Features

Positive Relationships: A parent's guide to... Dummy use

Working With Parents Practice Parent’s Guides Positive Relationships Birth to Threes
Should you give your child a dummy? It's a seemingly simple question but a difficult one to answer. Only you can decide whether your child should have one, but it is worth weighing up the pros and cons.

Q: Why do parents give their children dummies?

Most babies have a strong sucking reflex. Giving babies a dummy can soothe them and help them to settle more quickly, as part of the sleep routine. It has been found that during the first six months, putting a child to sleep with a dummy can halve the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (cot death), though the reason for this is still unknown.

The Department of Health and the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) recommend putting a dummy in a baby's mouth as they are going to sleep. If a baby wakes during the night, the dummy should be put back in, but there is no need to replace it if it falls out while the baby is sleeping.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included

  • Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month

  • Unlimited access to news and opinion

  • Email newsletter providing activity ideas, best practice and breaking news

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here