Do pacifiers “suck”?…Ha ha ha.
Well we don’t know if they “suck” but we going to give you the good and the sucky part about them.
First a little background and history. Then some information: what age to use them, the pros and cons, and what we eventually did with pacifiers.
At the end we’ll show you a super easy and painless way to wean babies off of it. No crying. No drama. No more paci.
This is the exact technique we did to wean our 2 kids off of the pacifier.
Background: Been around for a while
Pacifiers aren’t a new thing. They’ve been around for years. As early as 1473, they were found in medical literature.
Americans call them pacifiers. The English and Australians call the “Dummys”, and the Canadians call the Soothers”.
But “Binky”, which we’ve heard Moms use from time to time, came from Binky Baby Product Company. They trademarked the name for pacifiers and other baby products.
(Wikipedia Pacifier)
When to use it? After 3-4 Weeks
Most of the research says to use it after baby is 3-4 weeks years old to avoid nipple confusion and to establish a good milk supply and routine.
Here’s what Kellymom.com says:
It is recommended that pacifiers and other types of artificial nipples be avoided for at least the first 3-4 weeks. I’d personally suggest that most breastfed babies – if they get a pacifier at all – would be better off without a pacifier until mom’s milk supply is well established (6-8 weeks, usually) and the 6 week growth spurt is over. That way you’ve established a good milk supply and don’t lose any much-needed breast stimulation to a pacifier.
The Mayoclinic says:
Wait until breast-feeding is well-established. If you're breast-feeding, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends waiting to offer a pacifier until your baby is 3 to 4 weeks old, and you've settled into an effective nursing routine.
But that’s if you need to use them at all. There’s no “there is no scientific evidence that suggests that babies have a need to suck independant of the need for food” (Kellymom.com)
Should I use a pacifier: The Pros vs Cons
It’s completely up to each family on whether a pacifier is right for them. But here are somethings you should consider:
Pros:
Reduction in SIDS - A pacifier at nap and bed time might decrease the chance of SIDS.
Soothing and ease fussiness - It makes babies feel at ease and comforts them. Can be really helpful during medical procedures like shots.
Help with sleep - It can settle an uneasy baby, especially when used with white noise. Dr Karp recommends it as part of his 5 S Technique for putting a baby to sleep.
Cons:
Nipple confusion/ interfere with breastfeeding - Sucking on a pacifier is different than sucking on a bottle or breast, switching between them can confuse baby. Some studies have shown it can reduce baby’s frequency or duration of feeding. FYI: newborns should be nursing at least 8 to 12 times a day.
Ear infections - Pacifiers have been known to increase ear infections.
Dental problems - The first few years of using a pacifier shouldn’t cause any dental problems. But if you continue to use it after those years that might cause a child's teeth to be misaligned or not come in properly.
Safety - Choking and strangulations can happen. It should never be tied around baby’s neck. Please be mindful of it breaking, lose pieces that can get lodged in their throat and pacifier recalls.
What we did
Personally: We used them. We think they’re great! Ha ha ha
We used them on both our kids. We used them to help them sleep when they were babies (as part of the “5 S’s”). We used it too soothe them when they were older.
All of the concerns mentioned above are legitimate but we didn’t see any of the “cons” with our friend’s and relative’s kids so we kept on using them.
We saw a lot of kids who did NOT use a “paci” who ended up sucking on their fingers and thumbs. Although most of these kids eventually grew out of it and just stopped (source link here). But we also know a few of them who were sucking their thumb and fingers for a while 3, 4 and 5 years old which can be a problem. We find weaning a baby off of sucking fingers and thumbs is a lot harder than weaning off of a pacifier.
How to wean baby off of the pacifier
What’s great about a pacifier is you can wean your baby off of it. When they suck finger and thumbs, that’s almost impossible to do. You can’t just hide their fingers and thumbs like you can with a pacifier. Ha ha ha.
When we decided to wean our kids off of it we used the technique bellow and it worked like a charm! So easy! Just for some context for both our kids, and relatives kids, who did this also, they were around 2 years old.
All you have to do….
The only you thing you need to do is just cut the tip of the paci and give it to them. They’ll realize it doesn’t work like it used to and not want it. So just get your pacifier and cut about 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch off the tip and when they ask for it give it to them. Yup it’s that easy! After the first couple of sucks they’ll probably take it out and look at it and wonder what’s going on and why it isn’t like before.
You would think they would notice the tip removed but they don’t. After about 1 minute they realize it just doesn’t work and they won’t like it anymore. After a few days of this, they won’t like it at all and no longer depend on it.
Easy peasy
It’s actually quite funny because when we did it, and gave our little girl a cut pacifier, she had the funniest face. She was part confused, part mad, and part perplexed… Ha ha ha. I wished we took a picture. But it really is that easy. Every time she asked for it we would just give them a pacifier with a cut tip and pretend everything was normal. We would give it and carry on our business. If they asked “wah happened” we would just tell them we don’t know and say “Is it broken?”, then baby would just carry on her business without it.
Another side alternative technique
Another technique I heard about is you get the paci and “accidentally” drop it in the dirt in front of your baby. You make sure it gets dirty and you tell them it’s dirty and yucky, and you have to leave it there. When they ask for it later tell them its outside but it’s dirty and yucky. Supposedly they won’t want it anymore. If they do, you show them that it’s dirty or its gone and the “doggy ate it”. We heard of this technique from different parents and they said it worked.
But we can honestly certify we used the first technique and it worked perfectly. Each of our babies stopped using it within a week but within 1-2 days we can see they were hardly asking it at all.
If you have a technique to wean your baby off of the paci please leave it in the comments or emails us. We’d love to hear it.
