Pacifier question again! what should i do?

Question

do you think i should take away my son's pacifier after he learnes to control his hands and use them for comfort? ( he's only 2 months). Or should i take it away now? He'll be napping and wake up wanting it.. it falls out when he's half asleep and it dont bother him.. but when he wakes up before naptime is over, he wants it back to soothe himself back to sleep.. Is it becoming a prop and a sleep associatioin? What should i do?

Answer 1

if he is beginning to self soothe then i would try to take the dummy away. i made the mistake with my two boys to keep getting up and giving them their dummy and they got so used to it i soon couldnt get them to sleep without it,they would wake up so many times at night wanting it and i would find myself crawling under the cot at all hours of the hight ( not fun) it took me till they were about 1 & 3 and i had them both throw their dummies in the bin themselves. the sooner you can get rid of it, the easier it will be in the long run. i know its hard but if you can put up with the crying now and find another way to soothe him you will thank yourself for it. babys are smart he will very soon be able to sleep on his own. i love the saying " begin as you wish to continue" meaning implement a habit and it will stick. good luck.

Answer 2

I took my son's pacifier as well as his bottle at the same time. He was about 9 months old and could NOT sleep without it. After not letting him "cry himself to sleep" when he was younger and he still had eratic sleep patterns I decided it was time to let him do it. He became congested (allergies) one evening and it was hard for him to hold the binky in his mouth, so I scooped it up and he fussed for about an hour that night for the pacifier, but the next day he didn't even know he was missing it! It was amazing! Most kids are NOT that simple though, I would personally take it now so the baby doesn't become too attatched to it. The only problem with wanting them to soothe themselves with their hands (or thumb) is that they will *always* be there for them to do so- which could lead to a child 3 or 4 or 5 years old sucking their thumb for comfort. As you know that can lead to dental problems. Instead of encourageing the baby to use hands as comfort tools, try rocking, or singing a song that catches their attention. Maybe even a blanket (they have *very* small ones with stuffed animals attatched) if all else fails. Your kid may carry it around until they are 7, but it won't lead to buck teeth LOL
Good luck hun!

Answer 3

Leave him be. If it soothes him, let it. You'll both be miserable without it. If I were you, I wouldn't encourage the thumb or fingers over the binky. They're convenient, yes, but it's an awfully hard habit to break. If your son is using a pacifier, YOU are able to decide when it's time to take it away (fingers and thumbs are forever (you hope)). I would suggest taking the binky away (except for naps and night time) by 8 months. Be rid of the entire thing by 1 1/2. Oh, and by the way, fingers and thumbs can do just as much damage to teeth as pacifiers! Good luck!

Answer 4

Pacifiers DO NOT PREVENT SIDS. SIDS cannot be PREVENTED first off. My first born died of SIDS and she had a pacifier in her mouth....it fell out when she stopped breathing. I know a lot of mothers that have had a baby die of SIDS because I am in several SIDS groups and this theory is crap LOTS of babies that have died of SIDS did so with a pacifier in it's mouth so don't force your baby to take one because somebody says it will PREVENT the unpreventable.

You can try taking it away and see if you kind find something else that he likes but I wouldn't take it away unless it was just becoming too much to deal with. Like I said before my first daughter took one and my second daughter took one until she was 18 months then I took it away. I had the same problem that every time it fell out she would wake up so I started taking it out as soon as she would fall asleep and pretty soon the problem was resolved. My son never took one so I didn't have to worry about. You will have to decide which is more of a headache having a cranky baby or constantly retreiving the pacifier.

Good luck.

Answer 5

You don't need to worry about taking it away right now. Actually new studies have shown that when babies suck a pacifier as a newborn the risk of SIDS actually DECREASES!!!! By about 50%

http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?xyzpdqabc=0&id=21&action=detail&ref=2051

DO NOT worry about it yet. It helps babies. Be happy your baby will take one. 2 out of 3 of my children wouldn't take them at all.
Do some research, there are no medical reasons to take away the baby's pacifier at this age.
I am not in any way saying it will Prevent sids, I SAID it can REDUCE the RISK. The fact is, that they have found only 4% of children that died of sids were sucking a pacifier at the time. I did not conduct the study so stop yelling at me. READ what I Wrote. I never said it stopped SIDS. But if something is being proven to help reduce the risk, I say it is worth it. My whole point was to take as many precautions to reduce the risk. But obviously some people just can't understand proper english, and they see what they want to see. I am not so sure what is so confusing to some of you about my answer. Maybe if you people would do your own research.

Answer 6

Don't take it away from him. Pacifiers do no harm to children at all. Dentists even say that as long as the child loses the pacifier before they turn 4 that it won't damage their teeth, but that thumb sucking actually does more damage. I'm not saying to let him have it until he's 4 years old, but there is nothing wrong with letting him have it until around 2. What we did with my daughter is once she was about 15 months, we only let her have her pacifier at nap and sleep time, she couldn't walk around with it in her mouth. When we'd go to get her out of her crib in the morning she'd have the pacifier in her mouth and we'd say, "Oh, what do you need to do?" And she'd take it out of her mouth and toss it back into the crib. At 2 months old it's way too early to worry about this yet, just relax, don't listen to the myths about things like this, and enjoy your baby! Good Luck.

Answer 7

you should not worry about taking a pacifier away from your child at 2 months because your baby still has the innate wanting to suck on something for comfort. the situation would be different if your child was 2-3 years old-i think.

Answer 8

I wouldn't take it away yet. Some studies show pacifier use helps prevent SIDS. I wouldn't worry about it very much until he gets older (between 1 and 2). Plus it's easier to take a way a pacifier than to break the habit of thumb sucking. my daughter was 2 when we took away her pacifier, now she has started sucking her thumb. I'm having a heck of a time getting her to stop.

Answer 9

It depends if you want a pacifier sucker, or a thumb sucker. It is easier to take a pacifier away then it is to get a child to stop sucking his thumb. Studies also show that babies need the extra sucking that a pacifier (or thumb sucking) provides...it boost brain power. I say take the paci away when he starts eating solids...he shouldn't really need it by then.

PS...my mom never believed in paci's and so as soon as us kids were able we were taught to suck our thumbs (I was horrified to learn this when I had kids and she told me). I sucked my thumb until I was 6. They tried everything to get me to stop and I just couldn't. I would sneak off and suck my thumb. It compleatly ruined my teeth and I had to have expensive retainers and eventually braces...so just make sure what ever you do you get your child to give up one or the other by the time his teeth start to come in!

Answer 10

not yet! take it away when he starts getting teeth. nimo22 is wrong at least depending on what dentist you go to. They recommend getting rid of it when they have teeth, and as a plus the pacifier cause saliva to build up around the month causing sores. My sister was three and the sores got real bad so she had to choice but to give it up.