What is your opinion on pacifiers?

Question

Im 30 weeks pregnant (YEA) with my first child. My husband is totally against using pacifiers & I dont see the problem with using them. Can you give me the good & bad points on using pacifiers?

Answer 1

Ahh... the great pacifier debate...
Babies need to suck... it's natural.

My baby loves her soo-soo too. She's a sucker and had her hand in her mouth at all my fetal assessments before she was born (I had gestational diabetes so we saw her lots.)

I gave her a pacifier in the hospital the 2nd night after she was born (because the nurses wanted me to feed her every time they saw her with her hand in her mouth.) We've never had a problem with it, (no nipple confusion, no demanding it all the time) but we only give it to her in her crib (since about 6 months we keep a spare in there too in a consistent location so she can find it during the night if the first one goes missing in her blankets or gets tossed out.) She also uses it in her car seat and occasionally at church when she gets all riled up and we can't quiet her down any other way. Otherwise we just keep it COMPLETELY out of sight and entertain her with other toys. During the day she only wants it if she sees it.

My parents love it and are all for it. They're sad that their other grandson that's 4 weeks younger than my daughter WON'T take one. Because his parents weren't for using one. I think my Mom actually sorta over-uses it when she's babysitting (she's looking for it whenever my baby starts to fuss at all), but hey if it means I get out of the house for an evening now and again I sure won't complain. And if the soother keeps both my Mom and my baby calm when I'm not around I think that's great.

My hubby's family hates that I gave my baby one. (I'm not sure why other than that they're British and the slang for a pacifier there is "dummy" so maybe it's a negative baggage thing with the terminology???)

Sure a pacifier is a bit of a crutch, but if it soothes your baby there's nothing wrong with that. We all need (and deserve) a little soothing now and again.

Just my opinion, but if you DO choose to go the pacifier route I wouldn't try to toss it too early. (Some parents are trying to get rid of it as soon as the baby seems to depend on it at all.) Certainly watch out if you do and your baby starts sucking their thumb which you can't take away. Thumb sucking will certainly wreck their teeth if you can't stop them and is a much harder habit to break later. If it was me I would just continue to provide a soother but restrict it's use.

Most pediatricians and dentists seem to advise to take it away around 24 months before it wrecks the teeth or the shape of baby's palate. (Lots of BabyCentre articles on pacifier use seem to say if it's only being used at night then until age 5 or so is fine, but that seems too long to me.)

I always keep in mind that I know a few kids that sucked a pacifier too much or too long and it not only eventually affects their dental development (which can be costly in orthodontics later), but it also may cause a delay in speaking and some motor skills if over used. Knowing this has always kept me from over using it. My daughter certainly doesn't need (or get) a pacifier every time she cries when she's at home.

Limiting use the way we have we have a healthy happy 11 month old who's walking and chattering away all day long and likes a soother at night, but tosses them both out of her crib on her own by morning.

We plan to restrict it to in her bed only at 18 months, give her the whole "big girls don't need soothers" song and dance, and cut the tip when she turns 2. This worked for a good friend of mine.

Or maybe (after reading a bit more about pacifier weaning today...) we'll tell her a "soother fairy" story, replace it with some other little gift that she wants and be done with it once she's old enough to understand our reasoning with her. (And when she's not so likely to just jam her thumb in her mouth as a replacement.)

Her birthday is in late November and I just read another story (link below) about someone who took them away at Christmas and said they were trading them with Santa for toys. He'd take the soothers away to other little babies that needed them. Cute...

Not sure it's fair and I don't think I'd do this except maybe as a last resort if my first plans all failed, but I also heard a pediatrician on TV once say that he'd asked the dentist to tell his kids when he brought them in that they shouldn't have soothers anymore when they were 2 and to throw it out while at the dentist's office. That way he could say, "What did Dr. So-and-so say? No soothers!" and put it on the dentist.

Another person I know told her kid to toss it out the car window and she did. So then when the kid asked for it Mom told her "Well YOU threw it out the window!!" (I don't plan on using that one either, but maybe this teaches a valuable lesson about tossing things out the window too :-)

When weaning a baby/toddler from a soother, slow withdrawal is the best method at any age. Pacifier weaning should be done with empathy. Don't attempt to banish the "binky" if your child is experiencing some kind of trauma, such as the birth of a sibling or your return to the work. Wait until the homefront is calm.

When you start limiting its use, be sensitive to the times when your baby really seems to need it. Cut out those times last. Many children use a pacifier to make getting to sleep easier or to soothe themselves after an upset or injury. It may help to establish new bedtime rituals. Offer plenty of hugs while attempting to overcome reliance on a pacifier.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Congrats!

If you are planning to breastfeed pacifiers *may* interfere. Non-nutritive nursing is importan to building your supply, in addition some infants will not drink enough if they have a pacifier because they don't always know they are hungry or what to do about it. So they are designed to want to suck even when they are not hungry. (that is why doctors will tell you to wake your baby if they do not eat every so many hours)

Also pacifiers increase the chances of thrush which is very, very painful if you are breastfeeding. If you want to use a pacifier it is recommended that you sterlize it once a day to kill bacteria and yeast (causes thrush). Seriously people boil thei babies bottles and rarely so much as soap their pacifiers. ICK!

You can loose pacifiers, you can't loose your breast, your fingers, or your babies thumb. If your baby sucks his thumb he will not cry because it has dropped where he can't get it or has trouble picking it up. Babies suck their thumbs/mom or dad less than they would a pacifier because it interferes with them doing stuff. However they can suck a pacifier 24/7. They also have less reason to learn other self-comforting techniques.

What do you want to soothe your baby you, another person or a thing?

All that being said babies have their own plan. Whatever you decide you remember you can change your mind (blech except about cleaning the pacifier... please clean the pacifier.... I am soo grossed out by parents who don't)

Answer 3

Congratulations on your pregnancy!!!

My son is 10 months old and he would never take a pacifier.

Some babies just like to suck more than others and this is where a pacifier becomes handy- in those early months before 6 months.

I would delay the start of a pacifier if you are planning on breastfeeding. Wait until your milk supply is well established (usually close to 6 weeks) because sometimes it can cause problems with your milk supply or latch problems with the baby.

Some cons of a pacifier could be breaking the habit as your child gets older, using the pacifier as a way to "pacify" your infant instead of finding out why your infant is upset & possibly breatfeeding problems if given to soon.

I have attached two links that talk about the pros and cons of using pacifiers. One is from the AAP (american academy of pediatrics) and the other is from La Leche League.

I hope you find this information useful!! Good Luck and I hope you and your husband come to an agreement about them before your baby gets here!! ;)

http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBNovDec95p172.html
http://www.aap.org/pubed/ZZZQ4JXWQ7C.htm?&sub_cat=1

Answer 4

Babies have a natural sucking reflex, sometimes when they want to suck and have nothing to suck on they get upset. You can not feed a baby all day, so a pacifier is a good choice. All 3 of my sons either have used or are using pacifiers. My oldest is 3 and just gave up his pacifier at like 30 months, my second never really cared for his as he got older, and my third is 2 months old and his helps him get to sleep. It really is a personel decision, but I find them so helpful. Especially when my husbands at work and I have all of my kids cranky a pacifier for the baby is really helpful.Thats why they call them pacifiers

Answer 5

According to my sister in law who is a speech pathologist, infants have a natural urge to suck about 6 months this starts to fade. Also, some doctors say that putting a baby to sleep with a pacifier helps to prevent SIDS. Just be careful that you don't give the pacifier every time the baby is fussy so that he or she doesn't get overly attached. First check the diaper, then see if the baby is hungry, look for an itchy tag, or distract the baby with a toy, if all else fails, use the pacifier.

Answer 6

Ok, when I was pregnant, I bought one in every color...can you say OCD? Anyway, my daughter NEVER wanted anything at all to do with them. They all went in the garbage eventually.
Then, there are the kids that use them until they are like 7! That is when it is a problem. It is bad for their teeth....after a certain point. It will not harm babies and/or toddlers.
Try one and see if your baby likes it. If not, great! If he or she does like it, try getting rid of it by the age of 3. When my brother was using a pacifier, we went to a movie one day (he was almost 3) and he kept throwing it on the floor. My mom told him that was it, it was staying there. There are other people who have put them in a little bag and attached it to a tree....tell your child the pacifier fairy will come get it to take to babies that need them.
Don't worry about your husband. If the only thing that stops your baby from crying is a pacifier, he will give in to the idea of it.

GOOD LUCK!

Answer 7

The only really bad thing about them is going on a trip and not being able to find one. Then you have a fussy baby. But, really, I loved being able to give it to them, particularly in public, and having them stop crying.

My first two children loved theirs, and I am trying to get my six week old to take one. She doesn't seem to like it. There are times when the baby is crying, and you've done everything - changed, fed, rocked, etc., and nothing works. Some babies just need to suck more than others, even if they're not hungry. There have also been studies that have shown that pacifiers reduce the occurrence of SIDS.

As for giving them up, I never really had much problem with that. Around the age of two, both of my children just stopped taking them. They get too busy to worry about where it is.

Answer 8

I am 33 weeks pregnant and don't plan to use them. My first son is 4.5 and I didn't allow him to use a pacifier. What is the point? There are other ways to get a baby to quit crying other than sticking a "binky" in his mouth. It might make your life a little easier when your child is an infant... but life will be so much harder when you are trying to take away or ween a toddler off of a pacifier. I hate to see a 2 or 3 year old walking around with a pacifier in his mouth, and mommy and daddy wondering why little Johnny is delayed in his speaking!

Answer 9

My first son loved the pacifier and it was great. It soothed him, when he woke upduring the night I would give him the pacifier and he would pass back out. Unfortunatley my second and third son would not have anything to do with a pacifier. They both hated them and never would use them. Im pregnant again and I hope that this baby will use one. Its just alot easier to soothe the baby with. I didnt have any problem getting my son off of the pacifier either. There is nothing wrong with them.

Answer 10

My son had a pacifier until he was about 8 months old mostly only at night. He really needed to soothe himself back to sleep. Once he reached 8 months and was starting to say a couple words I decided it was time to say bye bye to it and we tossed them in the trash and he got over it quickly.

My daughter is 10 weeks old and we use one with her too although she seems to need it less than our son did. For the most part if she is tired enough we can lay her down without it and she doesn't even want it. It is helpful to calm her though when she is upset.

I think they are fine when used as tool to help a baby soothe themselves, the problem is when parents continue to use it past the early stages (past 10-11 months in my opinion) and it becomes such a hard habit to break and just does more harm than good. Not to mention a child can't learn to talk if it's constantly got something shoved in it's mouth :)

Congrats on your pregnancy and best wishes for a healthy, happy baby!

Answer 11

No offense, but Amber 18- that is BS! I get very annoyed when people say " babies only cry when they need something" meaning food , clean diaper,attention. I ( and probably many other mothers) can well attest to the fact that the "something" the baby might be needing is to SUCK on something. It is proven that some babies need to suck. If you can't have (or don't want) a baby sucking on your boob 24/7 then a pacifier is necessary. I do agree that there should be limits though. I was just very lucky that my son weaned himself off around 1 when he started talking. I don't know what I would have done if I HAD to wean him.