Mommy guilt, gave EBF baby a soother last night

miniray

My LO is just over 2 weeks old and EBF.  He doesn't normally take a soother.  They gave him on in the NICU just after he was born because I didn't get to see him until 9 hours later.  He's usually pretty good at night.  He's up every 3 hours to feed (feed on demand) and usually goes right back to sleep.  Well last night he was up every 30min-1hour.  He looked really uncomfortable.  I think he had gas or trying to poop.  His face would turn red he'd grunt and strain like he was trying to have a bowel movement.  I finally gave in a gave him a soother and it calmed him right down.  He still would wake up and grunt but would fall back asleep on his own. 

This morning i'm realizing that he may be having a growth spurt and maybe he was waking up every hour to eat.  Now I feel so guilty.  But if he was hungry he would have spit out the soother and cried for the boob right?  I'm worried I may have hurt him some how by soothing his hunger with a pacifier instead of getting up to feed him.  Any advice?

Julz629

You are overthinking it.  If baby really needs to eat, he will let you know.

beckybeth123

Yes, he would have spit it out. My little guy makes an incredibly angry face, yells, and spots out his paci when he's hungry. Don't feel guilty. Sometimes babies just want to suck.  

mnewlee

I can't speak for all babies but as far as my LO goes, if she's hungry nothing but the boob is going to calm her down. A pacifier won't fill an empty belly so my guess is he wasn't hungry. You didn't do anything wrong

 

 

 

 I will caution against using a pacifier too much in the early days because all that sucking is what establishes your supply.  Although, with waking every half hour I probably would have tried anything.

AmyRI

jholbel:

You are overthinking it.  If baby really needs to eat, he will let you know.

You should have no mommy guilt over this one. Soothers are called soothers for a reason, and there is nothing wrong with using one! And sleeping with a soother helps reduce the risk of SIDS, just to help you put a positive spin on the situation

Jlobebe2012

AmyRI:

jholbel:

You are overthinking it.  If baby really needs to eat, he will let you know.

You should have no mommy guilt over this one. Soothers are called soothers for a reason, and there is nothing wrong with using one! And sleeping with a soother helps reduce the risk of SIDS, just to help you put a positive spin on the situation

I agree with all of this! Babies just need to suck some times

red1976

AmyRI:

jholbel:

You are overthinking it.  If baby really needs to eat, he will let you know.

You should have no mommy guilt over this one. Soothers are called soothers for a reason, and there is nothing wrong with using one! And sleeping with a soother helps reduce the risk of SIDS, just to help you put a positive spin on the situation

Ditto on all of this.

CotterpinDoozer

red1976:

AmyRI:

jholbel:

You are overthinking it.  If baby really needs to eat, he will let you know.

You should have no mommy guilt over this one. Soothers are called soothers for a reason, and there is nothing wrong with using one! And sleeping with a soother helps reduce the risk of SIDS, just to help you put a positive spin on the situation

Ditto on all of this.

What they said... I think for me it was an issue of pride, holding out on giving LO a paci.  I don't know what we did without it.  And don't feel bad... if your LO really wanted to eat, you wuoldn't have gotten by with giving a soother. You did just fine!

MuseumMaven

AmyRI:

jholbel:

You are overthinking it.  If baby really needs to eat, he will let you know.

You should have no mommy guilt over this one. Soothers are called soothers for a reason, and there is nothing wrong with using one! And sleeping with a soother helps reduce the risk of SIDS, just to help you put a positive spin on the situation

100% agree.  My boys had such a strong need to suck that they would give themselves hickies on their arms!  The paci was a lifesaver.

cottonlily84

While my DD isn't 2 weeks old anymore she will definitely let you know when she's hungry vs. time the paci will work.  She won't even close her mouth on it when she's hungry.  And she's had a paci since day 1.

winter-shock

He will not starve himself!  If he does start to have the problem more often it could just be gas or an upset stomach. I used Ovol (my DD hated Gripe Water) and it worked wonders!  

EmilyStL

I was all "I will not give my baby a paci until at least 4 weeks."  Lol.  Like your baby, mine was hospitalized as a newborn and first had a paci there.  Once we got home, she kept up with that intense need to suck, so I kept allowing the paci.  She never had any nipple confusion or weight gain issues as a result.

pitterpatter129

Pacifiers saved us!  My kid is still super attached to his "ba".  If he was hungry, he would let you know!

 

Lexi333

I know that this post is from awhile ago, however, I was really surprised to read it because it is counter to everything I've been reading and hearing from Doctors and LCs. 

 My baby's Dr. always cautioned against letting baby use me as a pacifier.  I was led to believe that letting baby use you as a pacifier was more detrimental giving your baby an actual pacifiers....Is this wrong?

 I hope your LO had a better more restful night last night:)