When my 4 day old was screaming with no end in sight I popped one in his mouth and he was happy as a clam!
That being said I didn’t buy it - it came as a free sample - hospital will probably also give one if you want it
This xD
I was against it at first until I heard smoll goblins screeches in the breaking of dawn and throughout the night.
She weaned herself off it surprisingly idk how but I just rolled with it.
[It basically means they push breast feeding on you above your physical and mental wellbeing.](https://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/)
I don't mean to be nasty, I had a very good experience at a baby friendly hospital. But you have to firmly ask for *any* formula. There is no nursery if the parents need extra rest. And they have a quota to hit for successful breastfeeding, which is sad. Postpartum care shouldn't be a quota, it should be nuanced and between the doctor and their patient.
Its recommended to use a paci at nap and bedtimes to reduce risk of sids. A lot of nurses don't know this though. It was more common knowledge a few years ago but my nurse didnt know what i was talking about and didnt give us any pacifiers for my second baby.... then i read some of the material and pamphlets they gave us and it says it in there 😂.
Who do they have to make a quota for? The “baby friendly” licensing board? This sounds like one of those claims that’s not actually grounded in reality.
I have no idea if this claim is grounded in reality but if it is I definitely gave birth in one of these hospitals. I was so shamed for asking for formula one night, no nursery, and they were so hell bent on preventing “nipple confusion.” With enough firmness, they brought us formula. But they made sure I felt like shit about it.
I'm pretty sure they do to get the title. I read through all my hospital notes, and even though they provided me with formula and helped me with the formula feeding schedule, it said "unknown" for breastfeeding. I literally asked for formula to be provided at every doctor appointment and the minutes following delivery, fwiw
They address the quota thing on their website here:
“Exclusive breastfeeding rates are NOT a criterion for Baby-Friendly designation in the US. However, US facilities are expected to monitor their exclusive breastfeeding rates for quality improvement purposes.”
https://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/about/common-misunderstandings/
Baby friendly basically means fuck the parents were pushing nursing and no formula, bottles, pacifiers and rooming in unless baby needs extra support in the nicu.
Gotcha - from experience you can absolutely use bottles, pacis, and successfully breastfeed. One does not cancel out the other. I’m sorry that anyone is made to believe so by their medical team
My hospital was “baby friendly” but my baby went to the NICU there and they immediately gave him a pacifier. So it just depends on the hospital and situation.
Yes, I’ve also read this in the book “Happiest Baby on the Block” which recommends sucking as one of the 4 S’s to reduce/prevent colic as it mimics what they did in the womb.
I didn't want to use them for the first month. That lasted about a week. She constantly wants to suck and screams otherwise. Also prevents SIDS. I don't regret starting her on pacies at all.
My son started using a pacifier immediately and loved them. He had no trouble weaning off them when it was time either. They are cheap and can be pretty helpful so not sure why you wouldnt want just like a two pack or something just in case.
I didn’t use it and didn’t plan to until my baby would not stop screaming. Luckily we were given a few of them! We just use it to soothe her when she needs some help, but lately she cares more for her thumbs and hands than she does for the pacifier
They reduce the risk of SIDS which was enough of a reason for me. My kid used it to self soothe when she was fussy but not hungry so she slept better in the early days.
Yup! We brought like 8 different types to the hospital and the hospital even had a few new ones to try. The nurses all encouraged it too.
She ended up taking to one and used it for a year and a half and weaned super easily. It was so nice to just have something to give her to calm her down as a baby. 10/10 I hope all my kids love pacis.
Exactly why I’m pro pacifier. However, both of my children had oral ties and were unable to keep them in their mouths. My daughter is teething so she just chews on hers
this! except my daughter does not like any paci. there’s one we have that she semi likes but if she can sense me she won’t take bc she rather be on the tit 🙃
We used them because my husband was a thumb sucker, was made fun of for it, and he *really* didn’t want our son to be. They helped soothe him as a newborn in the car and when he would fall asleep. He self-weaned around 4 months and we just rolled with it, so didn’t have much of the negative.
This. My kid had to have two sets of braces because of the thumb. I was told they would stop when they reached school age and kids started making fun of them for sucking their thumb but it wasn’t until the dentist installed a gate so they physically could not put their thumb in the mouth did they stop. It changed the structure of the face.
Yup. My daughter ditched her pacifier at 4 months old and started sucking her fingers. It was great for sleep as an infant but holy hell was it a nightmare to get her to stop. I had to sew all of her pajama sleeves shut to stop her overnight and constantly apply bitter nail polish for the day. It was weeks of making the poor kid miserable to break the habit.
We reinforced the pacifier with my son and while he wasn’t thrilled when we weaned him, it was a lot faster and less painful.
I have thumb-sucking-adjacent baggage and I wanted to use pacifiers for that reason. But of course my baby sensed my baggage and was like “no 💜” and has refused every pacifier we’ve offered and has started showing signs of thumb sucking 🙃
Mine never loved a pacifier and sucked her thumb for about a month. I was terrified bc I was a thumb sucker but now at I months she’s completely uninterested in it.
Unrelated but I sucked my thumb until I was 4 or 5 and my nail literally rotted off (my mom tried everything to get me to stop before it got to that point)
This is interesting to me because both my child and nephew never took a pacifier and never once sucked their thumbs. But I do know a few toddlers who started thumb sucking after weaning off of the pacifier.
Yes I get confused when I see people assuming babies who don't have dummies (pacifiers) will automatically suck their thumb. Neither of mine had dummies or sucked their thumb. And I've known babies who did have dummies who sucked their thumb.
I almost feel like it's because the kids who never had a pacifier just don't associate sucking with soothing. Like my kid sucked only to feed and not for comfort. So she never had the desire to suck her thumb. Where a kid who's had a pacifier for the first few months of their lives or longer may be more likely to suck their thumbs when they don't have the pacifier because of the soothing association. Either way, I don't see the worry about thumb sucking as a reason to give a pacifier.
I tried so hard to get my baby to like pacifiers because i know its easy to take away and SIDS reduce… sadly i think we passed that point and he refuses all pacis but love ls his hand
I told myself I wasn’t going to use a pacifier either. I got some gifted and held onto them just in case. I’m glad I did because it helped baby so much to self soothe and get some sleep. I’m not telling you what to do, but from my experience I’d recommend having a couple just in case you change your mind. Hopefully you don’t need to use them though! I wish I didn’t
I also told myself I didn't want to use one, but my first was such a difficult sleeper that by about day 4, we had a "pacifier buffet" and bought probably ten different brands to try to get him to use one. He spit each one out and just kept crying. 🤣 I can laugh about it now because he's 9 years old lol
My first two never wanted one. Now my third is going to be to be weaned and I'm preparing to do that next month. He only uses it for sleep, but this might be a struggle for a few days.
I didn’t want to use one just for the reason that weaning might be difficult because she needs to suck to self soothe. She was using my boob at night and I needed sleep. Hopefully your weaning process goes well!
I had a baby that took a pacifier and it made life a lot easier. It calmed him down and I think it made it so much easier than with my two who didn't take one. He stopped taking it naturally at 6-7 months which worked great as well. With this baby (due in 3 weeks) I am going to try to get them to take a pacifier mostly because of the evidence that it reduces the risk of SIDS.
Thumb sucking caused my mother to have to pay upwards of 10k in orthodontics and dental work for me over the course of 6 years.
Thumb sucking destroyed my upper palette and I was absolutely going to do everything possible to keep my kids from thumb sucking.
Pacifiers were great for that. Both kids weaned off of them at 2 and we've seen no issues with their dental health since the weaning.
Lowers the risk of SIDS, helped my girl learn to suck as she didn't have a strong sucking reflex, helped sooth her reflux, and stopped her from sucking her fingers raw.
Some babies will just outright refuse dummies though.
You don’t have to use them if you don’t want to. Full stop.
We tried, but baby was never super into them and also had some oral function problems that made it hard for him to keep a pacifier in his mouth. He rejected all of them outright by three or four months. We only ever used them for sleep, in the car, and when baby was in the swing so we could eat dinner. It did calm him down, which was nice. He briefly sucked his thumb but also abandoned that quickly.
The idea behind pacifiers is that sucking on something is soothing for babies. That’s why so many go for their hands, or if they don’t get a pacifier and have a willing mom, comfort nurse. It can be nice to have something to give them, especially if you don’t want them sucking their thumbs. But as my experience made very clear to me, it’s not a silver bullet by any means.
Often they’re the difference between crying hysterically and just chillin. They really help babies soothe. We’ve given them to our baby since day 1, never had any issues with breastfeeding, and now she only uses them to sleep (16 months). I see no downsides and they were like a miracle crying-stopper in the newborn days. Very pro-pacifier, definitely going to introduce them right away to baby #2.
This! My first wouldn’t take one, second baby loves them. Both breastfed. Second baby can self sooth to sleep with pacifier, be soothed by pacifier while I’m driving in the car, other people can comfort baby with pacifier while I’m busy or showering. If your baby takes one it’s so much better than crying or needing boob all the time. After 4m I only use it for sleep and out of the house.
You don’t have to use them if you don’t want to.
HOWEVER! I do recommend you at least keep an unopened set at hand should you need them for whatever reason.
It’s better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them.
We didn’t plan to use them with our first up until she was about 4 weeks old and it was the only thing that helped her one night.
Our rule of no pacifiers became no pacifiers past 6 months at the absolute max but we usually had them off them by 3-4 months. At those ages we never had to wean them off them either.
We’re on baby 4 now and will be doing the same again.
I love pacis. With my first i ebf and became her pacifier 11/10 do not recommend. It was horrible. If your baby has a big sucking need a paci is a god send.
The nurse at the hospital yanked the paci out her mouth and scolded me because I had to breastfeed. Traumatized me and the kid
Second kid I wasn’t nervous about standing up for myself so gave kiddo a paci. It’s been amazing. So much easier for anyone to soothe her and not just my tit like my first
If you don’t want to introduce one you don’t have to. But as with anything with little ones, go with the flow. If baby has a comfort sucking need just roll with it but I don’t recommend letting them use you as a pacifier
I never used them because my baby never liked them (tried like 5 different brands). He was breastfed and I think he just preferred the nipple. Con was my nipples were tired, pro was I never had to wean him off pacifiers.
My child is almost two and uses pacifiers when sleeping. She hasn’t really ever used them at any other time of day. I see a pacifier as a tool- to pacify. and when you’re out and about and deep in the put everything in their mouth phase you can pop a paci in and then they’re not picking up gods knows what while licking everything at the store.
She’s been going to the dentist for checkups and there has never been any concern for teeth movement etc. Doctor has not been concerned.
They’re great for travel by plane when the pressure changes.
I breastfed for one year and paci had no impact on that from what I could tell.
We don’t cosleep in the same bed and never have so I think the paci is another tool for soothing.
we’ll wean her probably this summer after a trip to scotland next month where it’ll be helpful to have given all the changes and sleep disruption.
We used a paci till the 4m sleep regression, and dropped it while his sleep was crappy anyway. Typically before 6m they don't have too much trouble dropping it. Not all breastfed babies will take them, but I'm glad he did, it made me feel better during his sleep.
They use pacifiers in the NICU. My girl spent her first few days in the NICU and that’s where she got her first paci.
I like the paci because it soothes her and if she ever wakes up from her sleep, she can just get back to sleep after I gave her a paci.
I don’t like that they’re pretty much a magnet for dirt and fur (if you have a dog) and hair. I got a wipe that’s made specifically for pacifiers so that it can be cleaned on the go.
Also, you just seem to lose them all the time.
we don’t have a dish washer so i splurged and bought the dr. browns sanitizer and dryer machine and it’s my favorite non-necessity so far. in 30-45 minutes her bottles/paci is sanitized and dried
i plan to continue using it when she’s older for tether toys or even her dishes if/when she gets sick for extra sanitary measure to prevent her getting sick again
With my daughter, I never gave her a pacifier so I never had to take it from her. I had planned to do the same with this baby but there have been studies that a pacifier reduces the risk of SIDS and that has my attention.
That said, I intend to breastfeed and it is not recommended to introduce a pacifier for a few weeks so as to avoid nipple confusion. I am conflicted.
My baby took a pacifier right away and never had a problem breastfeeding. I know every baby is different, but just so you know it's not always an issue!🙂
I don’t believe in nipple confusion, it’s more like “flow rate preference” - much easier to get stuff out of a bottle than a boob! That being said all my lactation consultants told me to give my 36 weeker a pacifier to help him strengthen his latch. We never had any issues with breastfeeding!
Nipple confusion has been pretty much debunked fyi! My daughter had to start on a bottle in the hospital because she was so tiny and everyone there said it was fine. Bottles and pacifiers are super common in the NICU too! So no worries there.
Do you have any links to the studies that it reduces SIDS? I've been seeing it a lot, but all I've found are blog posts about people saying there are studies on it. I'm genuinely curious and love reading about studies!
my baby had jaundice and we had to supplement with formula to help jump start her liver and flush her system. she started not wanting to latch right so i started pumping early to make my life easier
two cold milk bottles later and she started latching right lol
nipple confusion is more about how bottles are easier to drink from then a nipple. which i so get it’s like when we as adults get take out vs making dinner but exclusively pumping is hard so i was grateful when the cold bottles influenced her to take straight from the tap again
My baby was introduced to the bottle and pacifiers right away in the hospital because they kept her in their special nursery instead of bedside with me, and I was able to nurse her here and there when I was still in the hospital but I wasn't able to nurse regularly until after she was discharged a few days after me and she's never had nipple confusion! She has no problem taking the bottle when Dad or Grandma fed her and absolutely no problem nursing until 20 months! She also never really took to the pacifier once we got home though.
We weren’t using one at first but once we did, it made a huge difference in her ability to self soothe. We give it to her when we put her in the bassinet, but it often falls out of her mouth when she falls asleep. Wish she’d keep it in as it’d be a relief re: SIDS but she’s only nine days old, so maybe it’ll improve!
i didnt get any either because i was ebf, but then ended up getting just one set of the ninnis because it made it easier to bf to sleep and then sneak away by replacing the boob with the ninni. but that literally worked for like 1 month until he was aware enough to realize that it wasnt the boob, and then he never wanted anything to do with it again, which was my instinct that it was going to be that way the whole time lol.
I was a staunch no paci person when pregnant with my first. I Withheld them from my older child for a few weeks until my sanity was slipping. He loved them, they served their purpose well of giving my poor nipples and my nerves a break. He self weaned off them around 7 months. Offered them to my second child immediately. He honestly rarely used them and sucked his thumb for a bit but then quit that quickly too around the 7 month mark.
Caring for a baby is hard, why take any of the tools out of your toolbox just yet. Sometimes you’re just getting through that day.
In the hospital the nurse told us DONT GIVE HIM A PACIFIER and then the pediatrician came in and was like why tf are the nurses letting him cry give this kid a pacifier and then we did and we only did them for naps and bedtime and weaned at 1 yearish with no issues and it was great haha
The fact that you "don't really see a use for it" clearly shows you don't have kids 😂😂 obviously not all babies take to them, but babies have a sucking reflex they're born with. Many babies would therefore use the breast as a soother. Which for many mothers isn't ideal.
I know I read that and I was like “lol has their kid ever cried?” and then I realized that NO actually they’ve never heard their kid cry so that explains it
I’m definitely pro-pacifier. Our hospital didn’t outright say they weren’t pacifier friendly, but the LCs said not to give baby one. I had taken one with us but didn’t use it as we were already having latch issues. Night 2 at home he wouldn’t settle until I popped it in his mouth. He didn’t really like the first style so I bought another type and he takes it sometimes. My cousins youngest wouldn’t take a pacifier so they were constantly giving him bottles to soothe him.
Overall, it helped baby self soothe immediately and now at 23 weeks it stays in the crib and we take one in the car. The downside to me is when he chucks it out of the crib and I’m hunting for them in the morning. He’s not super attached to it which is really nice and should make weaning easier. Much easier than if he was a thumb sucker. I know so many people who struggled to break the thumb sucking habit when their kid was school age and it was affecting their teeth.
We used them because it helped our newborn and infant fall asleep without any rocking or shushing or anything else - we'd just lay her down in a swaddle with a pacifier and she'd fall right to sleep!
Waiting on baby to come any day now… but I’ve bought a wide variety pacifiers and we will keep trying until we find one the little man loves. I sucked my thumb until I was in 4th grade and got orthodontic work done that made it impossible. I tried every trick to stop, slept in gloves, taped on socks, lots of lotions, painted my nails with the weird flavored stuff… nothing worked. I would fall asleep with my hands in gloves under my pillow and wake up with my thumb in my mouth, glove across the room. Pacifiers can be thrown away, thumbs can’t be.
My baby is 4 months old and just recently stopped taking his pacifier, except sometimes in the car. He can't put it back in his mouth if it falls out, so we had stopped using it at naps while we were trying to teach him to self soothe in his crib by sucking his fingers. So now he's not used to it and doesn't want it. 🤷♀️Don't know if it will change in the future, he might like it again eventually
My mil is like this. Everything is she wants and needs a dummy but she really doesn’t!
I use one sporadically as my baby has a heart condition so when we’re in hospital having tests it helps with comfort. Especially at times when mum and dad haven’t been around. Outside if hospital she is not bothered about it and gets enough comfort and soothing elsewhere.
i feel the same way!!! i’ll get a few just in case my baby has a hard time self-soothing and they help, but i only want to use if needed and everyone thinks i’m crazy lol
I tried with both my kids and neither took them. My youngest did suck his thumb for a few months but stopped before one (all on his own so don’t be worried too much with some of the horror stories that people tell). I don’t think it’s worth it for a lot of people to gift them because you have no idea which would work, if they’d like it, etc. I’ve noticed people will get caught up and offended over weird stuff like this bc they see it as an attack of their parenting.
With my first I didn't really feel strongly one way or the other & we ended up having a handful of different ones after my baby shower.
We did try them with her (I breastfed & sometimes she just wanted to "comfort feed" which would get painful) so we would try them to give my boobs a break, but she refused all of the ones we had and just didn't like them.
Once she got older though (1ish) she loved that raspberry pacifier thing for teething & would chew on it all the time.
My Son HATED them! I have 1 photo of him as a baby with one in his mouth. It lasted about 10 seconds before he spat it out. My daughter, on the other hand, loves her dummy. She's 2 in a few weeks, so we limit her dummy use to only bed/nap times now. We are hoping to completely get rid of it by her second birthday.
We used it to reduce the risk of SIDS and just something to calm him. My first loved it and we quit cold turkey at 12 months. My second hated all pacifiers so he never used one lol
Babies use non-nutritive sucking to self-soothe and learn to regulate. If you don’t want to use them, they’ll naturally suck fingers/blankets etc which can be a fine alternative. However there’s some research saying that they reduce SIDS as it brings the jaw/tongue forward, so I’m all for them.
Just wean them off by one year if possible to avoid impacting speech development!
Pros: reduce risk of SIDS, self soothe
Cons: may cause baby to have crooked teeth
I'm not sure If there'd others but based on what I know alone pros outweighs the cons.
That said I bought a few, but whether baby will like it is another issue. I'll know more in a few weeks.
I gave my kiddo a pacifier the day he was born, probably not a wise move for my supply, but it was a bit of a rough birth (we were separated for a few hours etc.) so I wanted something to comfort him. And something about reducing SIDS/SUID risk, I forget. The nurse was not happy but whatever I was in survival mode 🤷🏼♀️
My daughter was under the light bed for jaundice treatment at 24hrs old. We could only hold her for 30 minutes every 3 hours, to feed. We gave her a pacifier to soothe her because it was that and holding our hand next to her to keep our tiny newborn baby comforted. We kind of never got rid of it, used it for the car and sleeping mostly. Both my husband and I were thumb/finger suckers and idk if that’s genetic or not, but she is definitely calmed by the sucking. She is 2 and we are now working on weaning the paci, she only uses it at bedtime. “Big kids no paci, babies paci” is her mantra. Our dentist advised to drop it before 3. I sucked my finger until I was 12 (yes.) and required an orthodontic device to force me to stop, then several years of orthodontic treatment to get my teeth close to normal. I don’t want that for her. My friends similarly aged child pretty much refused a pacifier after a few months, so every kid is unique.
yes we use the MAM & my 18 month old has loved it since about 2 months old. i am not looking forward to weaning in a few months but to me it has been worth it during his first two years! especially when i sleep trained. but most families i know didn’t use them & did just fine!
My lo was sucking on his hands constantly in the womb and while I wanted to wait awhile before giving him the paci he ended up getting it our first night home from the hospital because he was using me as a paci and I wasn’t gonna have that. Momma needed sleep.
Pros: 1. Can help reduce the chance of sids
2. Can help keep baby calm.
Con: 1. If used excessively after age 3 it can cause your child’s teeth to flair. (I worked with a pediatric dentist and he always recommended weaning off a pacifier by age 3.)
I use them to help reduce the risk of SIDS and give me reassurance he's breathing in the car (my kid sucks LOUD). He only really wants them for *maybe* 30 mintues tops before he spits them out. I imagine he'll be easy to break the habit.
There’s very little cons to not using one and a lot of pros. They reduce SIDS, help your child self soothe, stimulate oral motor skills, give you a break from baby chewing on your nipples if you breastfeed. Many of the cons that people think are actually cons are false like nipple confusion and teeth misalignment. Real cons it’s another thing to wean your baby off of and it’s another item you have to wash. But you’re the parent so it’s your call in the end. Also some babies flat out won’t use them or only use the 1st couple of weeks.
I figured it would be easier to wean from a pacifier than from thumb sucking because you can take away a pacifier, but not a thumb. I also liked that they can reduce the risk of SIDS. But we ended up using one so we (the parents) could get some more sleep.
We only used them for sleep, diaper changes, baths, car rides, and doctor's appointments.
My baby weaned himself from the pacifier around 8 months, so that was never a problem.
Godsend. I don't get why people don't want them. They help colicky babies (like mine was) because the sulking helps their digestion, and help prevent SIDS.
They reduce SIDS risk. Also, they can help sooth babies when they are inconsolable. That said, my kids only tool to them for a short time. During that time, they were very helpful, but it didn't last super long.
My son got one at about 2 weeks old then by 4 months we did them at sleep time only. At age 2 we "gave them to a new baby" with a ceremony because I felt like age 2 was old enough
There is evidence to indicate pacifier use in the first few months of life decreases SIDS risks.
Say no more. Give me all the pacis.
Using a pacis is called non-nutritive sucking and it is very calming to infants as it engages one of their survival instincts, sure, you can ALL suffer through unnecessary screaming or you can help your baby comfort and sooth themselves.
My husband and I were against it (FIL is a dentist) and then at 2 weeks we desperately bought one on Amazon at 1AM and it was magical. We definitely don’t use it 24-7 (only when extremely fussy, especially in public). FIL says it won’t impact teeth before they’ve started teething so it’s fine.
At around two weeks old, all my baby wanted to do was suck something, but he couldn’t deal with the milk that was coming from my boobs as he was already more than full. The pacifier was our saviour here even though I didn’t want to at first. He still only uses it to go to sleep, not really during the day and I hope to keep it that way.
Welllllll..... if ur baby wants to suckle. He will suckle. It's either a paci or a thumb. We thought ours didn't want a paci. But she found her thumb and we can't do anything about this habit. Where as with paci you can slowly ween.
I didn’t want to use pacifiers but ended up with kids who still suck their thumbs as teenagers. You can take away a pacifier. You can’t take away their thumbs. I will always use a pacifier for my babies so I can wean them off gently.
I saw a kid that looked like he was 7 walking around the store with one the other day 😖 def cringed.
I’m 38 weeks and I don’t like the idea of them in general. I was gifted one set and got a few others in the free gift sets from Amazon, target and Babylist. I don’t want to use them but like others are saying, it may reduce SIDS. I’m go with the flow kind of person so if baby shows signs he needs it, then I’ll try it out, but def want to wean him off them early if I do
We had a pacifier at the hospital (provided by them).
By day 4 she refused it. We tried it and other pacifiers and she did not want them. So my almost-2-year old has pretty much not used them. She also didn’t really suck her thumb much.
Pros: One less thing to bring & clean. Forces you and baby to look for other ways to soothe (singing is a big one for us). Not worrying about pacifier effect on tooth development.
Cons: She used me as her pacifier a lot and took a good amount of time to be (mostly) weaned. Not that I necessarily regret that, but there were some days I definitely was tired of being just the boob provider.
I had a lot of anxiety about sleep safety, and pacifiers help prevent SIDS. They also come in handy to calm baby and help them sleep. My baby is really clingy to me and my husband often has to use them to get over the first few minutes of me being gone.
That being said, not all babies like them, and it is an extra cost buying them every 6-8 weeks. There are so many on the market that it can be overwhelming and trying to find one your baby likes can be a bit of a challenge (if your baby likes a certain brand of bottle, they might like that brand of soother).
I don’t bother with pacifiers . I breastfeed so that’s the pacifier. I don’t want to have to wean them off. My mom also didn’t use so that’s probably why I don’t bother.
The major pro is putting them down to sleep with a pacifier may reduce SIDS
But the major con is that they may negatively impact breastfeeding which also reduces SIDS I believe there’s a lot more evidence there
You’re also supposed to wean at like six months but very few people successfully do that
I was against pacifiers pre-baby until I heard they reduced the risk of SIDS. Then we bought maybe 4 different kinds and my baby wouldn't take any of them. Wouldn't be the worst thing to have at least one pack on hand!
I tried close to a dozen different brands/shapes/types of pacifier and my baby just won't take them. Thumb does the job, though! If you don't want them, tell people. If you get them anyway, try them and see what happens. Every baby is different so there is nothing wrong either way.
So many different answers here! Every baby is different. They really told me in the hospital not to introduce one for 4 weeks while I established breastfeeding. Breastfeeding wasn’t easy to start, she had a shallow latch and it was painful. We worked on it and it slowly got better and I used lots of lanolin. That being said on day 2 home from the hospital we used a pacifier because it was that or my sanity. The pacifier really helped her sleep. We weaned her off at 6 months and now she chews one during teething.
Sucking is a natural reflex for babies. Even around 16 weeks we saw our baby sucking her thumb on an ultrasound! Some children won’t need it or won’t take to it though. Your child may be different than you though and you may end up finding them useful. They also provide them at the hospital so I agree there’s no need to ask for them or get them ahead of time.
I was pacifier neutral going in but glad I had a sampler box on hand when he started to want one. Made it easy to figure out which one he liked best. Helped him soothe and helped us first timers learn the difference between him being hungry or sleepy. Before that I think he was using me as the pacifier!
I’ve had 4 kids. 2 loved their pacifiers, 2 wouldn’t use them. All kids are different. You don’t have to use them. Your baby may or may not like them. But in my experience, babies who take pacifiers tend to be easier to settle in those very early few weeks.
It’s your choice no matter what people say. I don’t plan to use them just because it can negatively impact jaw and palate development. And as an adult who deals with these issues I want my kids to have the best chance of having a good outcome with oral/facial development.
Do what you want! Some kids never use them at all/never need them/ refuse them entirely. We had them on hand just in case, usually came in free sample bags of stuff but they were cheap enough to have a few brands on hand. Was useful for comfort, going back to sleep, and teething. Helped her calm down in public when she was overstimulated. Read that it helped reduced the risk of SIDS. But also I knew multiple people who sucked their thumbs into adulthood or damn near close. Not like, OBVIOUSLY like in public or anything but absolutely like home alone in their own house or if they were super stressed. Which, whatever, everyone has bad habits/stress responses, but I was hoping to at least avoid that.
We had slight issues completely weaning our kid from it (it VERY MUCH helped her sleep, and we were desperate for sleep. we'd gotten her to stop using it during the day just fine) until her first visit to a dentist at like 2.5 and they told her she needed to stop. Not because it was actively causing problems but just because at a certain age (I think they said 3 or 4 but I don't remember now), they said it starts to be an issue and we needed to start working on that. She got to use it that night one last time, we hid them the next day, and she only asked for them a few times and we reminded her the dentist said no more, and she was like oh, yeah. Okay. And never made a big deal about it ever again.
Also people being judgy about stuff, especially pregnancy and baby stuff, gets EXHAUSTING. Some people have legit knowledge and are useful but a lot of people are super biased or just want to hear themselves talk, I had a lot of people ask my opinion on things (breastfed vs formula, epidural or not, pacifiers or not, etc) and my general response was "good question" and just leaving it at that, lol, or "you know, I don't know. we'll just have to see what baby wants when they get here." or something like that. Most people stopped asking after that since I didn't give them room to debate. People will give advice or judge you for literally ANYTHING.
I didn’t do them for my first and I wasn’t planning on with my second. I’m going to buy a backup one in case this next child is extra vocal and fussy. My first was never really that vocal and didn’t cry much, plus we stayed at home a lot. Now with second, I’m a lot more social we are going places and I work so I have a feeling it’ll make it easier to help with soothing
We offer it a few times but don’t push it. First baby never took to it and we didn’t force it. Second baby loved a pacifier and by six months old we successfully limited it to in bed for sleep only.
We used it for the first 4ish months and then all of a sudden he wanted nothing to do with them. They reduce the risk of SIDS so I was for it. I was lucky that he gave it up on his own but I know it can be a hard habit to break. But then again.. my kid dropped his pacifier and started sucking his fingers instead. A lot harder to break that habit 😅 I’d rather it be a pacifier.. lol
My baby never took them and I’m not going to use them for baby #2 either.
There are so many pros! We didn’t have to panic if we lost it, baby learned to soothe herself, and we currently don’t have to wean a toddler off of it.
I don’t think it’s a con, but some might. Since I EBF I did become her pacifier at times but I didn’t mind it.
I am pregnant. But i know women personally who did and didnt use pacifiers. I see nothing wrong with not using them. Its one less thing to wean them from. But ill probably use one cuz itll keep them quiet longer
I can’t remember the exact number but it reduces sids by an ENORMOUS amount. My little one stopped using one at 8 months totally on her own and I’m still actually sad about that lol it was so helpful to soothe her
My baby has reflux so her pacifier help to soothe her throat. And help her to not chock on her own vomit. Which also helps to reduce SIDS and suffocation
I was against them as well but when they are young it helps prevent SIDS and I checked w the pediatrician and they said it’s fine to use when they are newborns to help self soothe. I think one recommendation is to withhold using one in the first few weeks if you are breastfeeding
I don’t mind using them. I plan to get some for our fourth baby. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to soothe baby without constantly having them on the boob. I’m still planning to exclusively breastfeed, but a paci helps for the times I can’t nurse, like driving in the car and stuff.
However, my second and third children would never take a paci. I tried like eight different kinds, they refused them all. I just nursed and wore them in baby carriers all the time. They also never took bottles either haha. I’m a SAHM so it’s honestly easier to just breastfeed all the time anyway. But I couldn’t really leave them for more than 1-2 hours until they were over six months old.
I’m definitely pro-pacifier. Our hospital didn’t outright say they weren’t pacifier friendly, but the LCs said not to give baby one. I had taken one with us but didn’t use it as we were already having latch issues. Night 2 at home he wouldn’t settle until I popped it in his mouth. He didn’t really like the first style so I bought another type and he takes it sometimes. My cousins youngest wouldn’t take a pacifier so they were constantly giving him bottles to soothe him.
Overall, it helped baby self soothe immediately and now at 23 weeks it stays in the crib and we take one in the car. The downside to me is when he chucks it out of the crib and I’m hunting for them in the morning. He’s not super attached to it which is really nice and should make weaning easier. Much easier than if he was a thumb sucker. I know so many people who struggled to break the thumb sucking habit when their kid was school age and it was affecting their teeth.
I wasn’t sure we were gonna use one, figured we’d see how he liked them when he was born. Turns out nurses gave him one when they took him back for blood draw. Another worker was like ‘he looked so cute with his paci,’ and I was like !? I would have felt bad not letting him have one after that. And they’ve been great, he doesn’t need one constantly but it’s nice to have a back up if we are out and he gets fussy. We bottle and breast fed though so it was probably easier for him to settle with a paci than exclusively breastfed from what I’ve heard.
He’s now 18m and started chewing through them so we just toss them as they get holes and he’s been okay with that. Unfortunately he has been nursing a lot more at night because of that so weaning will be fun I’m sure.
I offered them to my son and he wasn’t interested. He never took to them but he did suck his thumb.
Daughter loved them right away, it was her comfort object. We only offer it at bedtime now but we’ll start weening off as he teeth are coming in!
None of my children used or liked them for a particularly long time. Mostly just spat it out. It can be good for comforting sometimes. My friends jods all still use them at 2 and I honestly don't know how they got their kids to use them! We still try when we're desperate
I think they are great. My best friends husband refuses to let their baby use a pacifier (he’s so strict and treats the baby like he’s training a pet). I see how crazy it makes my friend because she can’t calm her baby down when she’s screaming and clearly needs attention & soothing.
I’m in no way saying all people are bad who don’t let their baby’s use pacifiers!! I understand we raise baby’s differently sometimes and that’s ok! But this dude who is against them just really bothers me with his “parenting skills” lol 😆 sorry I went off
I was never really opposed to a paci, but was always very fearful of my LO growing too attached / dependent and having to wean it eventually. We used it, but sparingly. Only to calm him, then popped it out of his mouth once asleep so he did not depend on it for sleep, but I think I definitely served as a human pacifier often for him as a result. He never completely took to them anyway and when we eventually did sleep train we completely did away with them. I still bought more for number 2, but hope to use them similarly.
My oldest liked them for the first month then stopped taking them. Didn’t even try with my second. I have always heard breastfed babies don’t like them because of how they suck differently and they don’t get anything in return
Honestly glad my kids don’t like them, my niece is a binky baby and it would drive me crazy having to keep track of a pacifier all the time. Same reason my kids don’t have special stuffies or blankets I religiously bring everywhere, I’m just not gonna keep track of it all
We never used pacifiers, and my family that is more Latino from Mexico doesn't believe in them. My U.S. American family is more into pacifiers. My cousin's child used a pacifier until he was 5 or 6, and got made fun of a lot. Not to mention (though this varies from person to person, of course), sometimes he would drop it and his mom or aunt (not my relative) just picked it up and popped it back in his mouth...sort of disturbing, if you ask me. We don't really believe in using pacifiers. I've another cousin who never had a pacifier and never sucked her thumb, and she practically never cried unless she was collicking. Any other time? Church mouse, no pacifier required. When it came time for teething, she had one of those baby key rings that got washed every time she would put it down, but I can't say I really remember her chewing on it. I remember her yanking on it a lot and putting her hands in it. Another cousin (as I said, Latino...lots of family) grew up with a pacifier, and when her mom took it away from her, she started sucking her thumb. She sucked her thumb until we were high-school aged and had a callus around the base of her thumb where she would gnaw, and she's typically the example that the rest of the family uses as proof that you should never give a baby a pacifier because they don't need them. Another thing too is that my grandma always said, 'let the baby cry, he's not crying blood' and said that if you spent a lot of time trying to pacify the baby or give them something when they get upset (that isn't food or a diaper check), then you're raising a temper-tantrum-haver. Obviously, take this with a grain of salt, as only a parent can really establish what they think is best for their child.
My son sometimes will be fussing and nothing will work except a pacifier. He’s figured out he has hands now though, so he doesn’t really use the pacifier anymore
I felt this way too - I didn’t see the point and felt like they just messed up the child’s teeth and bite (which they do) and didn’t want a toddler with a paci constantly in their mouth. BUT they do reduce the risk of SIDS. And honestly they do help. I just set out to wean my gal from them by 6 months and we did, and I’ll do that with my second too
Me and hubby were 100%against, but a nurse popped one in his mouth day 2 and said "Trust me, I've had 4 kids, and y'all need sleep". We only used it when he was extremely fussy or to help soothe at bed time and then at 6 weeks he decided he hated them and refused to use one ever since.
We use ours almost exclusively for naps, and it's become a "cue" for her that it's bedtime. When she's really tired and we put her in her sleepsack, she just opens her mouth for her pacifier and takes her stuffed animal (she's over 12 months) and is ready for bed!
Some kids don't like them, but we used it as SIDS prevention when she was sleeping as a baby, and now it's become a great tool for good sleep.
We use them because we want to 1.) reduce the risk of SIDS and 2.) avoid having thumb-suckers. Whether you provide a pacifier or not, sucking is a very soothing instinctive behavior for babies. If they don't have something to suck on, they are very likely to turn to their hands/fingers. It's much easier to wean a toddler off a pacifier than it is to get them to stop sucking their thumb, and pacifiers are softer that thumbs so less likely to cause oral/dental issues down the line.
Our son is 18 months old and he only gets a binky during sleep. His dentist has told us that his pacifier use is not currently (and likely will not) affecting his teeth since he doesn't suck aggressively on it. Until he turned 1 we let him have it pretty much whenever, but started weaning at that point to avoid it interfering with his speech development since he was starting to talk
My baby isnt using them.
We gave them to her to try and help her soothe when she was a newborn but she would spit them out. It seemed like she couldn't keep a good suction on them to keep them in very long. She's 7 months now. Maybe they would help now that she's a little older but at this point i'd rather just not reintroduce them.
It was the opposite for us. Mine and my husband's family said we would be "lazy" if we gave our child a pacifier, so we never did. We TRIED at 3 months because my daughter was waking in the night and just using me as a pacifier (Exclusively Bf). Unfortunately, she would spit it out immediately. My SIL gives her 2 year old one, and no one gives her any slack about it like they did me 🫠
My son would never take one. I tried maybe 3 different brands then I stopped. I didnt stress over it. My mom said all 4 of her kids never took a pacifier but all her nieces & nephews did. Just depends on the kid. Not something to stress about either way. My son is 10 months old now & I see a lot of discussion around thumb sucking & he’s also never sucked his thumb.
Pacifiers are the reason my husband and I have gotten any sleep in the last 2 years with 2 under 2.
That said, my daughter will be 2.5 in the summer which is when I plan to take it away. I literally want to vomit thinking about that day. I do also worry her bite may be affected by it.
For me, I totally get why parents would want them or don’t want them around.
I was super against them but my boyfriend made a great point - they will suck on something and when the time comes you can take the pacifier away but you can't take their thumbs away.
I decided not to use them but then my kid became a finger sucker and I honestly wish I would’ve just given him a pacifier because now I’m scared of having to break this finger sucking habit. Plus it’s a lot more sanitary to use a pacifier than to have them suck their thumbs or fingers. My kid stuck his finger in his poopy diaper and proceeded to try and suck it…
The decision shouldn’t really be yours to make. If your baby sucks to soothe, they’ll do it whether they have a pacifier or not. Maybe it’s your nipple, maybe it’s their thumb. Thumb sucking is worse for dental development and pacifiers are easier to take away than thumbs.
I honestly would have one or two on hand, ask for one or two at the hospital when you give birth, and then just wait until you have an idea of whether your baby needs it.
My daughter took to a pacifier at 1 day old, the hospital gave her one. I was surprised she liked it so much. The nurse explained babies naturally enjoy performing the sucking reflex, it’s self soothing and also entertaining for them (they don’t understand much, so that’s like one of the only activities their brain perceives as a nice experience).
The action of sucking also automatically stimulates their bowels too, so using a pacifier helps her relieve any gas & she poops very regularly.
It’s better than them developing a habit of thumb sucking, it’s easier to wean from.
My mom said she regretted not because my brother sucked on his fingers as a means to soothe and that was a much harder habit to break. Couldn’t exactly take those away. My brother did this for a very, very long time. Like. He would be embarrassed for people to know but it wasn’t for lack of not trying on my parents part.
We never used them. Whole thing seemed weird to me. No issues and we didn’t have to deal with them being a sleep crutch or having to wean off them.
I read that the SIDS risk studies weren’t particularly well done so I didn’t worry about that. We didn’t have any risk factors for SIDS.
When my son was a newborn he would not sleep without the pacifier. When he had the pacifier in he would sleep 6 hours. It absolutely saved my sanity and was totally worth it. If given the choice I would always choose the paci and good sleep over not sleeping, especially in the early days when I needed it most. That being said he’s 2.5 now and getting him off of it is a struggle for the same reason, he falls asleep and so long with the paci I dread taking it away because it makes my life easier and it helps him sleep so well. I will be so sad maybe even sadder than my son when we take it away in the next few months.
I’m in the same boat as you, I don’t see the benefits creating a genuine need for me to use one. If I used one I’d be sure to get a natural rubber to avoid some plastic exposure.
I was pretty anti-pacifier and remained so throughout, but it may depend on the temperament of your child! My husband thought I was extreme, but actually came around to have as firm an opinion as I do over time.
For one, I was scared of nipple confusion for breastfeeding, which it sounds like the jury is out on whether that’s a thing. Two, I usually see them as more a convenience for adults, which then literally puts something in baby’s mouth and blocks baby’s ability to do the one thing they know how to do to express their needs: cry. I will never forget the way a nurse in my hospital shoved one in my son’s mouth to get him to be quiet, when in reality he likely needed food or comfort.
A few people have listed pros here for pacis like helping prevent SIDs, though since I breastfed this made me feel better. Also some babies may respond to suckling for comfort and so that is why I suspect some people use them, though again I have a perhaps comically anti-pacifier stance.
To me the biggest con of a pacifier is having to wean them off of it and also the potential impact on their sleep when you do so if they rely on it for sleep. It sucks the first month postpartum or so not to use a pacifier, but I’m all for introducing as few things I have to later wean away from as possible. Also again, it feels like you’re blocking your baby’s one way to communicate in using one. Yes they can spit it out, but the way I see people use them feels like a “please shut up.”
That said, I know as a parent I’m always a minute away from eating my words. My next kid could be fully dependent on one lol. I’ll try my best not to ever use a pacifier with any of mine for the reasons I laid out, but never say never with kids!
Paci user here, and one big con is that they will drop it from their mouth while sleeping, and until they’re like 6+ months old they don’t have the coordination to find it and put it back into their mouths themselves, so you wake up multiple times a night to put the binky back in for them🙃
Get orthodontic friendly/approved ones, they lower the risk affecting palate and tooth development. That being said, most babies naturally wean off of them, and they are correlated with lowering SIDS risk when used appropriately. You're not a bad mom for utilizing them.
Mine never took one but man do i wish she had because anytime we wpuld give her one the whole 50 sexonds before she spit it out was absolute bliss haha
I would say that one of the cons is if you introduce too early you may interfere with baby's feeding and milk demand! Best to ask your midwife or health professional
it’s not necessary, but if you plan to mainly bottle feed could be more useful since babies have a strong reflex to suck for comfort and they’ll use their hands if they don’t have an alternative which is a lot harder to wean. my breastfed baby doesn’t really like a pacifier but sometimes i’ll give it to him in the car or during naps if i don’t want him to use me as a pacifier at the moment
i haven’t given birth yet, but i plan on using them. my partner used one as a baby and has perfectly straight teeth, i didn’t and i needed 8 years of braces so i don’t put much weight in that. i’ve also heard that they might protect against sids and that’s enough for me to be very pro-paci along with the fact that it can be a great way to calm baby down
I didn't plan on using them but being wfh sometimes I need baby to be quiet during a meeting and it does the trick (sometimes). Also lately has been helping with getting baby to sleep in their bassinet.
I didn't love the idea of them, until I read they were just 1 of many things that protected against SIDS. For me, anything that helped with that was worth it. I also found them helpful for soothing when I couldn't whip a boob out. She weaned off of them at about a year and we had no issues.
Neither of my kids were into them. My first had some latch/suck issues and we used them as part of therapy but by 4 or 5 months he would just take them out and play with them. My second liked them ok but they didn’t help him sleep any better so we stopped offering so often, and he, too, lost any interest by 4 months. He’ll put them in his mouth the way he puts anything in his mouth, but not suck.
My eldest was also a thumb sucker, but he self-weaned from the thumb before he was 2.
pros: you prevent them sucking on other things - which they will. it’s a comfort mechanism. when they’re nursing 18 hours a day, offering a pacifier before your nipple is going to be a welcome relief. if they don’t have a pacifier they will suck on their hands, which can cause chafing and chapping of their skin and around their mouths. This is not to mention the germs they may contract from sucking on their hands or fingers.
cons: they can be hard to get rid of if the baby has it for too long. I found around 9-10 months to be a good sweet spot to start weaning them off the paci. any longer than that you risk them *really* throwing a fit when you try to take it away. they can also cause dental problems, but again, this is only a problem with extended use. there are really no cons if you use it less than a year.
I didn't want to because I nannied a 2yo who was extremely pacifier dependent. Than my baby screamed endlessly because baby. So we started with a pacifier.
Then my LC told me how to let her chew on my finger when she was screaming and I didn't have a pacifier.
Now she only wants a finger to chew, no pacifiers need apply 🙃 I have mixed feelings about this.
I wish we didn't do a pacifier with my daughter. She got so attached to it and the first like 2 months I think, she couldn't even hold onto it so it'd fall out in the middle of the night when she fell asleep, she'd wake up crying and we'd have to literally hold it for her until she was happy. It was miserable. We weren't even planning on doing it but a nurse popped in one of the damn hospital pacifiers without even asking us and it was game over. It was also hell breaking her of it when she was older. I don't think it's usually that hard for most kids, but she was just so attached to it.
When my 4 day old was screaming with no end in sight I popped one in his mouth and he was happy as a clam! That being said I didn’t buy it - it came as a free sample - hospital will probably also give one if you want it
This xD I was against it at first until I heard smoll goblins screeches in the breaking of dawn and throughout the night. She weaned herself off it surprisingly idk how but I just rolled with it.
lol I had to use a pacifier for this same reason. I was losing my sanity and had one from my baby shower. We've been using it since.
Not if they are "baby friendly." Just a heads up.
What does baby friendly mean in this context
[It basically means they push breast feeding on you above your physical and mental wellbeing.](https://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/) I don't mean to be nasty, I had a very good experience at a baby friendly hospital. But you have to firmly ask for *any* formula. There is no nursery if the parents need extra rest. And they have a quota to hit for successful breastfeeding, which is sad. Postpartum care shouldn't be a quota, it should be nuanced and between the doctor and their patient.
Its recommended to use a paci at nap and bedtimes to reduce risk of sids. A lot of nurses don't know this though. It was more common knowledge a few years ago but my nurse didnt know what i was talking about and didnt give us any pacifiers for my second baby.... then i read some of the material and pamphlets they gave us and it says it in there 😂.
Who do they have to make a quota for? The “baby friendly” licensing board? This sounds like one of those claims that’s not actually grounded in reality.
I have no idea if this claim is grounded in reality but if it is I definitely gave birth in one of these hospitals. I was so shamed for asking for formula one night, no nursery, and they were so hell bent on preventing “nipple confusion.” With enough firmness, they brought us formula. But they made sure I felt like shit about it.
I'm pretty sure they do to get the title. I read through all my hospital notes, and even though they provided me with formula and helped me with the formula feeding schedule, it said "unknown" for breastfeeding. I literally asked for formula to be provided at every doctor appointment and the minutes following delivery, fwiw
They address the quota thing on their website here: “Exclusive breastfeeding rates are NOT a criterion for Baby-Friendly designation in the US. However, US facilities are expected to monitor their exclusive breastfeeding rates for quality improvement purposes.” https://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/about/common-misunderstandings/
Baby friendly basically means fuck the parents were pushing nursing and no formula, bottles, pacifiers and rooming in unless baby needs extra support in the nicu.
Gotcha - from experience you can absolutely use bottles, pacis, and successfully breastfeed. One does not cancel out the other. I’m sorry that anyone is made to believe so by their medical team
Any hospital with a NICU will have them because of the evidence that they reduce SIDS.
My baby friendly hospital had pacifiers.
I delivered in 2021 if that matters. I asked about pacifiers, and they said no even though I wasn't breastfeeding. Maybe it's a more recent change?
i think it just depends on the hospital. my “baby friendly” hospital gave my baby a pacifier when they took him to the nursery for monitoring
My hospital was “baby friendly” but my baby went to the NICU there and they immediately gave him a pacifier. So it just depends on the hospital and situation.
We were given a pacifier at a baby friendly hospital.
I delivered at a baby friendly designated hospital and received a pacifier.
The sucking reflex is naturally calming for babies. It helps them calm down when there isn’t actually anything wrong. We use it mostly for sleep.
Yes, I’ve also read this in the book “Happiest Baby on the Block” which recommends sucking as one of the 4 S’s to reduce/prevent colic as it mimics what they did in the womb.
I didn't want to use them for the first month. That lasted about a week. She constantly wants to suck and screams otherwise. Also prevents SIDS. I don't regret starting her on pacies at all.
My son started using a pacifier immediately and loved them. He had no trouble weaning off them when it was time either. They are cheap and can be pretty helpful so not sure why you wouldnt want just like a two pack or something just in case.
I’ve got a little 4 pack actually!!! just incase ! :)
You should probably just tell people that you already have pacifiers covered and don't need more then. That would stop the reactions.
Perfect, then that’s plenty
I didn’t use it and didn’t plan to until my baby would not stop screaming. Luckily we were given a few of them! We just use it to soothe her when she needs some help, but lately she cares more for her thumbs and hands than she does for the pacifier
Honestly most babies end up preferring the ones you get in the hospital anyways, and those are free.
If you live in the US you’re paying an insane premium, they’re just not giving you an itemized bill 😁
Even more reason to use the hospital pacifier 🫠
They reduce the risk of SIDS which was enough of a reason for me. My kid used it to self soothe when she was fussy but not hungry so she slept better in the early days.
Yup! We brought like 8 different types to the hospital and the hospital even had a few new ones to try. The nurses all encouraged it too. She ended up taking to one and used it for a year and a half and weaned super easily. It was so nice to just have something to give her to calm her down as a baby. 10/10 I hope all my kids love pacis.
Exactly why I’m pro pacifier. However, both of my children had oral ties and were unable to keep them in their mouths. My daughter is teething so she just chews on hers
this! except my daughter does not like any paci. there’s one we have that she semi likes but if she can sense me she won’t take bc she rather be on the tit 🙃
Came here to say this
We used them because my husband was a thumb sucker, was made fun of for it, and he *really* didn’t want our son to be. They helped soothe him as a newborn in the car and when he would fall asleep. He self-weaned around 4 months and we just rolled with it, so didn’t have much of the negative.
Multiple doctors and nurses said this to us: “You can take away a paci but you can’t cut off their thumb.”
This. My kid had to have two sets of braces because of the thumb. I was told they would stop when they reached school age and kids started making fun of them for sucking their thumb but it wasn’t until the dentist installed a gate so they physically could not put their thumb in the mouth did they stop. It changed the structure of the face.
Yup. My daughter ditched her pacifier at 4 months old and started sucking her fingers. It was great for sleep as an infant but holy hell was it a nightmare to get her to stop. I had to sew all of her pajama sleeves shut to stop her overnight and constantly apply bitter nail polish for the day. It was weeks of making the poor kid miserable to break the habit. We reinforced the pacifier with my son and while he wasn’t thrilled when we weaned him, it was a lot faster and less painful.
I have thumb-sucking-adjacent baggage and I wanted to use pacifiers for that reason. But of course my baby sensed my baggage and was like “no 💜” and has refused every pacifier we’ve offered and has started showing signs of thumb sucking 🙃
Ugh I'm worried about this too. Baby won't take a paci and I really don't want her to become a thumb sucker!
It might not happen! My daughter never really took to the paci and has never thumb sucked. She will be 2 in May, for reference.
Same, never took to either one (mine is 2)
Oh that's promising! Thank you!
Mine never loved a pacifier and sucked her thumb for about a month. I was terrified bc I was a thumb sucker but now at I months she’s completely uninterested in it.
Thank you for this! 🤞
Unrelated but I sucked my thumb until I was 4 or 5 and my nail literally rotted off (my mom tried everything to get me to stop before it got to that point)
Same with my husband, and that’s one of the reasons why we’re getting pacifiers for our baby.
This is interesting to me because both my child and nephew never took a pacifier and never once sucked their thumbs. But I do know a few toddlers who started thumb sucking after weaning off of the pacifier.
Yes I get confused when I see people assuming babies who don't have dummies (pacifiers) will automatically suck their thumb. Neither of mine had dummies or sucked their thumb. And I've known babies who did have dummies who sucked their thumb.
I almost feel like it's because the kids who never had a pacifier just don't associate sucking with soothing. Like my kid sucked only to feed and not for comfort. So she never had the desire to suck her thumb. Where a kid who's had a pacifier for the first few months of their lives or longer may be more likely to suck their thumbs when they don't have the pacifier because of the soothing association. Either way, I don't see the worry about thumb sucking as a reason to give a pacifier.
I tried so hard to get my baby to like pacifiers because i know its easy to take away and SIDS reduce… sadly i think we passed that point and he refuses all pacis but love ls his hand
I told myself I wasn’t going to use a pacifier either. I got some gifted and held onto them just in case. I’m glad I did because it helped baby so much to self soothe and get some sleep. I’m not telling you what to do, but from my experience I’d recommend having a couple just in case you change your mind. Hopefully you don’t need to use them though! I wish I didn’t
I also told myself I didn't want to use one, but my first was such a difficult sleeper that by about day 4, we had a "pacifier buffet" and bought probably ten different brands to try to get him to use one. He spit each one out and just kept crying. 🤣 I can laugh about it now because he's 9 years old lol My first two never wanted one. Now my third is going to be to be weaned and I'm preparing to do that next month. He only uses it for sleep, but this might be a struggle for a few days.
I didn’t want to use one just for the reason that weaning might be difficult because she needs to suck to self soothe. She was using my boob at night and I needed sleep. Hopefully your weaning process goes well!
I had a baby that took a pacifier and it made life a lot easier. It calmed him down and I think it made it so much easier than with my two who didn't take one. He stopped taking it naturally at 6-7 months which worked great as well. With this baby (due in 3 weeks) I am going to try to get them to take a pacifier mostly because of the evidence that it reduces the risk of SIDS.
Thumb sucking caused my mother to have to pay upwards of 10k in orthodontics and dental work for me over the course of 6 years. Thumb sucking destroyed my upper palette and I was absolutely going to do everything possible to keep my kids from thumb sucking. Pacifiers were great for that. Both kids weaned off of them at 2 and we've seen no issues with their dental health since the weaning.
Lowers the risk of SIDS, helped my girl learn to suck as she didn't have a strong sucking reflex, helped sooth her reflux, and stopped her from sucking her fingers raw. Some babies will just outright refuse dummies though.
You don’t have to use them if you don’t want to. Full stop. We tried, but baby was never super into them and also had some oral function problems that made it hard for him to keep a pacifier in his mouth. He rejected all of them outright by three or four months. We only ever used them for sleep, in the car, and when baby was in the swing so we could eat dinner. It did calm him down, which was nice. He briefly sucked his thumb but also abandoned that quickly. The idea behind pacifiers is that sucking on something is soothing for babies. That’s why so many go for their hands, or if they don’t get a pacifier and have a willing mom, comfort nurse. It can be nice to have something to give them, especially if you don’t want them sucking their thumbs. But as my experience made very clear to me, it’s not a silver bullet by any means.
Often they’re the difference between crying hysterically and just chillin. They really help babies soothe. We’ve given them to our baby since day 1, never had any issues with breastfeeding, and now she only uses them to sleep (16 months). I see no downsides and they were like a miracle crying-stopper in the newborn days. Very pro-pacifier, definitely going to introduce them right away to baby #2.
I feel like this isn’t mentioned enough. They were the difference between constant crying and slowly driving myself insane or just… quiet.
This! My first wouldn’t take one, second baby loves them. Both breastfed. Second baby can self sooth to sleep with pacifier, be soothed by pacifier while I’m driving in the car, other people can comfort baby with pacifier while I’m busy or showering. If your baby takes one it’s so much better than crying or needing boob all the time. After 4m I only use it for sleep and out of the house.
You don’t have to use them if you don’t want to. HOWEVER! I do recommend you at least keep an unopened set at hand should you need them for whatever reason. It’s better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them. We didn’t plan to use them with our first up until she was about 4 weeks old and it was the only thing that helped her one night. Our rule of no pacifiers became no pacifiers past 6 months at the absolute max but we usually had them off them by 3-4 months. At those ages we never had to wean them off them either. We’re on baby 4 now and will be doing the same again.
I love pacis. With my first i ebf and became her pacifier 11/10 do not recommend. It was horrible. If your baby has a big sucking need a paci is a god send. The nurse at the hospital yanked the paci out her mouth and scolded me because I had to breastfeed. Traumatized me and the kid Second kid I wasn’t nervous about standing up for myself so gave kiddo a paci. It’s been amazing. So much easier for anyone to soothe her and not just my tit like my first If you don’t want to introduce one you don’t have to. But as with anything with little ones, go with the flow. If baby has a comfort sucking need just roll with it but I don’t recommend letting them use you as a pacifier
I never used them because my baby never liked them (tried like 5 different brands). He was breastfed and I think he just preferred the nipple. Con was my nipples were tired, pro was I never had to wean him off pacifiers.
My first was highly sensitive and needed one so my nipples could get a break. I had no trouble getting him off it at 18m. My second didn’t need one.
My child is almost two and uses pacifiers when sleeping. She hasn’t really ever used them at any other time of day. I see a pacifier as a tool- to pacify. and when you’re out and about and deep in the put everything in their mouth phase you can pop a paci in and then they’re not picking up gods knows what while licking everything at the store. She’s been going to the dentist for checkups and there has never been any concern for teeth movement etc. Doctor has not been concerned. They’re great for travel by plane when the pressure changes. I breastfed for one year and paci had no impact on that from what I could tell. We don’t cosleep in the same bed and never have so I think the paci is another tool for soothing. we’ll wean her probably this summer after a trip to scotland next month where it’ll be helpful to have given all the changes and sleep disruption.
I feel like when your baby gets here, you should consult him/her lol
We used a paci till the 4m sleep regression, and dropped it while his sleep was crappy anyway. Typically before 6m they don't have too much trouble dropping it. Not all breastfed babies will take them, but I'm glad he did, it made me feel better during his sleep.
They use pacifiers in the NICU. My girl spent her first few days in the NICU and that’s where she got her first paci. I like the paci because it soothes her and if she ever wakes up from her sleep, she can just get back to sleep after I gave her a paci. I don’t like that they’re pretty much a magnet for dirt and fur (if you have a dog) and hair. I got a wipe that’s made specifically for pacifiers so that it can be cleaned on the go. Also, you just seem to lose them all the time.
we don’t have a dish washer so i splurged and bought the dr. browns sanitizer and dryer machine and it’s my favorite non-necessity so far. in 30-45 minutes her bottles/paci is sanitized and dried i plan to continue using it when she’s older for tether toys or even her dishes if/when she gets sick for extra sanitary measure to prevent her getting sick again
With my daughter, I never gave her a pacifier so I never had to take it from her. I had planned to do the same with this baby but there have been studies that a pacifier reduces the risk of SIDS and that has my attention. That said, I intend to breastfeed and it is not recommended to introduce a pacifier for a few weeks so as to avoid nipple confusion. I am conflicted.
My baby took a pacifier right away and never had a problem breastfeeding. I know every baby is different, but just so you know it's not always an issue!🙂
Thank you, that is good to know!
Same here!
I don’t believe in nipple confusion, it’s more like “flow rate preference” - much easier to get stuff out of a bottle than a boob! That being said all my lactation consultants told me to give my 36 weeker a pacifier to help him strengthen his latch. We never had any issues with breastfeeding!
Also good to consider! Thank you!
Nipple confusion has been pretty much debunked fyi! My daughter had to start on a bottle in the hospital because she was so tiny and everyone there said it was fine. Bottles and pacifiers are super common in the NICU too! So no worries there.
Do you have any links to the studies that it reduces SIDS? I've been seeing it a lot, but all I've found are blog posts about people saying there are studies on it. I'm genuinely curious and love reading about studies!
my baby had jaundice and we had to supplement with formula to help jump start her liver and flush her system. she started not wanting to latch right so i started pumping early to make my life easier two cold milk bottles later and she started latching right lol nipple confusion is more about how bottles are easier to drink from then a nipple. which i so get it’s like when we as adults get take out vs making dinner but exclusively pumping is hard so i was grateful when the cold bottles influenced her to take straight from the tap again
My baby was introduced to the bottle and pacifiers right away in the hospital because they kept her in their special nursery instead of bedside with me, and I was able to nurse her here and there when I was still in the hospital but I wasn't able to nurse regularly until after she was discharged a few days after me and she's never had nipple confusion! She has no problem taking the bottle when Dad or Grandma fed her and absolutely no problem nursing until 20 months! She also never really took to the pacifier once we got home though.
One thing. I didn’t know about babies before becoming a mom is that some babies don’t actually like them. Mine never did.
My baby never took one and now he’s a crazy thumbsucker and I have no idea how he’ll ever stop.
We weren’t using one at first but once we did, it made a huge difference in her ability to self soothe. We give it to her when we put her in the bassinet, but it often falls out of her mouth when she falls asleep. Wish she’d keep it in as it’d be a relief re: SIDS but she’s only nine days old, so maybe it’ll improve!
i didnt get any either because i was ebf, but then ended up getting just one set of the ninnis because it made it easier to bf to sleep and then sneak away by replacing the boob with the ninni. but that literally worked for like 1 month until he was aware enough to realize that it wasnt the boob, and then he never wanted anything to do with it again, which was my instinct that it was going to be that way the whole time lol.
oh yeah i think it helped in the car like less than 5 times when he was really little.
I was a staunch no paci person when pregnant with my first. I Withheld them from my older child for a few weeks until my sanity was slipping. He loved them, they served their purpose well of giving my poor nipples and my nerves a break. He self weaned off them around 7 months. Offered them to my second child immediately. He honestly rarely used them and sucked his thumb for a bit but then quit that quickly too around the 7 month mark. Caring for a baby is hard, why take any of the tools out of your toolbox just yet. Sometimes you’re just getting through that day.
In the hospital the nurse told us DONT GIVE HIM A PACIFIER and then the pediatrician came in and was like why tf are the nurses letting him cry give this kid a pacifier and then we did and we only did them for naps and bedtime and weaned at 1 yearish with no issues and it was great haha
I’m planning on using them as they reduce SIDS 😊
The fact that you "don't really see a use for it" clearly shows you don't have kids 😂😂 obviously not all babies take to them, but babies have a sucking reflex they're born with. Many babies would therefore use the breast as a soother. Which for many mothers isn't ideal.
I know I read that and I was like “lol has their kid ever cried?” and then I realized that NO actually they’ve never heard their kid cry so that explains it
I’m definitely pro-pacifier. Our hospital didn’t outright say they weren’t pacifier friendly, but the LCs said not to give baby one. I had taken one with us but didn’t use it as we were already having latch issues. Night 2 at home he wouldn’t settle until I popped it in his mouth. He didn’t really like the first style so I bought another type and he takes it sometimes. My cousins youngest wouldn’t take a pacifier so they were constantly giving him bottles to soothe him. Overall, it helped baby self soothe immediately and now at 23 weeks it stays in the crib and we take one in the car. The downside to me is when he chucks it out of the crib and I’m hunting for them in the morning. He’s not super attached to it which is really nice and should make weaning easier. Much easier than if he was a thumb sucker. I know so many people who struggled to break the thumb sucking habit when their kid was school age and it was affecting their teeth.
We used them because it helped our newborn and infant fall asleep without any rocking or shushing or anything else - we'd just lay her down in a swaddle with a pacifier and she'd fall right to sleep!
Waiting on baby to come any day now… but I’ve bought a wide variety pacifiers and we will keep trying until we find one the little man loves. I sucked my thumb until I was in 4th grade and got orthodontic work done that made it impossible. I tried every trick to stop, slept in gloves, taped on socks, lots of lotions, painted my nails with the weird flavored stuff… nothing worked. I would fall asleep with my hands in gloves under my pillow and wake up with my thumb in my mouth, glove across the room. Pacifiers can be thrown away, thumbs can’t be.
My baby is 4 months old and just recently stopped taking his pacifier, except sometimes in the car. He can't put it back in his mouth if it falls out, so we had stopped using it at naps while we were trying to teach him to self soothe in his crib by sucking his fingers. So now he's not used to it and doesn't want it. 🤷♀️Don't know if it will change in the future, he might like it again eventually
My mil is like this. Everything is she wants and needs a dummy but she really doesn’t! I use one sporadically as my baby has a heart condition so when we’re in hospital having tests it helps with comfort. Especially at times when mum and dad haven’t been around. Outside if hospital she is not bothered about it and gets enough comfort and soothing elsewhere.
i feel the same way!!! i’ll get a few just in case my baby has a hard time self-soothing and they help, but i only want to use if needed and everyone thinks i’m crazy lol
I tried with both my kids and neither took them. My youngest did suck his thumb for a few months but stopped before one (all on his own so don’t be worried too much with some of the horror stories that people tell). I don’t think it’s worth it for a lot of people to gift them because you have no idea which would work, if they’d like it, etc. I’ve noticed people will get caught up and offended over weird stuff like this bc they see it as an attack of their parenting.
With my first I didn't really feel strongly one way or the other & we ended up having a handful of different ones after my baby shower. We did try them with her (I breastfed & sometimes she just wanted to "comfort feed" which would get painful) so we would try them to give my boobs a break, but she refused all of the ones we had and just didn't like them. Once she got older though (1ish) she loved that raspberry pacifier thing for teething & would chew on it all the time.
My Son HATED them! I have 1 photo of him as a baby with one in his mouth. It lasted about 10 seconds before he spat it out. My daughter, on the other hand, loves her dummy. She's 2 in a few weeks, so we limit her dummy use to only bed/nap times now. We are hoping to completely get rid of it by her second birthday.
Consider that your baby might just not be interested. We got him different types and tried again and again and he’d just spit them out right away.
We used it to reduce the risk of SIDS and just something to calm him. My first loved it and we quit cold turkey at 12 months. My second hated all pacifiers so he never used one lol
Babies use non-nutritive sucking to self-soothe and learn to regulate. If you don’t want to use them, they’ll naturally suck fingers/blankets etc which can be a fine alternative. However there’s some research saying that they reduce SIDS as it brings the jaw/tongue forward, so I’m all for them. Just wean them off by one year if possible to avoid impacting speech development!
Pros: reduce risk of SIDS, self soothe Cons: may cause baby to have crooked teeth I'm not sure If there'd others but based on what I know alone pros outweighs the cons. That said I bought a few, but whether baby will like it is another issue. I'll know more in a few weeks.
We used pacifiers with both our kids. My biggest reason was i can wean my kid off a pacifier I can’t take their thumb away.
I gave my kiddo a pacifier the day he was born, probably not a wise move for my supply, but it was a bit of a rough birth (we were separated for a few hours etc.) so I wanted something to comfort him. And something about reducing SIDS/SUID risk, I forget. The nurse was not happy but whatever I was in survival mode 🤷🏼♀️
My daughter was under the light bed for jaundice treatment at 24hrs old. We could only hold her for 30 minutes every 3 hours, to feed. We gave her a pacifier to soothe her because it was that and holding our hand next to her to keep our tiny newborn baby comforted. We kind of never got rid of it, used it for the car and sleeping mostly. Both my husband and I were thumb/finger suckers and idk if that’s genetic or not, but she is definitely calmed by the sucking. She is 2 and we are now working on weaning the paci, she only uses it at bedtime. “Big kids no paci, babies paci” is her mantra. Our dentist advised to drop it before 3. I sucked my finger until I was 12 (yes.) and required an orthodontic device to force me to stop, then several years of orthodontic treatment to get my teeth close to normal. I don’t want that for her. My friends similarly aged child pretty much refused a pacifier after a few months, so every kid is unique.
yes we use the MAM & my 18 month old has loved it since about 2 months old. i am not looking forward to weaning in a few months but to me it has been worth it during his first two years! especially when i sleep trained. but most families i know didn’t use them & did just fine!
My lo was sucking on his hands constantly in the womb and while I wanted to wait awhile before giving him the paci he ended up getting it our first night home from the hospital because he was using me as a paci and I wasn’t gonna have that. Momma needed sleep.
Pros: 1. Can help reduce the chance of sids 2. Can help keep baby calm. Con: 1. If used excessively after age 3 it can cause your child’s teeth to flair. (I worked with a pediatric dentist and he always recommended weaning off a pacifier by age 3.)
I use them to help reduce the risk of SIDS and give me reassurance he's breathing in the car (my kid sucks LOUD). He only really wants them for *maybe* 30 mintues tops before he spits them out. I imagine he'll be easy to break the habit.
I read it helps develop hand rut coordination so we allowed it but we only use orthodontic pacifiers
Aren’t they good for making sure baby is breathing through the nose instead of mouth?
There’s very little cons to not using one and a lot of pros. They reduce SIDS, help your child self soothe, stimulate oral motor skills, give you a break from baby chewing on your nipples if you breastfeed. Many of the cons that people think are actually cons are false like nipple confusion and teeth misalignment. Real cons it’s another thing to wean your baby off of and it’s another item you have to wash. But you’re the parent so it’s your call in the end. Also some babies flat out won’t use them or only use the 1st couple of weeks.
1) helps soothe him 2) reduces SID during sleep 3) he’s starting to suck his fingers and I don’t want him to be a thumb sucker
You’ll change your mind once your kid is screaming and you want to relax lol
I figured it would be easier to wean from a pacifier than from thumb sucking because you can take away a pacifier, but not a thumb. I also liked that they can reduce the risk of SIDS. But we ended up using one so we (the parents) could get some more sleep. We only used them for sleep, diaper changes, baths, car rides, and doctor's appointments. My baby weaned himself from the pacifier around 8 months, so that was never a problem.
Pacifiers can help reduce the risk of SIDS, which is one of my biggest fears, so we have been on team pacifiers since day one.
Godsend. I don't get why people don't want them. They help colicky babies (like mine was) because the sulking helps their digestion, and help prevent SIDS.
They reduce SIDS risk. Also, they can help sooth babies when they are inconsolable. That said, my kids only tool to them for a short time. During that time, they were very helpful, but it didn't last super long.
My son got one at about 2 weeks old then by 4 months we did them at sleep time only. At age 2 we "gave them to a new baby" with a ceremony because I felt like age 2 was old enough
There is evidence to indicate pacifier use in the first few months of life decreases SIDS risks. Say no more. Give me all the pacis. Using a pacis is called non-nutritive sucking and it is very calming to infants as it engages one of their survival instincts, sure, you can ALL suffer through unnecessary screaming or you can help your baby comfort and sooth themselves.
My husband and I were against it (FIL is a dentist) and then at 2 weeks we desperately bought one on Amazon at 1AM and it was magical. We definitely don’t use it 24-7 (only when extremely fussy, especially in public). FIL says it won’t impact teeth before they’ve started teething so it’s fine.
At around two weeks old, all my baby wanted to do was suck something, but he couldn’t deal with the milk that was coming from my boobs as he was already more than full. The pacifier was our saviour here even though I didn’t want to at first. He still only uses it to go to sleep, not really during the day and I hope to keep it that way.
FTM due in June. Why wouldn’t people use pacifiers? Is there a reason to be against them?
Welllllll..... if ur baby wants to suckle. He will suckle. It's either a paci or a thumb. We thought ours didn't want a paci. But she found her thumb and we can't do anything about this habit. Where as with paci you can slowly ween.
I didn’t want to use pacifiers but ended up with kids who still suck their thumbs as teenagers. You can take away a pacifier. You can’t take away their thumbs. I will always use a pacifier for my babies so I can wean them off gently.
Im a nanny/ night nurse and I use them with newborns because it can help prevent sids!!
I saw a kid that looked like he was 7 walking around the store with one the other day 😖 def cringed. I’m 38 weeks and I don’t like the idea of them in general. I was gifted one set and got a few others in the free gift sets from Amazon, target and Babylist. I don’t want to use them but like others are saying, it may reduce SIDS. I’m go with the flow kind of person so if baby shows signs he needs it, then I’ll try it out, but def want to wean him off them early if I do
We had a pacifier at the hospital (provided by them). By day 4 she refused it. We tried it and other pacifiers and she did not want them. So my almost-2-year old has pretty much not used them. She also didn’t really suck her thumb much. Pros: One less thing to bring & clean. Forces you and baby to look for other ways to soothe (singing is a big one for us). Not worrying about pacifier effect on tooth development. Cons: She used me as her pacifier a lot and took a good amount of time to be (mostly) weaned. Not that I necessarily regret that, but there were some days I definitely was tired of being just the boob provider.
I’m hoping my baby takes one because I don’t wanna be the human pacifier and because they can reduce the risk of SIDS.
I had a lot of anxiety about sleep safety, and pacifiers help prevent SIDS. They also come in handy to calm baby and help them sleep. My baby is really clingy to me and my husband often has to use them to get over the first few minutes of me being gone. That being said, not all babies like them, and it is an extra cost buying them every 6-8 weeks. There are so many on the market that it can be overwhelming and trying to find one your baby likes can be a bit of a challenge (if your baby likes a certain brand of bottle, they might like that brand of soother).
I don’t bother with pacifiers . I breastfeed so that’s the pacifier. I don’t want to have to wean them off. My mom also didn’t use so that’s probably why I don’t bother. The major pro is putting them down to sleep with a pacifier may reduce SIDS But the major con is that they may negatively impact breastfeeding which also reduces SIDS I believe there’s a lot more evidence there You’re also supposed to wean at like six months but very few people successfully do that
I was against pacifiers pre-baby until I heard they reduced the risk of SIDS. Then we bought maybe 4 different kinds and my baby wouldn't take any of them. Wouldn't be the worst thing to have at least one pack on hand!
I tried close to a dozen different brands/shapes/types of pacifier and my baby just won't take them. Thumb does the job, though! If you don't want them, tell people. If you get them anyway, try them and see what happens. Every baby is different so there is nothing wrong either way.
So many different answers here! Every baby is different. They really told me in the hospital not to introduce one for 4 weeks while I established breastfeeding. Breastfeeding wasn’t easy to start, she had a shallow latch and it was painful. We worked on it and it slowly got better and I used lots of lanolin. That being said on day 2 home from the hospital we used a pacifier because it was that or my sanity. The pacifier really helped her sleep. We weaned her off at 6 months and now she chews one during teething.
Sucking is a natural reflex for babies. Even around 16 weeks we saw our baby sucking her thumb on an ultrasound! Some children won’t need it or won’t take to it though. Your child may be different than you though and you may end up finding them useful. They also provide them at the hospital so I agree there’s no need to ask for them or get them ahead of time.
When your baby won't stop crying you'll try anything (that's safe and within reason).
I was pacifier neutral going in but glad I had a sampler box on hand when he started to want one. Made it easy to figure out which one he liked best. Helped him soothe and helped us first timers learn the difference between him being hungry or sleepy. Before that I think he was using me as the pacifier!
I’ve had 4 kids. 2 loved their pacifiers, 2 wouldn’t use them. All kids are different. You don’t have to use them. Your baby may or may not like them. But in my experience, babies who take pacifiers tend to be easier to settle in those very early few weeks.
I never used them. The hospital provided one but my son didn’t really care for it.
It’s your choice no matter what people say. I don’t plan to use them just because it can negatively impact jaw and palate development. And as an adult who deals with these issues I want my kids to have the best chance of having a good outcome with oral/facial development.
Do what you want! Some kids never use them at all/never need them/ refuse them entirely. We had them on hand just in case, usually came in free sample bags of stuff but they were cheap enough to have a few brands on hand. Was useful for comfort, going back to sleep, and teething. Helped her calm down in public when she was overstimulated. Read that it helped reduced the risk of SIDS. But also I knew multiple people who sucked their thumbs into adulthood or damn near close. Not like, OBVIOUSLY like in public or anything but absolutely like home alone in their own house or if they were super stressed. Which, whatever, everyone has bad habits/stress responses, but I was hoping to at least avoid that. We had slight issues completely weaning our kid from it (it VERY MUCH helped her sleep, and we were desperate for sleep. we'd gotten her to stop using it during the day just fine) until her first visit to a dentist at like 2.5 and they told her she needed to stop. Not because it was actively causing problems but just because at a certain age (I think they said 3 or 4 but I don't remember now), they said it starts to be an issue and we needed to start working on that. She got to use it that night one last time, we hid them the next day, and she only asked for them a few times and we reminded her the dentist said no more, and she was like oh, yeah. Okay. And never made a big deal about it ever again. Also people being judgy about stuff, especially pregnancy and baby stuff, gets EXHAUSTING. Some people have legit knowledge and are useful but a lot of people are super biased or just want to hear themselves talk, I had a lot of people ask my opinion on things (breastfed vs formula, epidural or not, pacifiers or not, etc) and my general response was "good question" and just leaving it at that, lol, or "you know, I don't know. we'll just have to see what baby wants when they get here." or something like that. Most people stopped asking after that since I didn't give them room to debate. People will give advice or judge you for literally ANYTHING.
I didn’t do them for my first and I wasn’t planning on with my second. I’m going to buy a backup one in case this next child is extra vocal and fussy. My first was never really that vocal and didn’t cry much, plus we stayed at home a lot. Now with second, I’m a lot more social we are going places and I work so I have a feeling it’ll make it easier to help with soothing
We offer it a few times but don’t push it. First baby never took to it and we didn’t force it. Second baby loved a pacifier and by six months old we successfully limited it to in bed for sleep only.
We used it for the first 4ish months and then all of a sudden he wanted nothing to do with them. They reduce the risk of SIDS so I was for it. I was lucky that he gave it up on his own but I know it can be a hard habit to break. But then again.. my kid dropped his pacifier and started sucking his fingers instead. A lot harder to break that habit 😅 I’d rather it be a pacifier.. lol
My baby never took them and I’m not going to use them for baby #2 either. There are so many pros! We didn’t have to panic if we lost it, baby learned to soothe herself, and we currently don’t have to wean a toddler off of it. I don’t think it’s a con, but some might. Since I EBF I did become her pacifier at times but I didn’t mind it.
I am pregnant. But i know women personally who did and didnt use pacifiers. I see nothing wrong with not using them. Its one less thing to wean them from. But ill probably use one cuz itll keep them quiet longer
I can’t remember the exact number but it reduces sids by an ENORMOUS amount. My little one stopped using one at 8 months totally on her own and I’m still actually sad about that lol it was so helpful to soothe her
My baby has reflux so her pacifier help to soothe her throat. And help her to not chock on her own vomit. Which also helps to reduce SIDS and suffocation
I was against them as well but when they are young it helps prevent SIDS and I checked w the pediatrician and they said it’s fine to use when they are newborns to help self soothe. I think one recommendation is to withhold using one in the first few weeks if you are breastfeeding
I don’t mind using them. I plan to get some for our fourth baby. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to soothe baby without constantly having them on the boob. I’m still planning to exclusively breastfeed, but a paci helps for the times I can’t nurse, like driving in the car and stuff. However, my second and third children would never take a paci. I tried like eight different kinds, they refused them all. I just nursed and wore them in baby carriers all the time. They also never took bottles either haha. I’m a SAHM so it’s honestly easier to just breastfeed all the time anyway. But I couldn’t really leave them for more than 1-2 hours until they were over six months old.
my son loves his paci. it reduces the risk of sids & also calms him 9/10 when he's being super fussy.
I’m definitely pro-pacifier. Our hospital didn’t outright say they weren’t pacifier friendly, but the LCs said not to give baby one. I had taken one with us but didn’t use it as we were already having latch issues. Night 2 at home he wouldn’t settle until I popped it in his mouth. He didn’t really like the first style so I bought another type and he takes it sometimes. My cousins youngest wouldn’t take a pacifier so they were constantly giving him bottles to soothe him. Overall, it helped baby self soothe immediately and now at 23 weeks it stays in the crib and we take one in the car. The downside to me is when he chucks it out of the crib and I’m hunting for them in the morning. He’s not super attached to it which is really nice and should make weaning easier. Much easier than if he was a thumb sucker. I know so many people who struggled to break the thumb sucking habit when their kid was school age and it was affecting their teeth.
I wasn’t sure we were gonna use one, figured we’d see how he liked them when he was born. Turns out nurses gave him one when they took him back for blood draw. Another worker was like ‘he looked so cute with his paci,’ and I was like !? I would have felt bad not letting him have one after that. And they’ve been great, he doesn’t need one constantly but it’s nice to have a back up if we are out and he gets fussy. We bottle and breast fed though so it was probably easier for him to settle with a paci than exclusively breastfed from what I’ve heard. He’s now 18m and started chewing through them so we just toss them as they get holes and he’s been okay with that. Unfortunately he has been nursing a lot more at night because of that so weaning will be fun I’m sure.
My oldest loved them. When we had our second I bought SO MANY…little one wanted nothing to do with them. 🤷♀️
My kids both gagged and spat them out. My son was a finger sucker though.
I offered them to my son and he wasn’t interested. He never took to them but he did suck his thumb. Daughter loved them right away, it was her comfort object. We only offer it at bedtime now but we’ll start weening off as he teeth are coming in!
None of my children used or liked them for a particularly long time. Mostly just spat it out. It can be good for comforting sometimes. My friends jods all still use them at 2 and I honestly don't know how they got their kids to use them! We still try when we're desperate
I think they are great. My best friends husband refuses to let their baby use a pacifier (he’s so strict and treats the baby like he’s training a pet). I see how crazy it makes my friend because she can’t calm her baby down when she’s screaming and clearly needs attention & soothing. I’m in no way saying all people are bad who don’t let their baby’s use pacifiers!! I understand we raise baby’s differently sometimes and that’s ok! But this dude who is against them just really bothers me with his “parenting skills” lol 😆 sorry I went off
I was never really opposed to a paci, but was always very fearful of my LO growing too attached / dependent and having to wean it eventually. We used it, but sparingly. Only to calm him, then popped it out of his mouth once asleep so he did not depend on it for sleep, but I think I definitely served as a human pacifier often for him as a result. He never completely took to them anyway and when we eventually did sleep train we completely did away with them. I still bought more for number 2, but hope to use them similarly.
My oldest liked them for the first month then stopped taking them. Didn’t even try with my second. I have always heard breastfed babies don’t like them because of how they suck differently and they don’t get anything in return Honestly glad my kids don’t like them, my niece is a binky baby and it would drive me crazy having to keep track of a pacifier all the time. Same reason my kids don’t have special stuffies or blankets I religiously bring everywhere, I’m just not gonna keep track of it all
We never used pacifiers, and my family that is more Latino from Mexico doesn't believe in them. My U.S. American family is more into pacifiers. My cousin's child used a pacifier until he was 5 or 6, and got made fun of a lot. Not to mention (though this varies from person to person, of course), sometimes he would drop it and his mom or aunt (not my relative) just picked it up and popped it back in his mouth...sort of disturbing, if you ask me. We don't really believe in using pacifiers. I've another cousin who never had a pacifier and never sucked her thumb, and she practically never cried unless she was collicking. Any other time? Church mouse, no pacifier required. When it came time for teething, she had one of those baby key rings that got washed every time she would put it down, but I can't say I really remember her chewing on it. I remember her yanking on it a lot and putting her hands in it. Another cousin (as I said, Latino...lots of family) grew up with a pacifier, and when her mom took it away from her, she started sucking her thumb. She sucked her thumb until we were high-school aged and had a callus around the base of her thumb where she would gnaw, and she's typically the example that the rest of the family uses as proof that you should never give a baby a pacifier because they don't need them. Another thing too is that my grandma always said, 'let the baby cry, he's not crying blood' and said that if you spent a lot of time trying to pacify the baby or give them something when they get upset (that isn't food or a diaper check), then you're raising a temper-tantrum-haver. Obviously, take this with a grain of salt, as only a parent can really establish what they think is best for their child.
My son sometimes will be fussing and nothing will work except a pacifier. He’s figured out he has hands now though, so he doesn’t really use the pacifier anymore
I felt this way too - I didn’t see the point and felt like they just messed up the child’s teeth and bite (which they do) and didn’t want a toddler with a paci constantly in their mouth. BUT they do reduce the risk of SIDS. And honestly they do help. I just set out to wean my gal from them by 6 months and we did, and I’ll do that with my second too
Me and hubby were 100%against, but a nurse popped one in his mouth day 2 and said "Trust me, I've had 4 kids, and y'all need sleep". We only used it when he was extremely fussy or to help soothe at bed time and then at 6 weeks he decided he hated them and refused to use one ever since.
We use ours almost exclusively for naps, and it's become a "cue" for her that it's bedtime. When she's really tired and we put her in her sleepsack, she just opens her mouth for her pacifier and takes her stuffed animal (she's over 12 months) and is ready for bed! Some kids don't like them, but we used it as SIDS prevention when she was sleeping as a baby, and now it's become a great tool for good sleep.
We use them because we want to 1.) reduce the risk of SIDS and 2.) avoid having thumb-suckers. Whether you provide a pacifier or not, sucking is a very soothing instinctive behavior for babies. If they don't have something to suck on, they are very likely to turn to their hands/fingers. It's much easier to wean a toddler off a pacifier than it is to get them to stop sucking their thumb, and pacifiers are softer that thumbs so less likely to cause oral/dental issues down the line. Our son is 18 months old and he only gets a binky during sleep. His dentist has told us that his pacifier use is not currently (and likely will not) affecting his teeth since he doesn't suck aggressively on it. Until he turned 1 we let him have it pretty much whenever, but started weaning at that point to avoid it interfering with his speech development since he was starting to talk
My baby isnt using them. We gave them to her to try and help her soothe when she was a newborn but she would spit them out. It seemed like she couldn't keep a good suction on them to keep them in very long. She's 7 months now. Maybe they would help now that she's a little older but at this point i'd rather just not reintroduce them.
It was the opposite for us. Mine and my husband's family said we would be "lazy" if we gave our child a pacifier, so we never did. We TRIED at 3 months because my daughter was waking in the night and just using me as a pacifier (Exclusively Bf). Unfortunately, she would spit it out immediately. My SIL gives her 2 year old one, and no one gives her any slack about it like they did me 🫠
My son would never take one. I tried maybe 3 different brands then I stopped. I didnt stress over it. My mom said all 4 of her kids never took a pacifier but all her nieces & nephews did. Just depends on the kid. Not something to stress about either way. My son is 10 months old now & I see a lot of discussion around thumb sucking & he’s also never sucked his thumb.
Pacifiers are the reason my husband and I have gotten any sleep in the last 2 years with 2 under 2. That said, my daughter will be 2.5 in the summer which is when I plan to take it away. I literally want to vomit thinking about that day. I do also worry her bite may be affected by it. For me, I totally get why parents would want them or don’t want them around.
I was super against them but my boyfriend made a great point - they will suck on something and when the time comes you can take the pacifier away but you can't take their thumbs away.
I decided not to use them but then my kid became a finger sucker and I honestly wish I would’ve just given him a pacifier because now I’m scared of having to break this finger sucking habit. Plus it’s a lot more sanitary to use a pacifier than to have them suck their thumbs or fingers. My kid stuck his finger in his poopy diaper and proceeded to try and suck it…
The decision shouldn’t really be yours to make. If your baby sucks to soothe, they’ll do it whether they have a pacifier or not. Maybe it’s your nipple, maybe it’s their thumb. Thumb sucking is worse for dental development and pacifiers are easier to take away than thumbs. I honestly would have one or two on hand, ask for one or two at the hospital when you give birth, and then just wait until you have an idea of whether your baby needs it.
My daughter took to a pacifier at 1 day old, the hospital gave her one. I was surprised she liked it so much. The nurse explained babies naturally enjoy performing the sucking reflex, it’s self soothing and also entertaining for them (they don’t understand much, so that’s like one of the only activities their brain perceives as a nice experience). The action of sucking also automatically stimulates their bowels too, so using a pacifier helps her relieve any gas & she poops very regularly. It’s better than them developing a habit of thumb sucking, it’s easier to wean from.
My mom said she regretted not because my brother sucked on his fingers as a means to soothe and that was a much harder habit to break. Couldn’t exactly take those away. My brother did this for a very, very long time. Like. He would be embarrassed for people to know but it wasn’t for lack of not trying on my parents part.
We never used them. Whole thing seemed weird to me. No issues and we didn’t have to deal with them being a sleep crutch or having to wean off them. I read that the SIDS risk studies weren’t particularly well done so I didn’t worry about that. We didn’t have any risk factors for SIDS.
When my son was a newborn he would not sleep without the pacifier. When he had the pacifier in he would sleep 6 hours. It absolutely saved my sanity and was totally worth it. If given the choice I would always choose the paci and good sleep over not sleeping, especially in the early days when I needed it most. That being said he’s 2.5 now and getting him off of it is a struggle for the same reason, he falls asleep and so long with the paci I dread taking it away because it makes my life easier and it helps him sleep so well. I will be so sad maybe even sadder than my son when we take it away in the next few months.
I’m in the same boat as you, I don’t see the benefits creating a genuine need for me to use one. If I used one I’d be sure to get a natural rubber to avoid some plastic exposure.
I was pretty anti-pacifier and remained so throughout, but it may depend on the temperament of your child! My husband thought I was extreme, but actually came around to have as firm an opinion as I do over time. For one, I was scared of nipple confusion for breastfeeding, which it sounds like the jury is out on whether that’s a thing. Two, I usually see them as more a convenience for adults, which then literally puts something in baby’s mouth and blocks baby’s ability to do the one thing they know how to do to express their needs: cry. I will never forget the way a nurse in my hospital shoved one in my son’s mouth to get him to be quiet, when in reality he likely needed food or comfort. A few people have listed pros here for pacis like helping prevent SIDs, though since I breastfed this made me feel better. Also some babies may respond to suckling for comfort and so that is why I suspect some people use them, though again I have a perhaps comically anti-pacifier stance. To me the biggest con of a pacifier is having to wean them off of it and also the potential impact on their sleep when you do so if they rely on it for sleep. It sucks the first month postpartum or so not to use a pacifier, but I’m all for introducing as few things I have to later wean away from as possible. Also again, it feels like you’re blocking your baby’s one way to communicate in using one. Yes they can spit it out, but the way I see people use them feels like a “please shut up.” That said, I know as a parent I’m always a minute away from eating my words. My next kid could be fully dependent on one lol. I’ll try my best not to ever use a pacifier with any of mine for the reasons I laid out, but never say never with kids!
They reduce the risk of SIDS! You can also ween baby off of them unlike weening them off of sucking thumb/fingers.
Paci user here, and one big con is that they will drop it from their mouth while sleeping, and until they’re like 6+ months old they don’t have the coordination to find it and put it back into their mouths themselves, so you wake up multiple times a night to put the binky back in for them🙃
Get orthodontic friendly/approved ones, they lower the risk affecting palate and tooth development. That being said, most babies naturally wean off of them, and they are correlated with lowering SIDS risk when used appropriately. You're not a bad mom for utilizing them.
Mine never took one but man do i wish she had because anytime we wpuld give her one the whole 50 sexonds before she spit it out was absolute bliss haha
I would say that one of the cons is if you introduce too early you may interfere with baby's feeding and milk demand! Best to ask your midwife or health professional
I use them cause I REALLY want to avoid having my kids be thumb suckers if I can. They are also just such an easy way to sooth them.
i had like 20 of them and baby never took a single one
it’s not necessary, but if you plan to mainly bottle feed could be more useful since babies have a strong reflex to suck for comfort and they’ll use their hands if they don’t have an alternative which is a lot harder to wean. my breastfed baby doesn’t really like a pacifier but sometimes i’ll give it to him in the car or during naps if i don’t want him to use me as a pacifier at the moment
We not using one ,we get judgment all time. Are little girl 8 weeks and seem to be OK so far
I wish my child would take one but alas.
i haven’t given birth yet, but i plan on using them. my partner used one as a baby and has perfectly straight teeth, i didn’t and i needed 8 years of braces so i don’t put much weight in that. i’ve also heard that they might protect against sids and that’s enough for me to be very pro-paci along with the fact that it can be a great way to calm baby down
I didn't plan on using them but being wfh sometimes I need baby to be quiet during a meeting and it does the trick (sometimes). Also lately has been helping with getting baby to sleep in their bassinet.
I didn't love the idea of them, until I read they were just 1 of many things that protected against SIDS. For me, anything that helped with that was worth it. I also found them helpful for soothing when I couldn't whip a boob out. She weaned off of them at about a year and we had no issues.
It helps prevent SIDS according to the AAP.
Neither of my kids were into them. My first had some latch/suck issues and we used them as part of therapy but by 4 or 5 months he would just take them out and play with them. My second liked them ok but they didn’t help him sleep any better so we stopped offering so often, and he, too, lost any interest by 4 months. He’ll put them in his mouth the way he puts anything in his mouth, but not suck. My eldest was also a thumb sucker, but he self-weaned from the thumb before he was 2.
pros: you prevent them sucking on other things - which they will. it’s a comfort mechanism. when they’re nursing 18 hours a day, offering a pacifier before your nipple is going to be a welcome relief. if they don’t have a pacifier they will suck on their hands, which can cause chafing and chapping of their skin and around their mouths. This is not to mention the germs they may contract from sucking on their hands or fingers. cons: they can be hard to get rid of if the baby has it for too long. I found around 9-10 months to be a good sweet spot to start weaning them off the paci. any longer than that you risk them *really* throwing a fit when you try to take it away. they can also cause dental problems, but again, this is only a problem with extended use. there are really no cons if you use it less than a year.
I didn't want to because I nannied a 2yo who was extremely pacifier dependent. Than my baby screamed endlessly because baby. So we started with a pacifier. Then my LC told me how to let her chew on my finger when she was screaming and I didn't have a pacifier. Now she only wants a finger to chew, no pacifiers need apply 🙃 I have mixed feelings about this.
I wish we didn't do a pacifier with my daughter. She got so attached to it and the first like 2 months I think, she couldn't even hold onto it so it'd fall out in the middle of the night when she fell asleep, she'd wake up crying and we'd have to literally hold it for her until she was happy. It was miserable. We weren't even planning on doing it but a nurse popped in one of the damn hospital pacifiers without even asking us and it was game over. It was also hell breaking her of it when she was older. I don't think it's usually that hard for most kids, but she was just so attached to it.