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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Another binky bites the dust


When Grayson was born I tried desperately to get him to take a binky. Yes, you read that right. I wanted him to take a binky.

I was a thumb sucker... until I was 8... shhh don't tell anyone. My mom tried
E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G
to get me to not suck my thumb. Nothing worked. It was only at night and mostly because I was insecure, my home life at that time was very tumultuous. Not that I have an excuse... So I didn't want him to suck his thumb.

And I finally got him to take a binky. After I bought half the binky section at babies r us. He never was really attached to it per se but he took it. And then he got a cold about 5 months. He learned how to breath through his mouth that week and he also learned that he couldn't breath and suck at the same time.

Bye bye binky.

With Jaxon I tried from the beginning to get him to suck his thumb. I realized that while a binky may come and go a thumb is forever. Quite possibly literally if they are anything like I was. But I really believe in helping my children learn to self soothe. As much as I love being close to my babies being a human pacifier is not really fun when I need a bit of a break.

Or sleep.

Anyway, I digress. I tried to get Jaxon to take a binky too, one or the other would usually work. And then this week the binky would work for a few minutes (okay seconds) and then he would make this dramatic show of spitting it out. Like, LAUNCHING it out of his mouth. He is quite talented really.

And there you have it. Done-zo. No more binky.
Hopefully, the thumb will stick around a bit... otherwise I need to get sewing on his blankie... I still sleep with mine...
but that's seperate blog post confession all together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now I have a favor. All that got me thinking. I wondered about the stats of breast feeders , bottles, pacifiers and nipple confusion and all that. SO, if you wouldn't mind posting a comment with the answers to the following questions and then either send an email to your mom friends so they can answer or link it on fb with the same request. I would love to get a broad range of answers for my little survey.

1. Did you breast feed your infant?
2. if yes, how long?
3. did you bottle feed breast milk?
4. did your child have a hard time switching back and forth between breast and bottle?
5. did your infant take a pacifier?
6. did your infant suck their thumb?
7. did your child ever suffer from nipple confusion?
Any other info you want to share?

Thanks!!


13 comments:

Janet Phillips said...

1. Did you breast feed your infant?
yes still am at 20months
2. if yes, how long?
20 months and still going
3. did you bottle feed breast milk?
wouldnt take a bottle once he started breastfeeding
4. did your child have a hard time switching back and forth between breast and bottle?
5. did your infant take a pacifier?
he would as a toy mainly-he idnt suck it but more chewed on it, and like jax he would make a grand gesture out of launching it out of his mouth--although now that hes older he has started to prefer a paci--weirdo
6. did your infant suck their thumb? for a few months, then no
7. did your child ever suffer from nipple confusion? at first yes! he was born BIG and my milk too a long time to come in and he was HUNGRY so we gave him some formula, it took him 3 weeks after that to learn to bf and that was with a nipple shield, it took months to wean him off the shield
8.anything else?
he still does not sleep through the night, but does (usually) put himself to sleep for bed and naps

eireann said...

1. yes!
2. 12 months. (we JUST weaned.)
3. yes.
4. nope. (lucky me, i guess.)
5. not really. when she was teeny (like under 4 mos) and VERY tired or fussy she would take it, but never figured out how to keep it in her mouth. i'd have to hold it in for her.
6. not really. she went through a (very short) phase where she kind of chewed on her thumb, but that was it.
7. not that i could ever tell.
8. she's generally a good sleeper and goes down easily. i don't think it has anything to do with not taking a paci though (self-soothing) as other friends have kiddos who have also never taken a paci but do NOT sleep well.

good luck, my dear!

Marlyn said...

Alex:
1. Yes
2. To 13 months
3. Yes, I pumped and she drank BM from a bottle while I was at work.
4. No, she couldn't have cared less.
5. Until she turned 3 months old -- than spit it out and stuck her thumb in and five years later her thumb is still in.
6. YES!
7. No


Gregorie:
1. Yes
2. To 27 months
3. Yes, I pumped for her too but at about 10 months she stopped drinking much from the bottle and would just go without milk (or other food because she didn't eat solids yet) until I got home from work.
4. No, not at first! But then she just decided she only wanted her booby!
5. NEVER EVER EVER. And I damn tried!
6. Never ever ever.
7. No

Amy H said...

1. Yes
2. My supply went down at 6 mos. with my first and 4 mos. with my second. Had to give it up completely by 9 mos.
3. Yes. Can't remember when I started...maybe around 2 months?
4. Never.
5. My first took the pacifier from the day he was born. Used it until 3.5 years!
6. My second took the pacifier for a few months. I mainly used it to get her to fall asleep, then would take it out of her mouth. Then she found her thumb at 4.5 months and stuck with that. That is also when she started sleeping thru the night! Not a coincidence, I am sure.
7. Never.

Lindsey J said...

1. yes, both
2. 31 months for each
3. only at daycare or with sitters
4. only at first -- they refused the bottle
5. for about 2 weeks for each of them. Obsessed with it and then they wanted me again.
6. no
7. no

Unknown said...

1. YES
2. 31 months
3. yes, while I was at work, primarily
4. no, but as he got older (by 9 months old), he'd drink as little as possible from the bottle and wait until I got home so he could nurse
5. yes, from 5 days old until 11 months old
6. never
7. nope. he much preferred the real thing, and gave up the pacifier on his own at 11 months.

Shannon said...

1. Did you breast feed your infant?
No, I never got my milk to come in!
2. if yes, how long?
3. did you bottle feed breast milk?
4. did your child have a hard time switching back and forth between breast and bottle?
5. did your infant take a pacifier?
No
6. did your infant suck their thumb? No
7. did your child ever suffer from nipple confusion?
Any other info you want to share?

Gina Fraser said...

1. yes
2. DD til 6 mos/DS til 34 mos
3. DD yes/DS no(see below)
4. DD no probs at all switching/DS took a bottle 5x total and HATED it
5. DD no/DS a few times, but around 4 mos ejected it permanently =)
6. DD no/DS no
7. DD no nipple confusion whatsoever/DS had no nipple confusion, just synthetic nipple rejection =)
**Both kids nursed with nipple shield til 6 weeks or so; DD seemed to take nourishment from wherever, heavy sleeper. DS was fine with nipple shield, but only wanted the breast, light sleeper, tried multiple things, but would not self soothe. DD didn't co-sleep til 13 mos, DS tried his crib, but stopped sleeping well at 3 mos, co-slept from then on. Both hated swaddling, and I didn't push swaddling or paci's very much at all... HTH! =)

Geneva said...

1. Did you breast feed your infant?
Yes

2. if yes, how long?
I nursed Jimmy for 22 months and will nurse Vivi until she's done.

3. did you bottle feed breast milk?
no

4. did your child have a hard time switching back and forth between breast and bottle?
never tried it

5. did your infant take a pacifier?
Jimmy never would. Vivi does

6. did your infant suck their thumb?
no

7. did your child ever suffer from nipple confusion?
no

patchysmama said...

1. Did you breast feed your infant?
yes all 5
2. if yes, how long?
18mo, 9 mo, 16mo, 20mo, and 29 mo and still counting :)
3. did you bottle feed breast milk?
with # 1,2,3
4. did your child have a hard time switching back and forth between breast and bottle?
no problem but i would say all had a preference for the breast
5. did your infant take a pacifier?
2 did
6. did your infant suck their thumb?
1 did
7. did your child ever suffer from nipple confusion?
no, I always wondered about that since it was never an issue

whuffle said...

1. Did you breast feed your infant? yes
2. if yes, how long? birth till 10 months when he started biting and would not stop.
3. did you bottle feed breast milk? yes. He's a daycare kid so he HAD to take a bottle at least part of the day.
4. did your child have a hard time switching back and forth between breast and bottle? Nope. Never seemed to be one of our issues.
5. did your infant take a pacifier? For a very brief period of maybe 2-3 months before he had the dexterity to get a thumb into his mouth
6. did your infant suck their thumb? Yep. Still does and he's now 2!
7. did your child ever suffer from nipple confusion? Never seemed to.

Carolyn said...

1. yes
2. 16 months
3. occasionally, until about 3 or 4 months old.
4. not really, just had to remember how to do each one after doing the other.
5. yes, until about 5 months when he figured out he could take it out and play with it.
6. no
7. no

MsMoodee said...

1. yup, first one was 15 months (weaned himself) and with the second we're at 12 months now...(I am trying to wean him off to a bottle now, he's a good eater so i'm not as worried about his milk intake)
3. yup with the first, whenever I couldn't be there
4. yes, the first one did...never liked/took the bottle but sucked from the breast like a champ! The second seems to be okay with either, but bottles only when i'm not around.
5. yes, the first one did...but would launch it too when he wanted milk instead. The second doesn't seem interested at all and i've tried...he plays with it or chews on it when he's teething.
6. i remember both kids sucking their hands and fists in the first couple months...but no thumbs ever.
7. nipple confusion! :) does it exist? interestingly, I work with new mothers and its used as a reason to wait 4-6 weeks before introducing the bottle (its not a long time). I think early on some can really screw up your breastfeeding experience (and milk supply etc) if your child learns to suck shallow and expect milk to come so quickley. I don't think nipple confusion relates to the pacifer really as it really only can provides comfort and no milk.