The magical dummy

Before Sophie was born both Stephen and I were completely against the use of dummies... They don't look nice in children's mouths, they cause dental issues and are obviously just a sign of poor parenting! However, the day we arrived home from the hospital we were enlightened!!!

Babies like to suck. It is what they are meant to do. If they want to suck and have nothing to suck they start to cry. You can stick your finger into their mouth, you can put them to the breast (ouch after a while!), you can teach them to suck their own thumb or hand (really too advanced a skill until they gain control of their hands).

Or you can give them a dummy and watch them be quiet like magic.

Below are some pictures which perfectly illustrate the magical effect of the dummy.

Here is Sophie in her car seat wailing with indignation...

And behold the power of the dummy!

The health visitor came by today to weigh Sophie. She is now 11lb, 2oz. This apparently is a bit too much of a weight gain and I am now to try to stretch out the feeds a bit so that she isn't feeding quite so often! Hence another need for the dummy! The health visitor also said though that Sophie is very advanced for her age and was quite impressed that she can lift up her head while lying on her tummy and is starting to reach for things - both skills of a 3 month old! What a clever baby she is!

Here is a picture of Sophie during Tummy-time today. What a cutie-pie!