[rlh27]

So my little guy was contently sucking his thumb through most of the u/s, which of course was quite adorable. I was a major thumb sucker so it looks like he's taking after his mommy. But today I was wondering if this will affect LAM the way binkies do. I can not give Caleb a binkie, but I obviously can't take away his thumb (and personally don't want to try to break the habit early anyways). I'm starting to think I'll just jump right back into charting as soon as my bleeding stops, and hope LAM gives me a long time of infertility. I know LAM is effective, I'm just so nervous to depend on it.

[sugarloafbaby]

Dahlia is a major thumb sucker- she started hours after she was born, lol. I, too, wondered how it would affect LAM, and it certainly made it more challenging in the beginning stages of breastfeeding bc sometime she would pull off to suck her thumb instead. But it doesn't seem to have had any affect on LAM at all - she will be 7 months in a few days and no sign of AF or ovulation yet. She still breastfeeds on average every couple hours and does not sleep through the night. I'm not saying it can't have an effect, but for me, it doesn't seem to make a difference.

[ShawnaCAN]

I don't think you need to worry about thumb sucking affecting LAM's effectiveness, as long as you meet the criteria:

1. Baby gets all nutrition at the breast (no pumping or supplementing)
2. No bleeding or spotting after 56 days post partum
3. Baby is under 6 months

With Billings we recommend charting as soon as the bleeding from birth stops anyway though. There's no need to follow the rules if you meet the criteria for LAM, but we recommend charting because it's much easier to establish your post partum Basic Infertile Pattern early on. Then you have a baseline and can get the earliest possible head's up when things begin to change, to suggest that fertiltiy is beginning to return.

[LJD3Tdance]

I believe that I've read that you shouldn't offer your finger to comfort (they taught me to do that in a parenting class once), but I've never heard anything about their fingers (though I've wondered about your question before too).

[jhmomofmany]

Lucy was constantly sucking her fingers and even kept her hand in her mouth during delivery (NOT comfortable for me at all~) But she gave up sucking her hands pretty quickly after birth, by the time my milk even came in. After that she only did it very, very infrequently. As soon as it was time for boob, that thumb disappeared!

[rlh27]

I'm probably WAYYYYYY more concerned about this than I need to be, but I have this great debate in my head. On one hand I don't want him to be such a thumb sucker that it takes forever to break the habit (my parents tried everything, and I still didn't stop until around 2nd grade), but on the other hand, if he'll suck his thumb then that means I won't be the human paci. I mean, for the first few weeks I'll want him to nurse a lot to get breastfeeding well established, but after that it'd be nice if he used something else to soothe him. My mom didn't nurse, so I don't know if that would have changed things if she did. I guess I'll take it day by day and see how it goes. He may not be as addicted to his thumb as I was, and I guess I can start to break the habit sooner than my parents did if he does end up a major thumb sucker.

[K.A.T]

Binkies affect LAM?

[rlh27]

Originally Posted by K.A.T

Binkies affect LAM?

A friend who has successfully used LAM after all three of her pregnancies told me that it's no artificial nipples, including binkies, but I didn't hear that directly from somebody that teaches the method. My plan is to start charting CM and VS as soon as the bleeding stops and carefully look for any changes, and hope that LAM gives me a long period of infertility. I'm not going to deny the baby a binkie if he wants one just for a longer period of infertility, though.