is introducing a pacifier at all a good idea?

[dtp]

@jonnyalliance You dont have to be. Many babies tend to use their thumbs if they dont take pacifier.

 

[jonnyalliance]

@dtp I didn’t want mine to suck their thumbs as that’s usually a harder habit to break.

 

[noodlez]

@jonnyalliance THIS!

 

[dtp]

@jonnyalliance To be honest, I didnt want mine to do it either but then again it is upto the baby. She has started to slowly let go of it now that she has started to take solids. Hoping she will outgrow this habit without much difficulty but we never know.

 

[jaceew79]

@jonnyalliance This is the only thing holding me back from breastfeeding my second (whenever that is). The idea of being a human pacifier sounds SO taxing

 

[carlamariecainoy]

@jaceew79 Both of my kids have been EBF, my first was a voracious breastfeeder and my second is an efficient feeder who won’t latch for longer than 10 minutes at a time and only if he’s really hungry. Babies just do their thing.

 

[carlamariecainoy]

My first also would not take a pacifier. I havent tried with my second but I suspect he would.

 

[davemalyon]

@jonnyalliance Yes! I remember at the hospital after my second was born, a doc talked about the need for "non-nutritive sucking"

 

[noodlez]

@sh419ob OMG I don’t know what I’d do if my baby didn’t take a pacifier. Honestly.

 

[diogenesquest]

@noodlez Same.

 

[taxreliever]

@noodlez My mum used to handball me to family and friends who would take me and allow her a moment of rest. I’m terrified of having a mini me!!

 

[humbledone]

@sh419ob I’m a first time mom as well, baby is 8 months. She’s taken a pacifier from day 1 and I can’t imagine being without it. One thing others have said on here is about pacifiers being recommended as a means to help reduce SIDS. Now that my baby is rolling over on her stomach to sleep I am very thankful she uses a pacifier because I am nervous about her new sleep position

 

[anchoredsoul]

@sh419ob My daughter was given a pacifier in the NICU as soon as she was off oxygen at a few days old. The doctors said it helps prevent SIDS. She breastfed like a champ. She didn’t really like pacifiers though, she eventually preferred her thumb.

 

[revmorpheus]

@sh419ob IIRC there’s a good section on pacifiers in cribsheet by Emily Oster. Gist was that it’s a myth that it interferes with breastfeeding-they’ve done RCTs. If you’re going to introduce, you may as well do it the first day/week. There’s some evidence it’s protective against SIDS, which is obviously good, and some evidence that use past 2 years can negatively affect teeth.

Anecdotally, we introduced a pacifier in the hospital and I breastfed to 14 month. She’s happy and chatty now at 20 months, but she loves her pacifier for sleep and comfort and I’m dreading taking it away from her. Not sure we’ll have the heart before two years.

 

[joerob40]

@revmorpheus Cribsheet was the number one biggest help out of all the books we got, I have adhd and can’t focus on long drawn out books like what to expect and appreciates the end of chapter bullet points and my partner is heavily data driven. If anyones still looking for book recommendations this is the one.

 

[sh419ob]

@joerob40 I’ll definitely look into Cribsheet! Thank you! Seems like a great resource to have on hand

 

[3ephemeralwinds]

@sh419ob My first used a pacifier and it was so hard to wean him (Finally got him off at 2.5y). I refused to let my second son have one. My second ended up sucking his thumb till he was like 6 and it ended up messing up his teeth. The cost of braces from the thumb sucking (till he was in kindergarten) is not worth it. We tried everything to stop him but nothing worked! If I could do it all over I would have definitely used the pacifier again and just taken it by 12m. (Just my story)

 

[pdeem]

@sh419ob It depends on your kid, too. Mine refused a pacifier, and we tried about 10 different kinds. Best laid plans.

 

[igorgoro]

@pdeem Same here. Two babies now have refused pacifiers. God I wish they would take one.

 

[lazzy]

@sh419ob Anecdotal: Because I have not used pacifiers with my son, I am the pacifier. He’ll feed just for comfort/bedtime sometimes, which leads to him burping up a lot more than normal. I’ve had lots of moms say pacifiers are better than them learning to use their thumb bc when they’re older you can take away a pacifier.