Acknowledge their effort in living their life pacifier-free, perhaps give them a sticker or a small treat. After a few days, they will have forgotten about the pacifier and will move on with their busy lives.”
“Every child is different and some babies are able to self-soothe without using a pacifier, but for others a soother can be a huge help,” says Saunders.
Many dentists recommend discouraging pacifier use after age three. However, studies by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry show that pacifier use increases the risk of ear infections and bite issues starting at 12-18 months of age.
The earlier a child can shake their sucking habit, the better! This is why the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends reducing pacifier use and thumb sucking by 18 months of age.
Prolonged pacifier use can cause speech sound disorders and a speech delay! They can also cause a reverse swallow and a tongue thrust. A tongue thrust is when the tongue protrudes between the front teeth during speech and swallowing, which is caused by an open bite.
Pacifier weaning methods for babies
It will take about 3 days to break the habit (sometimes sooner!) if you're consistent in your approach. Our Little Ones App offers further tips on how to do this.
The main side effect of pacifier weaning will be disrupted sleep. You can expect the sleep schedule shake-up to last anywhere from a couple days to a week. The length of pacifier withdrawal depends on how reliant your baby was on their binky for soothing at bedtime.
They may become dependent on the pacifier. This may lead to frequent middle-of-the-night crying spells when the pacifier falls out of your baby's mouth.
Go cold turkey.
If your child uses the pacifier throughout much of the day, you can first cut down to using it only in the car and at bedtime, and then just at bedtime. Finally, you can take it away completely.
Babies like sucking on pacifiers because it reminds them of being in the womb. In fact, sucking is one of 5 womb sensations (known as the 5 S's) capable of triggering a baby's innate calming reflex.
Rather than simply cutting out the binky suddenly, you can start to eliminate it over a period of weeks or even months. First remove pacifiers from areas of the home that are stress-free. Limit usage to naps and bedtime. Gradually work your way up to remove the binky from naps, and ultimately from bedtime as well.
3) Keeping the pacifier
Unless a child is old and dexterous enough to reach out in the middle of the night, and quickly put a pacifier back into their mouth, sleep training with a pacifier isn't really sleep training. And even if baby is able to re-insert the pacifier on their own, it is still a sleep prop.
A lot of children respond really well to adding a stuffed animal or lovey to their sleep environment as that new object to help them self soothe at bedtime and naptime. And if your child is feeling sad and missing their pacifier, you can encourage them to hold onto and cuddle their new stuffed animal or lovey.
Long-term pacifier use may cause teeth issues. Normal pacifier use in the first few years of life does not usually result in long-term tooth issues. However, using a pacifier for an extended period may cause a child's teeth to become crooked. A pacifier may disrupt breastfeeding.
The good news is that any harm that has been done is completely reversible if you stop the pacifier use. I normally recommend that after one year of age, you leave the pacifier in bed and only use it for sleeping.
From my experience, many toddlers often stop napping or go on a nap strike when taking away the pacifier between ages 2 and 3. Parents need to be prepared for this to happen. More often than not the nap comes back after a couple weeks. However, some parents report that their child's nap never returned.
Step 1: Once you close your toddler's door, if they start crying, let them cry for three minutes. Step 2: After three minutes, pop your head in just to make sure they're okay…and to let them see that you haven't deserted the planet.
Consider the drawbacks: Your baby might become dependent on the pacifier. If your baby uses a pacifier to sleep, you might face middle-of-the-night crying spells when the pacifier falls out of your baby's mouth. Pacifier use might increase the risk of middle ear infections.
While using a pacifier to soothe a baby is completely normal, a pediatric dentist generally should monitor this habit to maintain a child's oral health. Parents should consistently update the dentist on a child's pacifier use at every checkup.
A pacifier may decrease the likelihood of your child babbling or speaking and, if he or she attempts to babble while sucking a pacifier, your child's speech will be distorted.
Yes, newborns can sleep with pacifiers. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies use pacifiers at nap time and night to reduce their risk of SIDS.