that time gone? I know it's cliche, but it's really gone by so fast. He's grown up so quickly and really has developed his own little personality, it's so amazing to see him grow and change every single day.

Routine: I feel we've fully developed a routine for Noah now. He has begun weaning so we give him some porridge / fruity porridge around dinner time, and then we've started incorporating something more substantial for tea time, like Mediterranean vegetables and rice, which he loves. As soon as Noah reaches 5 months, I will move off the powders and start making my own purées & giving him some of our food, which I'm extremely excited for.

Sleeping: Noah did go through a very bad sleeping phase from around 15 weeks and it lasted about 2-3 weeks, I felt like I was going mad. But he seems to have worked it out himself and is back to normal again now. He goes to sleep after a bath, bottle & some cuddles at 7 and he's fast asleep by 8. We were very keen to keep it at this time, and may even make it 30 minutes later as when we go on holiday, I don't want him wanting to sleep before we've even had tea. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. He does sleep till around 5/6, when I usually bring him in with me and he falls straight back to sleep with cuddles. We then wake around 9 and get on with our day.

Milestones: So Noah has fully mastered the roll, from front to back, it's like a little game for him now. We try to give him tummy time, and he has other ideas and flips onto his back. The cheeky boy! He's a confident grabber now, and when he reaches for things he gets them first time, for example if he has a dummy in, he enjoys pulling it out, putting it back in. He's even managed to grasp hold of his juice cup!!

I really think 4-7 months are the months of the most changes within a baby, and I cannot wait to see how much Noah develops over these crucial weeks.