This is my first post on the infant care board. I just had my first baby, a son, on the 9th of July. We had some trouble nursing at first but after 2 visits to the lactation consultant things seem to be going ok.
My question is Tanner seems to ask to be nursed to soothe himself. Often he asked to be feed and feeds for less than 5 mins and falls to sleep.
Does offering a soother really effect breast feeding??? I can see the whole bottle thing because it is easier to get milk so they may get lazy. But they are not feeding from a soother so I was thinking that it wouldn't interfere. But you hear and read so many contradicting things about the soother issue. Plus when we made the appointment to have him circumsized the nurse told us to make sure we bring a soother.
Any first hand advice about the soother controversy???

I never had problems with the soother (pacifier) and breast feeding. Babies need to suck and it often calms them. If your son has breast feeding down pretty well, I wouldn't worry about the pacifier.

Oh, and CONGRATS!!!!

I think it's fine once bf is established.

When I first had my dd (she is now 15 months old), I had problems breastfeeding, and I too sought the help of a lactation consultant. After that, I breastfed her for a year. At first I was really anti-pacifier, but then I decided I wanted some sleep;) . So at about 1 month old, we introduced a pacifier. My dd would gag at first, but quickly got used to it. From 5 weeks on, I never had to feed her in the middle of the night. My latest feeding was around 11pm and the earliest was around 7am. Swaddling and Pacifiers really saved our lives!

Some babies like them and others don't.

Thanks very much for the advice. That makes me feel better. My 2 brothers were breast babies and they both got soothers very early and my Mom said she never ever had a problem with feeding them.
I do feel like nursing is going really really well now, but I guess the absolute worst case scenerio is we have to take it away if we feel that his nursing is taking a turn for the worse.
Thanks again.

we only offered a nuk after 6 weeks when my supply was established. I didn't and still don't mind being the pacifier, he wants his mamma!

Once we did offer the nuk, he only used it for a month a to, and then refused it all together.

Well we gave the soother a try when he starting acting like he wanted to nurse like 20 minutes after I just feed him. The outcome...he didn't like it! So I guess there is no issue to worry about, since Tanner decided he wasn't interested. Maybe later on but for now I guess I am the milk lady and super pacifier in one!!!

My 2nd child was the one I tried nursing. 1st one i had no support from anyone and was 21 with a husband that said no :( BUT 2nd husband was all for it. So yes i sat there and just sucked wihtout eating. I always found that to be amusing that they can suck and know how to not get milk . LOL

Be aware though that if he doesnt take paci now try it later. I found that babies that need to suck a lot will go after their thumbs and I personally hate the thumb since it can not be taken away. My 2nd has horrible looking teeth due to this thumb. The ones i gave a paci too look just fine. So just watch and keep those fingers out of the mouth. Its a very bad habit that can not be thrown away. At least a paci can be ;)

Mamaof4, I agree 100% about the thumb. Nothing you can do to take that away from them! So we'll give it a try later on down the road if he's still showing signs of needing to suck to soothe himself. Thanks again!

E1979- I saw on one of your postings that your baby didn't like the paci. Most babies won't take to it on the first try. They aren't familiar with it and don't know what to do with it. I would try it a couple of times a day for a few min. each. You make have to hold it in his mouth so that it doesn't fall out, etc.

Don't wait long to try it again.