Pacifier or No Pacifier...What was your reasoning?

CanadianJulyBri · October 2009

And when did you begin giving it?

MrsWanee · October 2009

he kept trying to suck on his hand, and when we would give him our pinky to suck on, it would calm him down. we started it around 6 or 7 weeks. he can't really hold it in by himself though - we have to hold it there. it might have been too late to give it to him, but i didn't want to cause nipple confusion.

water-fairy · October 2009

RJ doesn't like the pacifier much, we only give it to him when he is really fussy and we have tried everything else out there to calm him... and luckily it doesn't happen often.

We started offering the paci around 4 weeks.

JCM083009 · October 2009

We didn't give it at first b/c we had a really hard time getting him to breastfeed and I wasn't about to do anything that would even remotely, possibly hinder that. We eventually offered it to him (and have continued to try) at around 1 month I believe and he has no interest which is fine with me.

MrsPreK · October 2009

I was one of *those* mom's (before I actually had a baby) who was totally against a paci.

Ummmm, yeah....when it's 3AM and your child is fed, clean, and just crys and crys and crys no matter what on your 3rd night at home, if he/she will take a paci - I say GO FOR IT!!!

DS took one (see story above) but DD won't and I am fine with that. DD is also 110% more CHILL than DS ever was so she doesn't need it.

Now we're on to breaking DS's habit. Not fun, but it worked when we needed it.

amhough · October 2009

We started giving it right away for fussiness. He was sucking on his fingers from the begininng and we decided going in that we'd rather have him take the paci. This way we can take the paci away, banish it to the crib, as he gets older, and, unlike his hands, it doesn't neccessarily go everywhere with him.

Starlette1983 · October 2009

DS got a paci right away. ?I was never against giving him one, and then he was born and was in the NICU and I wanted them to do whatever they needed to make him comfortable. ?He's not super dependent on it though which I am very happy about, and we've also never had a problem BFing.

New to DC · October 2009

We gave DS his first paci when we got home for the hospital. He kept putting his fingers in his mouth, so that's why we decided to give him one. We plan to take it from him at 6 months. We did this with DS1 and it worked well. We'll see.

TeacherKelly · October 2009

The nurses gave it to DS when he was in the NICU his first few nights. He has loved it ever since. It never hindered bfing, but it keeps him happy if he is hungry and I can't feed him immediately (particularly in the car!)

Also, if he wakes in the night and has been fed within two hours, I pop the paci in and he falls back asleep... so it has been a very good thing for us.

Mrs.Teddy · October 2009

I planned on givign it right away as long as my initial BFing went well. I don't believe in nipple confusion as long as there are no extra circumstances (like inverted nipples etc). However when L was born he had to go right to the NICU and have painful procedured done I had them give him one immediatly I wanted him to get comfort somehow. We have never had troubel nursing. He takes the paci when he is fussy or sleepy, and spits it out when he falls asleep.

WyoGal · October 2009

We haven't given it because we didn't get any before he was born and since he was born, we've only had a few nights we wished we had one. If we lived closer to the store I might have already sent DH out for one in a moment of desperation, but most times he's back to being easily soothable the next day. So far he's good in the car, but if we start to have troubles we'll try one.

rinny627 · October 2009

MrsWanee:
he kept trying to suck on his hand, and when we would give him our pinky to suck on, it would calm him down. we started it around 6 or 7 weeks. he can't really hold it in by himself though - we have to hold it there. it might have been too late to give it to him, but i didn't want to cause nipple confusion.

This, except we started as soon as he came out of the hospital. I was pumping anyway cuz he hated my nipple before. So we didn't have to worry about nipple confusion.

MuckDiva · October 2009

We started right away since we discovered DD likes to suck. She will only take it when she is upset and full or when she si tired and needs that extra nudge to help her get to sleep.

She LOVES sucking on her hands and clothes now.

Kendall13 · October 2009

At one week. He wouldn't leave my nips alone and I couldn't take it any longer. The paci made our lives much easier.

Twistedpixie7@aol.com · October 2009

water-fairy:
RJ doesn't like the pacifier much, we only give it to him when he is really fussy and we have tried everything else out there to calm him... and luckily it doesn't happen often.

This! Its only happened once so far.

Courtney&Jason · October 2009

I waited until about 4 weeks to avoid nipple confusion. We only give it to her if we are somewhere public like a restaurant and we've tried everything else to calm her down. She doesn't really take it very well, we have to hold it in.

PAmiler82 · October 2009

Mrs.Teddy:
We have never had trouble nursing. He takes the paci when he is fussy or sleepy, and spits it out when he falls asleep.

this exactly. I wasn't a fan of paci's before, but we've got quite a sucker on our hands. It brings him comfort and as long as we don't fall in the habit of using it as a substitute for human contact than I am completely fine with it.

EmH12 · October 2009

The hospital gave DD a paci while in the nursery (she had to stay almost a week due to jaundice). We weren't against it and she's not super dependent on it but it's a nice option for soothing her when nothing else will work.

grinsandgiggles · October 2009

1st night home. Nothing was stopping his crying...we tried everything. I gave him a pacifier and he stopped instantly. It's been a lifesaver. I'd rather him suck it than his thumb. I sucked my thumb until I was in 1st grade and my two font teeth grew in wrong. I'd like to spare him of that if I can. You can take the pacifier away, it's up to them to break the habit of a thumb.

jonsdeedee · October 2009

She got one in the nicu. When we came home we tried to give her one and she really didn't like it so much. Now is has taken to it more but still only wants it when she wants it.

jlynnr87 · October 2009

My SO was extremely anti-pacifier since he never had one as a child. But he was the first one in the hospital to pop it in DD's mouth because it soothed her! She sucked on her hands from the start, so we give her a pacifier whenever she isn't hungry, but is sucking. We decided we'd rather break her of a pacifier in the next year than try and break her of thumb-sucking since she always has that with her! I sucked my thumb for so long it had detrimental effects on my teeth. But since sucking does soothe her, we are fine with the pacifier occasionally for now.

MrsV092207 · October 2009

We started right away, in the hospital. Then she didn't use it at home at all for the first 3 weeks - then she got colicky and it was pretty much the only thing that would soothe her.

It has been my lifesaver and my nightmare at the same time. It totally calms her down, which is great bc I hate to see her get all worked up, but she is very dependent on it now. And if it pops out of her mouth, it's like the world has ended. Unless she is OUT COLD, I have to be by her side every second to keep popping it back in. This is a habit I hope we can soon break.

dreamast.romain · October 2009

A nurse told me it could possibly help prevent SIDS. So I gave the paci to her. Sucking on it calms her anyway in the middle of the night.

bjbrit · October 2009

MuckDiva:

We started right away since we discovered DD likes to suck. She will only take it when she is upset and full or when she si tired and needs that extra nudge to help her get to sleep.

She LOVES sucking on her hands and clothes now.

This exactly, except we started at 4 days which is when I asked the pedi if it was ok (I was worried about nipple confusion). Never had any issues, and she is becoming less and less dependent on it every day.

DarcyLongfellow · October 2009

When: Day 4 (still in the hospital).

Why: Because she had an insatiable need to suck and my nipples couldn't take it. We had breastfeeding issues, but none of them were due to her being confused by the pacifier.

sara1817 · October 2009

We gave one right away. Dd was extremely fussy and had really awful colic for the first 5 months of life. Sometimes the paci was the only thing that helped.

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