An infant's penchant for sucking is often satisfied at the breast or with a bottle. But, let's be honest, you can only feed baby so much before soreness and exhaustion kick in, or baby is full. Not surprisingly, between 60 and 85 percent of infants are using pacifiers, according to studies.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians recommend weaning children from pacifiers in the second six months of life to prevent otitis media. Pacifier use should not be actively discouraged and may be especially beneficial in the first six months of life.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Practice recommend reducing or stopping pacifiers early, since there is research that pacifier use beyond 12 months of age has the potential to increase the risk of ear infections in some children.
Normal pacifier use during the first few years of life generally doesn't cause long-term dental problems. However, prolonged pacifier use might cause a child's teeth to be misaligned. Pacifier use might disrupt breast-feeding.
Using a pacifier also can be helpful during your baby's common medical procedures. This includes vaccinations and blood tests. Sucking on a pacifier when sleeping may lower your baby's risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Doctors believe this may be because babies sleep lighter while sucking the pacifier.
But, let's be honest, you can only feed baby so much before soreness and exhaustion kick in, or baby is full. Not surprisingly, between 60 and 85 percent of infants are using pacifiers, according to studies.
Other commonly held beliefs criticize pacifiers for interfering with speech development and normal sleep habits. However, there is a growing body of research on pacifiers and their possible protective effect against sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) (20–24).
Weaning the Pacifier
So before you lose the paci, make sure you're giving your baby as many age-appropriate sleep aids as possible. At any age, this should include a consistent bedtime routine, loud white noise, and a dark room. For younger babies (under 6 months), also use a swaddle.
Objects similar to pacifiers have been used for centuries. Some cultures gave babies toys for teething and comfort made of wood, stone, ivory, bone, or even coral. Later iterations of these toys were comprised of things like silver, gold, gourds, corn cobs, sugar canes, or small linen pouches filled with sugar.
In some cases, pacifier use can harm proper development of the mouth and teeth. Extended pacifier use can also improperly impact the roof of your child's mouth. Pacifier use can cause issues with tooth alignment, and negatively affect overall dental growth.
Think about where a pacifier rests in a child's mouth. If they keep sucking on a pacifier from infancy to the ages of 2 to 4, a child can develop an overbite or even a cross bite. Every child is different, obviously, but dentists generally tend to recommend against pacifiers.
There's no need to remove your baby's pacifier while they're sleeping. In fact, doing that might wake them up, and we all know the old rule about never waking a sleeping baby. If the pacifier comes out at night and your little one is sleep sleeping soundly, don't feel like you have to put it back in.
Pacifiers are soothing. And again, they are particularly soothing for children with Autism or Sensory Processing Disorders. If you take away something that is soothing from your child, she will generally find her own replacement item/activity that is self-soothing.
“Potential complications of pacifier use, particularly with prolonged use, include a negative effect on breastfeeding, dental malocclusion, and otitis media. Adverse dental effects can be evident after two years of age, but mainly after four years.”
Pacifiers have many benefits – including soothing babies, helping them fall asleep at night, and potentially reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Cons of pacifiers include establishing a habit that could be hard to break, as well as a possible increase in ear infections.
Other Names for Pacifiers
For example, we may call it a dodie or a dummy, and both refer to the same thing. Below, we've listed out names for the pacifier from various countries around the world: Dummy: England and Australia. Soothie/soother: Canada.
From a general perspective, there are many pros and cons to using a pacifier for your little one. However, from a Montessori viewpoint, they are not recommended. Before I continue, I would like to say that pacifiers, like many parenting choices, is a personal decision.
No pacifier/dummy - This comes from our need to find the cause of the child's distress or discomfort rather than to use a device to 'pacify' the child - and allowing it to become a habit.
The most common thing you can use as an alternative to a pacifier is a soother. Soothers are used by mothers who breastfeed their children. Soothers look like a pacifier but are made of softer, flexible material and come with holes on the side to prevent the child from sucking on them.
Some babies learn to self-soothe naturally as they get older. However, in other cases, parents or caregivers try to encourage the behavior through various techniques. Many approaches exist for encouraging babies to self-soothe, ranging from the extinction method, or “cry it out” (CIO), to more gradual approaches.
While a pacifier is a must-have for most babies, some simply don't like them. However, it usually isn't the paci itself that they don't like. Rather, a newborn may avoid using pacis because they actually need some cuddle time or feel hungry. During infancy, we rely on our parents to understand why we cry.
First is the developmental window of vulnerability. SIDS is most common at 2-4 months of age when the cardiorespiratory system of all infants is in rapid transition and therefore unstable.
Infants enjoy pacifiers because suckling offers soothing benefits. Adults may use them the same way, relieving stress or discomfort. Using a pacifier can also ease anxiety in those with an oral fixation.
When babies suck on a pacifier, toy or thumb, it's called non-nutritive sucking (because it yields no nutrition). Like baby meditation, non-nutritive sucking helps babies stay calm amid the chaos of the world around them.