How to Dadda
How to Dadda
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Dummy

The short definition

A dummy is a soft teat on a handle that a baby sucks for comfort. Nothing comes out of it.

What it actually means

Babies suck to settle as well as to feed. A dummy gives them something to suck that is not a breast, a bottle or a finger.

  • The word has at least three other names and Dadda will hear all of them. "Pacifier" is the American word and the one that turns up in anything he reads online. "Soother" is British. "Binky" is a brand name that became a word.
  • When to introduce one depends on how bub is fed. Offer a breastfed baby a dummy only once breastfeeding is well established. That is usually 3 to 4 weeks, and 4 weeks is the earliest it should be. Bottle-fed babies can be offered one from birth. The reason for waiting: early use of bottles, dummies and supplementary feeds interferes with getting breastfeeding going.
  • Dummies are cleaned and sterilised like bottle gear. Clean a dummy often with warm soapy water, and rinse it well. Replace it when it looks worn. Sterilise dummies for babies under 12 months.
  • And they are a regulated product. All dummies sold in Australia must meet Australian safety standards, which is why the ones in the shop look the way they do.

Where Dadda will hear it

Early, and from both directions. Someone will tell him dummies are essential and someone else will tell him never to start. The hospital may hand him one; it may not.

Also at 2am, as the thing he is crawling around the floor looking for.

Not to be confused with

  • A teat. A teat is on a bottle and milk comes through it. A dummy is sealed and nothing comes out.
  • A comforter. A comforter is a soft toy or cloth. Soft toys and comforters in the sleep space have their own, much firmer rule. It is not the rule for dummies.
  • A teething toy. A teething ring is for biting. A dummy is for sucking.

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