Ini saya sertakan lagi beberapa artikel mengenai m-peng/dummy, sebagai informasi. -Ivana- From: www.babyworld.co.uk June 1999 Should you give your baby a dummy? Sucking is a baby's earliest reflex - ultrasound pictures of babies in the womb show many are already practising it on their thumbs even before they're born. It's easy to see why it's so important - the ability to suckle for milk, at the breast or at the bottle, is vital to a baby's survival. But once your baby has finished feeding, he may still want the comfort of sucking, and that's where the problems can begin. Should you give him a dummy? Or should you allow him to cry and hope he can find his thumb? * When a dummy can help * Possible problems * Using a dummy sensibly * Tips to help your toddler kick the habit When a dummy can help There's no doubt that, during your baby's first year, a dummy can be a real life-saver. At first the sucking urge can be so strong that some babies seem to want to spend their whole time at the breast or bottle, and when they're taken off the breast, or away from the bottle, the howls begin. A crying baby makes it almost impossible to concentrate on anything else, and is enormously stressful: if you find yourself in this situation a lot of the time, a dummy may well preserve your sanity and calm your baby down. But if you're breastfeeding, you do need to ensure that it doesn't affect your milk supply (see below). "If parents come to me and say their child is being fractious a lot of the time, I'd recommend using a dummy," says William Yule, Professor of Applied Child Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry in London. "It won't harm the child, and it's certainly worth a try. Most babies either take to them straight away or reject them from the start, in which case you have to think of something else to quell their cries." If your baby takes to it, his dummy will help soothe him to sleep. It will also help keep him asleep, because if he is disturbed he's likely to start sucking and may well drift back into deeper sleep without opening his eyes. The dummy can also be used to calm your baby if he is suddenly frightened, or hurt: sucking gives a baby a feeling of security, and in any new or difficult situation he'll take a great deal of comfort from it. Dummies mean a baby is less likely to start thumb or finger-sucking, which can lead to dental problems later on. Finally, research has shown that adults who had dummies as babies are less likely to take up smoking. Jane Franklin always said she'd never give her child a dummy, but at around five months she was driven to distraction by daughter Daisy's constant crying, and a friend bought her a dummy. "It quietened Daisy immediately, and I realised the reason I'd been holding off was simply that I didn't like the idea of my child with a dummy in her mouth," she says. "It was ridiculous really, because Daisy was clearly the sort of child who needed a lot of sucking time. Once she had a dummy not only was she happier, but I was happier and more positive about her, too. I never did like seeing her with a dummy in her mouth, but it was definitely the right answer." Possible problems Unfortunately, using a dummy can bring its problems, too. In the early weeks, your baby's sucking stimulates your breasts to make exactly the right amount of milk for him. If your baby needs to suck in order to make more milk, and you give him a dummy instead, you could reduce the amount of milk you are making. This will mean that your baby will not be satisfied at the next feed, and may become so fractious that you give him a dummy again, leading to a vicious circle of insufficient milk and a restless baby. For this reason, it's important to try to do without, or at least seriously limit, dummy use for the first six weeks. You may feel you're being used 'like a dummy' at this stage - but bear in mind that this is a short-term problem, and that by the time he's three or four months old, your breastfed baby will be able to get all the milk he needs with much shorter feeds than at present. By that time, giving your baby a dummy occasionally won't affect breastfeeding in the same way - though you should bear in mind that most breastfed babies have occasional 'sucky' days, when they need a lot of time at the breast in order to up the amount of milk available because their needs have increased. Speech problems As your baby grows into a toddler you may find that it becomes more difficult to separate him from his dummy. Jo Spencer's daughter Tilly became very attached to her dummy, and was still using it when she started nursery at three. "I managed to persuade her to leave it with me while she was at nursery, but as soon as she came out she would demand to have it and become inconsolable if I refused." Jo noticed that Tilly's speech development seemed to be behind compared with other children, and Tilly was eventually referred to a speech therapist. "I felt very guilty when the therapist told me that Tilly's speech had probably been affected by her use of the dummy," says Jo. However Tilly isn't alone. When Manchester-based speech therapist Nadine Arditti. researched children attending her clinic, she found that just over half of all dummy-users in her area had been referred for speech therapy. Nadine says regular use of a dummy can cause speech problems for a number of reasons. A baby with a dummy in his mouth has fewer opportunities to babble, which is the foundation of speech, and may not communicate with others as readily. An older baby's ability to swallow may also be impaired, and this can result in difficulties with speech. Once he starts to speak, the dummy user may talk from the back of his mouth instead of the front, and get into the habit of saying 'k' instead of 't', for example. She also points out that regular use of a dummy can lead to dental problems where the upper and lower front teeth and back teeth may not meet properly, and front teeth in particular may be at higher risk of decay. However, it's worth knowing that regular thumb sucking can also lead to dental problems, and that recent research shows that tooth decay levels are higher among children who suck their fingers rather than dummies, because sucking a dummy produces more saliva which in itself helps combat plaque. "I'm not against the use of dummies across the board," says Nadine, "but I do think it's very important that parents are given the information they need before reaching a decision on whether or not to give one to their child." Using a dummy sensibly Speech therapist Nadine Arditti believes that it's okay to resort to a dummy - providing you use it selectively, and sensibly. Here are her guidelines for safe dummy use: * Don't use the dummy as an instant plug - try to identify the source of the problem first. Remember that if your baby is crying, it's often because he needs something from you. * Don't get into a habit of using a dummy regularly. It's fine to fall back on when all else fails, but it's not a good idea to start off every day by popping the dummy into your baby's mouth. * See the dummy as a short-term lifesaver, not a long-term habit or solution. Wean your baby off his dummy as soon as possible, but certainly by 10-12 months. * Never dip your child's dummy into anything sweet - this can lead to tooth decay. * If your baby is still using a dummy when he is starting to speak, discourage him from trying to talk with it in his mouth. Tips to help your toddler kick the habit Persuading your baby or child to live without his dummy can be hard work, but the following guidelines should help: * Make a clean break - most babies and toddlers will fret for only two or three days and nights, which, as long as you're prepared for it, isn't that bad . * Find a time when you've some support, such as the weekend, before embarking on it. * An alternative is to go for gradual reduction - for example, start limiting the dummy to use in the house, and then only at bedtime. This approach may seem less harsh, but obviously prolongs the agony - for both of you! * Get an older child to agree that giving up is the grown up and sensible thing to do. * Time giving up with a birthday. One parent got her son to agree that he would put his dummy in the kitchen bin before opening his presents, and he did! Another mother took her toddler to a local shop on her birthday, where she arranged for the dummy to be exchanged for a much-wanted toy. Have you a tip or story about using a dummy that you would like to pass on to other parents? Why not add your tip using the button in the right hand menu. -----Original Message----- From: BabyCentre.co.uk Which is better -- dummy or thumb? Expert: Daphne Metland [See Biography] Question: Even with all I've read about thumb-sucking and dummies, I just don't know what I should do. My 8-month-old daughter prefers her thumb, but people say a dummy is better for her. When should she stop sucking her thumb or the dummy? Is either one a bad habit? Daphne Metland: Babies use sucking to calm and settle themselves. Thumb-sucking starts before birth (there are pictures taken of babies sucking their thumbs in utero) and can be a very helpful way for babies to cope with tension. There are many advantages to allowing children to suck their thumbs rather than a dummy: Thumbs are always there, don't fall on the floor, aren't tied to children's clothing by potentially dangerous strings that can get caught on things, and are under the baby's own control. Children usually give up thumb-sucking when they develop other ways to calm down and comfort themselves, usually by ages 4-5, although many children suck their thumbs at night or occasionally, when stresses become too much, for many years beyond that. It's unlikely that your child will continue sucking her dummy well into the childhood years when it might threaten proper dental development. During the years your child is likely to be using a dummy, she only has her baby teeth; permanent teeth generally don't appear until around 6 years old. Its not a good idea attempt to "break her" of the habit until she's ready to give it up on her own. You're unlikely to be successful, and it will only lead to unnecessary struggles and frustration for both of you. If you decide to restrict her access to a dummy, help her find her thumb, or offer her a blanket or a soft toy to comfort herself instead. Daphne Metland [NL]Expert Biography Daphne Metland is a former editor of Parents magazine and Pregnancy Plus magazine. She wrote the pregnancy section of the New Mothercare Guide to Pregnancy and Birth and has written on health topics for a wide range of magazines and newspapers including Good Housekeeping, Practical Parenting and the Daily Mail. She is the former publishing director of National Childbirth Trust (NCT) Publishing where she was responsible for a list of a dozen books on pregnancy and birth, and edited the NCT member's journal New Generation. [PARA]She has taught antenatal classes for the past sixteen years, and prepared hundreds of couples for the birth of their baby. She is now Editorial Consultant for Babycentre. baby teeth first teeth, primary teeth A child's first set of teeth. A child will have around 20 by the age of three. ### FREE DOMAIN [.COM|.NET|.ORG *] >> http://www.indoglobal.com << ## >> Kirim bunga ke-20 kota di Indonesia? Klik, http://www.indokado.com >> Info balita, http://www.balita-anda.indoglobal.com Etika berinternet, email ke: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Stop berlangganan, e-mail ke: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
