Pacifiers?

CatieM80

When do you use a pacifier? My baby is 2 weeks old and I have been hesitant to use one when she gets fussy, except maybe when we are in public. I guess I just worry about using it as a crutch, but man does it work like a charm! Just curious about other's thoughts and experiences! 

Smiley-1980

They gave us one in the hospital as soon as she was born. I wasn't sure I wanted to use it but the first night she wouldn't latch and I had a csection so I really could only hold her and she started crying at 2am, all I could do was give her a pacifier and it worked. So now if we are out and she starts fussing we give it to her while I find a place to feed her.

jllmb79

 LO#1 I waited till she was 4 weeks old. She played around with it but never really got into it. When she was younger and cranky I really wish she would have taken it back then.  I look back now and am glad she never took to it because I never had to deal with pacifier weaning.

Kate504

My dd is only a week old and I only use it when I'm changing her diaper or making a bottle as a distraction. 

eb1113

We try a pacifier, but DD only sometimes will take it.  She'd rather use me...  

kleigh926

I've been offering it since a couple days after we got home from the hospital. DD doesn't usually take it though, sadly. When she does take it, it seems to work pretty well.

MrsT0514

Sometimes I WISH my son would take one! LOL. When he gets really fussy, we sometimes try to give him one, but at 6 1/2 weeks, he still hasn't mastered the art of keeping it in his mouth.

ArmyWife114

We use a pacifier for DS when he's unsettled, whether we need to find somewhere to stop and feed him or he's full but still wants to suck on something.  I also give it to him either at night or during naps if he's having trouble going to sleep or overtired.  It's a great soothing technique for infants.  I have heard conflicted studies on whether it impacts breastfeeding or not, but DS never learned to latch, so we weren't concerned about that really.

FairyDuster003

DD is EBF and we tried the paci around 5 weeks. Its a hit or miss. We use the tommee tippee brand as that's the brand of bottle SO uses while I'm at work.

 The word is, if you take it away at 6 months, they'll never notice! But she doesn't really care either way. She usually just spits it out after a few minutes!

I hear really good things about the soothers (green kind they give out at hospitals)

mom2b22013

We gave both our kids a pacifier in the hospital and neither had trouble with breastfeeding.  We aren't giving it to DD all the time like we did our son but when she is fussy we do. 

Jbosarge85

I don't understand why people on here call it a crutch. I don't use it when LO needs to nurse. When she was first born she just wanted to suck on my nipple to fall asleep she wouldn't be eating, it was exhausting getting up all the time just so she could have my nipple in her mouth. So we got a pacifier that is shaped like a nipple, she never had a problem nursing because of it. Usually I give it to her after nursing or in the carseat it helps her sleep.

JJsMum

eb1113:

We try a pacifier, but DD only sometimes will take it.  She'd rather use me...  

This is us too.  We don't give it often, but it's even rarer that he takes it.  We hadn't planned on even trying him with it until 4 weeks, but after he used me as a paci for 3 hrs straight one night I caved.  Doesn't seem to matter though as he doesn't seem to like it, unlike his big bro.

Kingston54

We give DD a pacifier when we take her out of the house (in the car, in a restaurant, etc).  And when she's fussy at home.  We don't give it to her after nursing/before sleeping - she doesn't need it.

sthomas1222

I really didn't want to use one until she was about a month old. But I realized that DD has a really strong suck reflex. She'll nurse just fine and then all of a sudden pop off screaming. Go back on, the pop right back off screaming. We did this for way too long until we realized she wanted to suck but was getting frustrated that milk was coming out! She if she's nursed for a good amount of time and starts popping off and is screaming and keeps doing this despite a diaper change and burping then we give the pacifier.