Need to hear both sides

Pacifiers..... To use or not to use? If yes, when where why and how often. If no why not and how do you help them sooth while keeping your sanity

Im not looking to say one is better than the other as i feel its personal preference but id like to hear opinions on both sides to help me make a decision

Thanks

Oh and if yes, what kind

Re: Need to hear both sides

At first we didn't want to give them to dd but since I would nurse her she would use me to soothe and it was just too much boob time! So we gave her a pacifier within the first week...not often but when I knew she wasn't hungry and was crying.
I believe They also say pacifiers reduce the risk of SIDS

We tried a few but dd likes the avent soothie and wubbanub the best

Edit to add she is 6 months and doesn't use it all the time. She rarely uses it for bedtime but she will use it for nap time. I leave two in her crib and she will find them in the middle of the night which works for me bc I don't have to get up

Message edited 8/21/2013 11:30:45 PM.

Re: Need to hear both sides

I did... I just kind of thought "why not?" if it comforts her, so be it. dd only liked the munchkin ones... and the wubbanubs. but she never really "took" to the pacifier. it helped soothe her for a time, but it wasn't like, a necessity. she would spit it out as soon as she fell asleep. dd is 9.5 months and I can't remember the last time she sucked on a pacifier. younger than 6 months I want to say. she still is obsessed with her wubbanubs but she just chews and snuggles them. she doesn't actually suck the paci.

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DD never took one...we tried all different kinds for weeks!!! Nothing helped soothe her except the boob and I just gave up with the pacis.

Re: Need to hear both sides

Oh and like I said she soothed by sucking on me - ouch!!! We also swaddled, sushed, rocked, did everything!!! She was fussy at night and nothing really worked for more than 30 min. It does get bette though, you can only go up from here!

Need to hear both sides

DS took one for about a week. He was cranky whether he had one or not. I'm glad he never took it. I don't have to go through the breaking of it.

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DS took one from about 1 month-8 months and then self weaned. He nursed like a champ and if I show him one now now he just laughs. They are not as evil as some people make them out to be.

Re: Need to hear both sides

DS took one and only used it for about 3-4 months. He gave it up completely on his own.

As pp said, they're not always evil. And sometimes you need to do what you need to do!

Need to hear both sides

Dd never really got into pacifiers and we tried a few different kinds. Her first few weeks she would suck on them for a few minutes and them spit them out, and then she started spitting them out right away so we stopped offering them. Back then I wished she liked them bc she cried so much and I just wanted something to work at soothing her. But now I'm happy I don't have to break her of the habit.

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I never had binky issues, I was fine with my babies using them if they wanted. We gave them to my DD but she was a thumb sucker from birth so she had zero interest in them. With my DS, he's not a thumb sucker at all and will take a binky at times when he's tired but he doesn't *need* them to sleep. Honestly, I could probably just take them away and he would barely notice. He's not a binky addict.

Need to hear both sides

Why not use it if it helps them soothe and most importantly sleep? Dd is still using hers at 11 months and personally I don't care she can use it until she weans. She likes the wubnanub and gumdrop pacis.

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I was concerned about giving it to her but she was using me as a pacifier and that was not working out good for me. She really liked them the first year but right around her first birthday she just stopped them on her own. we found them very useful in our household. She liked the advent ones.

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she was using a pacifier since birth. she was in NICU for a week and they gave it to her there and i was ok with it. I refuse to have thumb sucker so she was getting one if she tried to suck her thumb.

at the beginning i gave it to her when ever she wanted than i limitied to nap and bed time only. i finally took it away a little over two. I said the dog ate it and that was that. She had the binky with the doll attached to it. she still carries that around and calls it her binky

Need to hear both sides

I was completely anti binky at first because we tried BFing. BFing didn't work for us, so I had to give it up around 4 weeks in. DD wanted nothing to do with the binky. Around 6 months old she was teething so badly and the binky was the only thing that helped her. She is 2 and still uses a binky for naps and bedtime. They stay in her crib. Its very calming and soothing to her, so I don't think it's a bad thing. It's what comforts her.

Re: Need to hear both sides

I had 2 binky addicts. They are great when they need it to help soothe them. If you do give your child a paci - my only advice is try and take it before they are too attached.

We didn't do it soon enough and now my little guy treats it like a drug. Just one more suck before we put it away for the day mommy :)

Re: Need to hear both sides

Need to hear both sides

DD1 wouldn't take it and she sucks her thumb. She is now 26 months and sucks it so much that she gets blisters on her thumb.

DD2 is 3 1/2 months and takes the soothie pacifiers.

Pacifier is easier to take away than a thumb, but it is also a PITA the have to always have one on you and keep them clean.

Pacifiers are meant to pacify, so I see nothing wrong with them if it soothes a crying baby. They will all give them up eventually.

Re: Need to hear both sides

If it would have quieted and soothed my constantly screaming, crying, colic DD, I would have given her a cigar to suck on!
So for us it was a no brainer- it quieted her down.
Sadly it is NOT easy to break the habit- we are at 3 years old now and still having issues.

Need to hear both sides

My dd never took to it. She maybe used it twice and shes 14 months now. I personally felt glad she didnt like it because its 1 less thing i have to break her out of. Im having enough issues currently breaking her off of her bottles during the day. And ive heard a lot of different information about it afecting their teeth and speech. And then some people who have issues breaking the paci habit when child is like 3 years old and wont let it go.
If it helped soothe my dd then i would have prob let her have it to be completely honest. I think ny dd used the bottle as a soother and me holsing her. I started to give her a small teddy bear which she carries everywhere. And before that i gave her sophie the guraffe because shes a chewer not a sucker.so that never worried me to give her from young. Befoore that nothing.

Re: Need to hear both sides

Re: Need to hear both sides

I'm all for pacifiers. My DD took one from day one and it was great. It kept her calm and soothed her. She only used the soothie ones (ones from the hospital) and used it until she was 2. Taking it away was a few bad nights/naps but nothing terrible. My DS on the otherhand never took to it. After a few months he never wanted anything to do with it and I miss it dearly .

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DS never took to pacifiers. instead now i'm trouble because he uses his thumb to soothe himself!

Re: Need to hear both sides

Re: Need to hear both sides

Both my boys never really took to them. We also did prop one in there mouths every time they cried either.


Very greatful I never had to go through the fun of getting them off it.

Now, my 16 mos year old...having a battle trying to ween him off the bottle.

Message edited 8/22/2013 2:42:21 PM.

Re: Need to hear both sides

Message edited 8/22/2013 2:44:51 PM.