Breast feeding and Pacifiers

ywplus2

Good Morning All!
My lil one is 4 days old and came into the World feeding like a champ. However, his comfort is sucking so we tried a pacifier for in between times and he loves that too. The problem is...he is textbook nipple confusion after taking the pacifier and it takes him a while to latch back on after that...are there any suggestions besides a pacifier or will they learn to do both well?

MuffinMom14

sweetadeline31 said:

Good question! I'm wondering the same thing...if breast feeding, is it good to delay introducing baby to a pacifier until he/she is a few weeks old?

I have heard it's best to wait at least 3 weeks. But, I've also heard of people who used them from day one with no issues. I can only tell you what we plan on, and that's to try to hold off. Just in CASE. But I'm sure one of our two resident BF Gurus will stop by with a better answer.

MrsMac613

In my breastfeeding class we were advised to wait at least 2 weeks before introducing bottles or pacifiers. I don't have any other suggestions besides maybe trying to find the most nipple like pacifier if you feel that you can't do without one for a few weeks.

Lindzoid

Neither one of my BF babies would even take a pacifier so I never had this issue, but I have bought (just in case) a pacifier specifically designed for BF babies. The nipple is different so just look for that versus any standard pacifier.
Like PP mentioned I would try to hold out or use your finger if needed.
GL!

lrobi13

My lo would stay on my boob all day if I let him but our pediatrian told us to wait at least 2 weeks before we introduced a pacifier. So we are waiting. He is slowly finding his thumb though :-/

windwithfingers

lrobi13 said:

My lo would stay on my boob all day if I let him but our pediatrian told us to wait at least 2 weeks before we introduced a pacifier. So we are waiting. He is slowly finding his thumb though :-/

Mine too. He loves the boob and also his fingers. We tried a pacifier in the car on the way home from the hospital because he was screaming his head off but he just spits them back out. I didn't even ask the pedi. :-??

HappyCianci

If you're able to identify nipple confusion from the pacifier, I would definitely take a break with the pacifiers and try again in a couple of weeks, once breastfeeding is better established.

It may seem like baby's permanently attached to your boob right now, but that's because he's busy building up your supply. It's exactly what he's supposed to do!

Hang in there, mama. You're doing great!  Oh, and remember that sucking is a reflex for newborns, so just because he sucks doesn't mean he "wants" to... sucking automatically happens when a pacifier or nipple hits the roof of his mouth.

 

Starfish17

We used it from the beginning with both kids and had no issues.  With my first, the nurses in the hospital suggested using it - I was surprised, because we had planned on waiting, but it didn't interfere with DS's latch.  He took the paci for a couple months but really didn't start using it until he began teething.  BF babies usually feed every 2-3 hours, and my DS took a long time to nurse in the beginning so it felt like I was always nursing.  But I think that's to be expected with some babies.  DD nursed a lot faster, so I got a longer break in between.

Klavanga74

Both of our kids would suck on one of our (very clean) pinky fingers. Make sure nails are cut and upside down pinky finger. They'd both suck like crazy, quiet down, and it never caused a problem with breastfeeding

katylady09

We tried to hold off on paci's for the recommended 3 weeks but I swear I thought DS was going to eat his hand he was sucking on it so much, so we did a paci at 1 week. He didn't have any nipple confusion, but I hear that another good method is to let them suck on your finger. That's all I know!

hippohat

I know the rule is to wait, but we tried the paci from the beginning and never had any confusion issues - I direct BF her exclusively while she used a paci to sleep, no problem. If we had suspected there was confusion we would have stopped, and plan to play it by ear again this time. 

Ditto the above comments about newborn BF, it's ALL the time! But don't worry, they get more proficient every day (even if you don't see it) - in a few weeks you'll both be pros