do babies need pacifier?

Question

I have heard a lot of good and bad about pacifiers. should i give my baby a pacifier then? my elder daughter didnt need one but my new baby needs it all the time.. is it good to let her suck it all the time? i told me some shape is good..while some will cause ugly teeth, is it marketing? when should i stop it and how? do any of u have problem with it?

Answer 1

Pediatricians are coming to the conclusion that pacifiers are OK, so long as you get rid of them at around age 3.

Yes, they do make teeth crooked.
You should always take the pacifier out of your baby's mouth once they fall asleep, to minimize the amount of time spent with it.

Also, never give a baby milk and them a pacifier. You should give the baby a little bit of water between the milk and pacifier to rinse off the gums. Otherwise, it's the same as letting your baby suck on a bottle for hours, and the baby can get baby bottle syndrome (horrible rotten teeth).

That said, any slight crookedness to the teeth that might manifest should reverse itself if you stop at around age 3 or earlier.

The pacifier satisfies a baby's need to suck and comforts the baby. If you are breastfeeding, you can appreciate that a mother might need a break from being chewed on. If you are bottle feeding, you know that meals don't last forever.

BTW: My daughter's teeth did get a bit crooked, but 6 months after she stopped using the pacifier (at age 3), her teeth were 100% back to normal.

And it is easier to take away a pacifier than a thumb!!!

Answer 2

There is mixed evidence on whether pacifiers harm dental development. Some dentists feel that it shouldn't be used; others feel that it doesn't make a difference until the child is 4-5 years old.

Recent research showed that babies who sleep with a pacifier are more likely to die of SIDS on a night when they don't have it. So if you do use it, you want to be sure to *never* be in a situation where you lose or break the last one in the house right before bedtime, and plan to continue using it until baby is a year old (when the risk of SIDS disappears).

It is not good to give a pacifier to a breastfed baby who is less than 2 months old *or* hasn't been nursing without problems for a month. It can cause baby to have nursing problems.

Beyond the above, it is a personal decision. Some parents feel that a pacifier is better than thumb-sucking because you can "accidentally" lose a pacifier. Other parents dislike the idea of lying to a child and/or feel that a thumb is more natural. Still others choose to use neither and breastfeed whenever the baby starts sucking on a finger (which usually works, but not always).

Answer 3

Get her off of it by the time she is one. Fortunately, neither of my daughters developed a dependency on the pacifier, but I know plenty of people with pacifier horror stories. As a matter of fact, I saw a child that had to be 4 yrs old at Wal-Mart with a pacifier in his mouth. This is ridiculous. The child would take the pacifier out to talk. I believe that pacifiers are fine while the child is an infant and has that tendency to want to suck all the time. By the time that child is up and walking, the pacifier needs to be gone. I think that it is a crutch and that sometimes parents become too dependent on it. My brother and his wife would get up in the middle of the night and go from store to store to find a specific kind of pacifier to appease my 18 month old neice. If she didn't have her pacifier. Nobody could have any peace or rest. Try to limit your baby's exposure to the pacifier because it's a hard habit to break.

Answer 4

The pros

For some babies, pacifiers are the key to contentment between feedings. Consider the advantages:

* A pacifier may soothe a fussy baby. Some babies are happiest when they're sucking on something.
* Pacifiers offer temporary distraction. When your baby's hungry, a pacifier may buy you a few minutes to prepare a bottle or find a comfortable spot to nurse. A pacifier also may come in handy during shots, blood tests or other procedures.
* A pacifier may help your baby go to sleep. If your baby has trouble settling down, a pacifier might do the trick.
* A pacifier may help reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Researchers have found an association between pacifier use at naptime and bedtime and a reduced risk of SIDS.
* They're disposable. When it's time to stop using pacifiers, you can throw them away. If your baby prefers to suck on his or her thumb or fingers, it may be more difficult to break the habit.

The cons

Of course, pacifiers have pitfalls as well. Consider the drawbacks:

* Early pacifier use may interfere with breast-feeding. Sucking on a breast is different than sucking on a pacifier or bottle. Some babies have trouble learning how to nurse properly if they're given a pacifier too soon.
* Your baby may become dependent on the pacifier. If your baby uses a pacifier to sleep, you may face frequent middle-of-the-night crying spells when the pacifier falls out of your baby's mouth.
* Pacifier use may increase the risk of middle ear infections. Ear infections are most common in children younger than age 3. However, rates of middle ear infections are generally lowest during the first six months of life — when the risk of SIDS is the highest.

Answer 5

Pacifiers are now manufactured so they do not interfere with a child's teeth coming in. So you don't need to worry about the child developing dental problems. Pacifiers can be a great tool for comforting your baby. The American Academy of Pediatrics actually recommends giving your baby one if your baby wants it. It decreases the chance of SIDS, also called cot death, and when your child gets older, you can take the pacifier away. If she starts to suck her thumb, good luck taking that away from her in a few years. :o) Thumb sucking will cause dental problems - a pacifier will not.

After the age of 2 or so, then you can stop using a pacifier. But for now, go ahead and let her have it. I let my son use one when he wants. It helps him sleep better, and I know he's safer when he sleeps because he has one.

And just because your other child didn't need one, doesn't mean your daughter doesn't need one now. Every baby is different. Go with your instincts, and learn to recognize what your baby wants.

Answer 6

Ugly Teeth Pacifier

Answer 7

It would be helpful to know how old your baby is. A pacifier at a very young age is fine, and weaning a child off of a pacifier is no more difficult than weaning a child off of a bottle or breast. Long term use of the pacifier can be problematic to the teeth, but it's not as bad as sucking the thumb. Check with your pediatrician.

Peace.

Answer 8

Babies r born with the reflex to suck. it soothes them. it is very advisable to give a pacifier to a newborn (1st 3 months) then if u don want her grabbing on to it for too long, try to take it away from her gradually. my almost 1 yr old now needs it only for bed time. when she was born she used to suck on it all the time. for her it would be either that, or a bottle or a breast, she needed to suck all the time!! i wouldn't worry about deforming the teeth but be careful that the materil used is reliable. i heard once that some pacifiers made in China were recalled from the market bcoz their holder was loose and it became a choking hazard. just buy a vrand that u trust. i use Avent pacifiers.

Answer 9

Babies love to suck and the idea of the pacifiers came from that. Before a child is born they are practicing there sucking reflex. Sucking on something soothes them. My son at first wouldn't take a pacifier, but since I have just stopped breastfeeding him after 10 months he still kind needs it. So your daughter may have a higher sucking reflex. But with us, I just try to keep it limited to nap time and bedtime, and I don't have a problem with it. NUK pacifiers claim not to have a bad impact on your babies teeth. So try that out.

Answer 10

A pacifier beats sucking on their thumb...babies naturally want something in their mouth, it's a comfort to them...there are various shapes of pacifiers so find one designed not to harm the shape of the mouth and future incoming teeth.

I would think when it's time ot come off the bottle (if not before) it's time to come off the pacifier...but do some research, I've never had kids so can't speak with experience on that one.