Are there any long-term effects (positive or negative) of pacifier use?

Question

Okay, for those of you who are going nutso on this, my baby is 9 months old, has had a paci all that time, and I'm not gonna take it from her anytime soon. I'm not asking you to make a life-changing decision for me. I'm just curious what has been said about long term effects.

Answer 1

Pacifier use at night has been shown to reduce the risk of SIDS if they are allowed to suck in their sleep.

I have known one or two people who have had slower speech progress because of the paci but for most this is not a concern, just watch your child's development and be alert to any problems.

I was advised that it is easiest to take a paci from a child either before 6 months or when they reach an age when they can be reasoned with, which is about 2-3 years (if they haven't already ditched it themselves). Between these ages they are much more aware than when they were younger than 6 months and not yet able to understant why their beloved item is being taken away.

Answer 2

My son is almost a year and he still needs his pacifier to sleep, and often he wants it in the car.

There are positives and negatives, of course.

The positives are the decreased SIDS risk when they fall asleep with one (something like the sucking motion keeps them from falling into too deep of sleep to rouse themselves if their airway becomes constricted), it soothes them to suck on something and can let you have a minute to calm down or get something done, and it is easier to take away than a thumb.

The negatives are that if the child uses it too long it can affect their teeth (but usually only their baby teeth that fall out anyway), it can delay speech (if you let them walk around with it constantly, not if they just sleep with it or use it sparingly), and some people say it's not as 'natural' as using their thumb.

That's about it, really. Personally, I gave my son pacifier before we even left the hospital. I think the recommended thing is to stop the use at age one, but I won't. Most kids ditch them on their own before age two anyway.

Answer 3

Negative

Answer 4

As long as you use a properly shaped pacifier (such as the Nuk series) that is made from soft latex, and one that is the right size for her mouth (you can google for Nuk 4 and Nuk 5 if she keeps it past "normal" age), it's not going to affect her teeth. Soft latex isn't strong enough to move teeth. A thumb will though.
Also, you need to be very strict about her taking it out to speak. Talking around a pacifier when learning to talk can cause her improperly learn how to form words.
Make sure her pacifiers are washed after they are dropped.

Answer 5

My daughter started ditching her's on her own at about 2 1/2, totally gone by 3. I'm too old to be stressed by this kind of stuff. If it calms the baby and doesn't hurt them, use it. I know there are hardliners out there who will disagree, however what is the point? It used to damage their upper teeth, but all of the new ones are "orthodontically correct" and as long as they don't have it in 24/7 it won't hurt.

Answer 6

depends on how long term and how often you give the pacifier. If you give it all the time until baby is say 2 speech can be delayed. My son wasnt speaking as much when we gave him his durring the day so now he gets it only for naps and night time and dr. said its great for oral formation and such. We'll be taking it away on his 18 month birthday though.

Answer 7

aside from becoming too attached to it and using it until they're old enough to go to school (and maybe be teased by their friends), the only thing I can think of is they could possibly end up with buck teeth. I wouldn't worry about that if they're less than 2 or 3 though.

Answer 8

DEAR IT IS REALLY POSITIVE FOR PACIFIER USE AND YOU DO NOT WANT TO THE CHILD'S LITTLE HEART OK IF YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE IT PLEASE LET THEM SUCK THERE THUMB AND REMEMBER IF IT RIGHT THEY WILL RIGHT LEFT HANDED IF THE LEFT THEN THEY ARE RIGHT HANDED AND DO NOT LET THE DOCTORS NURSES DENTIST TALK YOU IN TO PUTTING IN PLATE IN THE TOP OF THE MOUTH ONE IT HURT AND STOP THE SUCKING AND YOU WILL REALLY HAVE YOUR HANDS FULL NOT SLEEP FOR 5-10 YEARS AND YOU WILL WALK SO TAKE A LITTLE ADVICE LET THEM HAVE A TRAVEL PILLOW FOR A BABY PILLOW BLANKET STUFF TOY DOLLY ARE ANY THING THAT HELPS OK TAKE CARE.

Answer 9

Research has shown that infants that use pacifiers can be less apt to suffer from SIDS.

Answer 10

no the rumor is there teeth will be bucked,both my daughters had one until they were about three .and at 24 and 17 they have beautiful teeth.