To Paci or not to Paci: A Guide For Pacifier Use
Jul 23, 2024
I sense a lot of families have a LOVE - HATE relationship with pacifiers. On the one hand they can instantly calm an upset and dysregulated baby. On the other, you need to have them with you, and you need to replug them for about the first 6 months or until your baby can put it back in themselves.
My oldest loved his pacifier. It was an easy way to quiet him down and put him to sleep. He was sleeping well at first. . . until he wasn’t. I found myself jumping up with my eyes half closed searching in all the crib corners for one of the many pacifiers. This would happen every 20 minutes until one day I decided I had enough.
Here are some pros and cons to consider when it comes to pacifier use:
Upside:
You can control when you offer the pacifier (unlike a finger or thumb).
Pacifiers can help soothe newborns (think the 5 S’s).
Pacifiers may help reduce the risk of SIDs during the first 6 months because the baby’s tongue moves forward while sucking, opening up the airway.
You can encourage a pacifier over thumb or finger sucking.
Downside:
Your child may become fussier with a pacifier (especially if they already have digestive issues because they can suck excess air).
You need to remember to bring them with you. Once your child starts to rely on a pacifier to go to sleep, you’ll need to have one with you for naps and nights. . . unless you decide to wean the first time you forget it!
Prolonged use can interfere with your child’s natural development and reduce opportunities for verbal communication – think speech delays and affects on teeth and palate formation.
It can be a sleep crutch! Your child can start to depend on it to fall asleep.
IDEA:
The downsides of pacifiers increase as your baby gets older.
For newborns, sucking can be calming to their nervous system. Pacifiers can serve as a support for tired parents and are a great tool to help their infant go to sleep. However, as the child ages, a pacifier’s benefits decrease, and the risks increase.
RESOURCE:
If you have an older child who relies on a pacifier, I recommend this tool to help get your child to willingly say goodbye to their pacifier. Children who are around 3 and older have the cognitive ability to understand what’s being asked of them. This Binkie Bear avoids the stress and tears and offers a positive emotional support as they wean themselves from the pacifier.
TIP:
There’s no way to gradually wean from the pacifier. As Kim West says in The Sleep Lady’s Good Night, Sleep Tight book, “It’s either in the mouth or it’s not.”
You can’t control your child’s preference for pacifier, thumb, finger sucking or nothing at all!
If you baby is under 6 months and has not developed a strong association with the pacifier, you can start by soothing your infant another way, like rocking or holding.
If a pacifier is an absolute sleep crutch that you want to eliminate, try the Sleep Lady Shuffle. This is a gradual, responsive way to support your baby in learning new sleep skills (without the pacifier!).