Pacifier or NO Pacifier for infant/toddler?

My son used a pacifier and came off the pacifier easily, I think it was around 7 months the bottle is another story I personally see nothing wrong with pacifiers. It’s very soothing for infants, because of the instinct.

I think it is ok to give them the pacifier. Once they fall asleep they spit it out. PLEASE as your child grows and starts teething advance to the next size pacifier if needed as they grow. I have a 3yr old at work who still takes an infant pacifier (at home) and her teeth are really bad. It’s better than being a thumb sucker. It soothes them to sleep or comforts them while they are up. It’s easier to take it away from them later on than it is to take their thumb away. I have three 4 yr olds at work who still suck their thumb. The ones who took the pacifier don’t. Thumb sucking is a bad habit to break them out of. So I am for the pacifier if they need it!

I like to use pacifiers as little as possible – with my first we used it more than we our second…children vary – use it for now, not after they get teeth and good luck

My 2 oldest grandsons had no problem getting off them
I did have one problem when my daughter (now 28) got so attached to her pacafier (when she was about your daughters age) that she forgot how to nurse. She didn’t nurse all day and was screaming hungry and I was screaming hurting!
I finly expressed the milk (no home electric breast pumps back then) and got 2 eight ounce bottles!
Once she stopped panicking from being so hungry she remembered how to nurse. 28 years later and that day still stirs tramatic memories!

None of my daughters had one. I hate the goddamn things. A big pet peeve of mine is when I see some five year old with one hanging around his neck. Also when they get dropped on the floor and mom or dad just picks it up and gives it back to baby. There are other ways to “pacify” a child than to stick some plug in his mouth.

thank you collective. It seems like it’s not a problem if we can ween him off from it and problem is when teeth comes and toddler age.

Thanks, make me feel better.

We haven’t used them with our two kids, but our pediatrician has recently started recommending them. Apparently, there is a reduced risk of SIDS with pacifier use.

I actually tried very hard to get my kids to use them because thumb-sucking runs strongly in the family. No dice… all 3 were thumb-suckers (as was I). In either event, if they need it I see no harm in it as long as you break the habit sooner rather than later.

@shilolo- The study I think your pediatrician was referring to is not conclusive.

From all the kids I’ve seen, there’s no problem with using a pacifier just as long as you manage to take it away in a reasonable amount of time. The hard and fast 6 month rule or anything like that is stupid. You’ll know when your child is ready or when you are, even if they don’t occur at the same time. And if the teeth are coming in crooked (they can anyway even when the pacifier has been taken away at exactly 6 months as some parents do), they’re baby teeth and will fall out. There’s not really any problem with letting them have it when they’re young (younger than 2) and if it helps them get what they need in the sleep department, have at it.

Picking a pacifier up and giving it back after its thrown actually counteracts some of the obsession we have with antibacterial wipes and stuff like that which impair the immune system and make kids more likely to get sick. We’re so busy fighting bacteria that we don’t let kids build a tolerance to the common ones. Hell, many of us ate dirt and didn’t have everything sterilized and we turned out just fine.

I said I wouldn’t use one until at least a month since I believed everything I read and was certain my daughter would have nipple confusion. Long story short – she would only sleep with something in her mouth to sleep and I was tired of it being me, so I popped a pacifier in after a week or so. What a sanity saver.

At 18 months, we went to pacifier at night & naps only. Any time she lost one or bit a hole in one, we tossed it. When she got down to 2 pacifiers we told her those were the only ones left. She bit a hole in one and we told her “uh-oh, it’s broken!” and had her throw it in the trash. Showed her the last one and did the same thing. When she threw it away, we told her that was it. She asked about it for a few days when she was really sleepy, but then she was over it.

Better than a thumb any day, IMO.

I remember having horrible days once my pacifier was stolen. It was a mid-life crisis.

I’ve heard so much for and so much against this (I’ll call it a pacifier here for your convenience), and still haven’t figured out where I stand. I was dead against them when my daughter was born, but it turned out to be a life-saver.
My problem as a parent (and I had a similar problem as a guitarist when it came to picks) is that they get lost, and then your baby can’t sleep unless you go out in the middle of the night and buy a new one. I solved the guitar problem by learning to play with fingers, and the pacifier problem by buying lots and lots of them, and hiding some in special places my daughter couldn’t reach for emergencies. Also, she loved them and their different shapes and colours, so I’d often buy her one as a present if she’d been good, she ended up having a collection of them that she’d carry around in a backpack by the age of 3. And she’d use different ones, she’d pick her favourite and suck on it, then put it back in the bag and pick another one.
It is true that they can harm your teeth, but you’ll change baby teeth anyway, so as long as you teach your kid to brush (somewhere around 3–4), it’ll be fine.
I also don’t like the idea of my daughter having a piece of plastic in her mouth, but the equivalent would be sucking on her own finger, which my cousin did until the age of 12. The good thing about dummies is that you can eventually get rid of them, whereas you’ll always have that thumb handy for the rest of your life (my cousin’s was almost sucked to the bone after those 12 years).
And after all, there are so many serious issues to consider when bringing up a child (eg keeping it away from the evil grandfather, making sure the aunts don’t kill it, dodging bullets and knives and making sure all this happens with a smile) that whether she has a pacifier in her mouth for a couple of years is the least of your worries.

Honestly I’ve never had Children but helped raised my brother, and from what my family has told me (I’ve asked around for this question)... They say it’s not that big of a deal because there’s a 6month rule of taking them out but most of my family members didn’t care too much for it and left it for a little longer and everyone’s teeth are fine… because the teeth that came out were baby teeth…

edit: “alternative” not “equivalent”, I must be sleepy.

Just wanted to add that when the time comes to get rid of it, there are easy rules you can make, just like Supacase mentioned. First “naps only”, then “only in the night and after the bedtime story” and so on, and then eventually you could tell your kid on his/her 5th birthday for example, or the day before school “you’re a grownup now, you don’t need the pacifier anymore”. Or prepare them towards it in that way: “next year you’ll go to school and be a big girl and won’t be needing the pacifier”.

Well, it’s much better on their teeth than sucking on a juice bottle, etc. for comfort on and off during the night (I know parents that let their toddlers run around teething an almost empty bottle all day and night)

@AstroChuck Well, this was about newborns…not five year olds. I wouldn’t project your hatred of older children with them, onto little ones.

I think it’s ok for newborns. Just be prepared to ween him off when you feel it’s appropriate. Maybe concentrate on a bedtime routine rather than the pacifier being the routine to lull him to sleep.

My son actually refused it one day when he was about 9 months old or so. We just never gave it back and he didn’t miss it. I don’t know if I lucked out or what… I’m hoping it’s that easy with the next.

@ubersiren My son was the same way! He saw one when he was like 18 months old and didn’t even know what it was lol. I hope the next just gets rid of it on their own as well.

My daughter had a hell of a time getting off her pacifiers. Eventually, the binky fairy came and left her a nice treat and took all the binkies (except the lost ones that showed up later). Still, I was happy to have her on something that could be taken away. If they suck their thumbs or fingers, you can’t take those away. At least, not and keep custody of them.

I sucked my finger until I was 7 and my finger got infected. I didn’t want that to happen with my kids. My daughter got off them without too much trouble. My son had them for a few months, and then spit them out. He didn’t like them any more. He also never went for his thumb. Hooray!