Quest for Comfort

For the past six or seven weeks (actually, probably even more), I've been trying to get Adam to take a dummy. I am very aware that he needs the comfort and know that it would help him settle. I remember Emily refusing her dummy to start with, we tried Tommee Tippee and then realised Avent was the teat she preferred and she has used them ever since. For the past year and a half she has only used a dummy to sleep. I am keen for her to stop using one now but considering it's only used at night, am not currently too fussed.

So when Adam didn't take to a dummy right away, I thought it was a similar story. I bought both Tommee Tippee and Avent dummies from the get go this time, I thought I was prepared. Both make him gag and retch. I kept trying and eventually stopped, thinking that maybe he's just a baby who doesn't need a dummy.

Then last week, things suddenly changed. He began desperately sucking on his wrist in order to settle and get to sleep. He thrashes about looking for a teat, but rejects milk. It got to a point where he took an empty bottle and sucked on that for dear life. Not ideal considering all the air he was swallowing, so I didn't do it again - but it told me one thing: he does want a dummy, and he wants one that has a teat that is similar to his bottle teats.

Simple, right?

It would be if only such dummies were easy to find! A shout out on Facebook and a bit more research got me some info. What I'd need are Avent Soothies (which are typically an American dummy), Gumdrops, or a dummy with a plush toy attached called a WubbaNub. I've ordered the last two but Soothies (which are the main ones I want) remain out of reach, with a number of friends now trying to source them in the UK. It seems that they just don't exist in Malta.

So as I wait, the situation is rapidly getting worse. Adam won't sleep unless we hold him, and even then he is often screaming and thrashing about wanting to suck on something. I actually offered him a breast yesterday, I was desperate, but that obviously didn't work either (I guess he has no clue what to do with that anymore).

He is developing a very bad habit of taking a bit more milk to get him off to sleep - the only thing that works now that he's realised it's the only way he'll get something so suck on. But of course that starts a vicious cycle of milk, wind, wake up, need more comfort (read: milk), wind, wake up, etc. I am so frustrated to not be able to offer him the comfort he needs. And so angry at Malta for its limited stock availability.

I am pinning all my hopes on a few dummies that are slowly making their way to me in the post. If these don't work, I don't know what else I can do.