Should I give my baby a dummy? When should I get rid of the dummy? How do I get rid of the dummy? Is it a problem if my child had a dummy for a long time? As an Orofacial Myologist (a health professional that looks at the function of the oral and facial muscles) these are all questions I get asked regularly.

Let me start by saying I’m not anti-dummy! I have two children… being a mum, especially a first-time mum, is hard! I fully appreciate that in those early days of sleep deprivation and constant feeding it can be pretty tempting to give baby a dummy. So, if you want or need to give your baby a dummy then please do so.

Sometimes we don’t even have control over the decision of whether or not to use a dummy for our child. We may have every intention of not using a dummy but life doesn’t always go to plan. Some babies are born early or wind up in special care where a midwife may introduce a dummy and for good reason. Sucking is very soothing for newborns and dummies can help with pain and discomfort. They can also help babies who are born very early to learn to suck.

We also have some good research available that has found that dummies can protect against SIDS in the first 6 months of life (after that this effect seems to drop off).

If you have chosen to use a dummy or that decision has been made for you, my advice around dummy use is quite simple - try to use it for settling and sleeping only. Once baby is settled or sleeping, pop the dummy back out.

So if it’s ok to give baby a dummy when should you get rid of it?

When babies are born their little brains are primed to suck… if you put something in a baby’s mouth, they will suck on it! Between the ages of five and six months babies are getting ready to eat solid foods and their little brains are ready to chew. Theoretically this is the easiest time to say goodbye to the dummy! It’s important to support this new desire to chew as best we can so we want to move from encouraging sucking (a dummy) to providing baby the opportunity to practice chewing on age appropriate foods and mouth toys.

Let’s just say that your little one is now a toddler who still loves their dummy. That’s ok. This blog is not intended to shame anyone’s decisions or add to mum guilt! But if you now want to say bye bye to the dummy there are a few options. You can:

• just remove it and go cold turkey

• negotiate a date with your little one to “give the dummies to Santa” or “leave the dummies out for the dummy fairies”

• gradually cut down on use until it’s completely stopped (e.g., start with cutting down on daytime use then use for sleeping only etc)

The way that you choose to help your child stop using a dummy is a very personal decision. You know your child and yourself best so choose the option that you think will work for your family. Now, if I’ve learned anything from parenting it’s to never underestimate your child’s resilience! Quite often I have found myself stressing out over times of transition only to be surprised at how well my children have coped with change! You may be pleasantly surprised at how easily your child says goodbye to their dummy… but if you’re very stressed or your child is not coping well without their dummy, I can support you with some personalised advice and the tips and tricks I have up my sleeve.

For children who have used their dummy for years, not months, I tend to recommend an Orofacial Myofunctional assessment.  There is no judgement here, I realise we are all just doing our best in this crazy journey that is motherhood. The reason I recommend an assessment is because dummy use can interfere with oral function. Our tongue is supposed to rest up against the roof of the mouth for many valid reasons (facial growth and development of the dental arches is a big one). A dummy (or thumb, or a bottle, or a sippy cup for that matter) will hold the front part of the tongue against the floor of the mouth and this low positioning of the tongue can become a habit.

Dummies can also impact the swallow pattern. All of us are born with an immature swallow pattern which is a rather inefficient way of swallowing. The tongue firstly thrusts forward before moving back in towards the throat to swallow whatever is in the mouth. Around 6 months of age, the swallow pattern will slowly change to a mature swallow where the tip of the tongue will lift first, followed by a wave like motion of the tongue that moves food and drink towards the back of the throat. This is a much more efficient swallow pattern that, unlike an immature swallow, doesn’t put pressure on the front teeth or jaw and helps to correctly shape the roof of the mouth. The change from an immature swallow pattern to a mature swallow pattern should be complete by the time a child hits approximately 18 months old.

If this hasn’t happened for your child, please don’t stress. There are many ways to  help fix oral function issues that may have been caused by prolonged dummy use. A swallow pattern is a little complicated to retrain, so I tend to start this process in children from the age of 5, but there are certainly things we can do to improve function and tongue testing position before then.

If you are concerned about your child’s dummy use and would like some help or simply clarification, you can contact Jaimee at Happy Faces Orofacial Myology via info@happyfacesom.com.au.