Nora never really took one. I offered them, and she kind of liked them early on in short spurts, but dropped them completely by 2 or 3 months, and I didn't push the issue.
If this kiddo wants one, I'll let him or her have one. I'm all about whatever works for us.
I chose "using one" but in reality, that may not happen. I tried SO hard to get my daughter, AND my son to take one, but neither of them wanted anything to do with them. I even got the cutest little Wubbanub for my son (it's lost now), and nope. He had no clue. I'll try again with this one, only because I know I don't want to be a human pacifier. I have too much to do with the older kids to need to sit and nurse 24/7. I know the challenges of breastfeeding are hard enough, so any "help" I can get would be welcome.
I just weaned DS off his and I was in the 7th circle of hell. He is 19 months and was apparently really attached to it. I'm sure I will be desperate in those newborn weeks and offer it to this one too. Haha. Well see if this little one likes it. The pacifier never caused issues with DS nursing either.
DS #1 wanted nothing to do with one so that was an easy decision for us. With this one, we'll introduce one. I'm all for soothing a baby if that's what makes them happy. We'll deal with the "paci fairy" issues later on if need be. This is a "go with the flow" decision, IMO. It was for me for our first and it will be this time around as well.
I will say, too, that this is just another thing that you'll weigh pros and cons on possibly needlessly, IMO. Every parenting decision is a "pro vs. con" debate in someone's head (maybe not yours and mine, but someone has an opinion on everything! LOL!). So don't stress about what's best. You'll find yourself throwing out plans of some kind along the way because every child has varying needs, sometimes dictated by the parent's needs as well.
E used one and has just recently stopped which is great. I wish I waited a little longer to give her one initially. We had a lot of issues with latching (we saw three LCs and still didn't happen). I have to think giving a pacifier early didn't help the problem. I plan on using them again, this baby will be bottle feed at some point because of my work, so I see no issue with a pacifier. I just plan on waiting a little longer.
My question stemmed from I hate seeing toddlers walking around with a pacifier in their mouths, but I know I like the pro of it helping prevent SIDS. I am not going to directly breastfeed, i will probably be pumping and bottle feeding due to going back to work after 6 weeks. I never took one, maybe the baby won't either, but I was trying to get other Mom's opinions and views on them.
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My question stemmed from I hate seeing toddlers walking around with a pacifier in their mouths, but I know I like the pro of it helping prevent SIDS. I am not going to directly breastfeed, i will probably be pumping and bottle feeding due to going back to work after 6 weeks. I never took one, maybe the baby won't either, but I was trying to get other Mom's opinions and views on them.
Having a 2, 3, 4yo etc with a paci in their mouth may not be ideal but it's not really the worst thing either. I'm sure it's super stressful for the parents to have to get their child(ren) to give them up. But I felt that way about a bottle for my son, too. He wanted to have that thing until he went to college! We didn't ditch it entirely until 18m (6m longer than "recommended."). But you know, it's OK. And not every kid becomes that attached to their paci. Some give it up easily (like the bottle) and some don't. KWIM? I get asking the question... no harm there. Just saying that everything is so unpredictable to begin with that researching and trying to make a decision ahead of time can sometimes just make things harder on you.
I wanted to say no to pacifiers with my son but he wanted to suck so he got one before we even let the hospital. He is still breast feeding just fine. He loved that thing and wanted it for all naps and bed time. I got rid of the pacifier by his first birthday and am glad I did it so young. Only sucked for a few days. I hope to not use one with this baby but will if I need to.
My question stemmed from I hate seeing toddlers walking around with a pacifier in their mouths, but I know I like the pro of it helping prevent SIDS. I am not going to directly breastfeed, i will probably be pumping and bottle feeding due to going back to work after 6 weeks. I never took one, maybe the baby won't either, but I was trying to get other Mom's opinions and views on them.
I know - I felt the same way, but right now, it's honestly the least of my concerns. I'm weaning my daughter, trying to get her off bottles at daycare, she just started walking, and in 6 months, she's going to have a sibling. I thought I would be in a hurry to get rid of it, but she has enough to deal with right now. I think we'll be hanging on to it for a while! I'm pretty sure she's going to be a toddler walking around with a pacifier until we absolutely have to give it up.
My question stemmed from I hate seeing toddlers walking around with a pacifier in their mouths, but I know I like the pro of it helping prevent SIDS. I am not going to directly breastfeed, i will probably be pumping and bottle feeding due to going back to work after 6 weeks. I never took one, maybe the baby won't either, but I was trying to get other Mom's opinions and views on them.
These are the types of things people worry about BEFORE they actually have kids.
After, meh. If that mom needs to have her kid have a paci (or a thumb in my kids case) to keep him calm while at Target, then whatever. A lot of kids are able to break the habit before 2 years old, but some aren't. It's not the end the world. But just like potty training, no kid goes to KG in diapers and with Pacis. So really it isn't the end of the world.
My son is 4. We have been working on the thumb thing for YEARS. He just isn't ready. Its isn't effecting his teeth- the dentist has checked- and it is something that comforts him when he is new situations and goes to bed. So whatever.
I think this is one of those things you'll have to wait and see if your baby wants to use one. We offered them to our first, and she never wanted it. We'll probably offer it again. I have no problem using them.
With DS, we didn't plan on using one, at least in the very beginning. But one of the nurses in the hospital gave him one at day 3 and I chose not to fight that particular battle. It didn't affect our nursing relationship in the least (DS nursed until he was 3). I nursed on demand for the first 9 months, and then I quit nursing at night. DS also went to daycare only 3 days/week and was never given bottles at home. I don't know if any of that had to do with the success we had at avoiding nipple confusion, but it worked for us.
Also, DS gave up his paci on his own at about 10 months. He just didn't want it anymore when we would offer it, so eventually we just stopped offering it. I was worried about this part of it, as I know quitting the paci can be a struggle for a lot of parents/kiddos. I was all geared up for a battle and then he just gave it up voluntarily.
I will give our new one a paci if she wants/takes it.
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We started using one when DD was 2 weeks old. She wouldn't stop screaming one night no matter what I did so I said screw it I'm trying a pacifier. It worked like a charm! Babies have a natural desire to suck so it helps soothe them. Also, I read that it can reduce the risk of SIDS so I was okay with it. She only uses it before nap or bedtime. I think its okay as long as you don't rely on it to calm your child down and you still try to comfort them first. You should probably have a couple on hand just in case the baby is having a really rough night. Also, try different btrands if you decide to use them. DD hated the fat ones but loved the soothie and NUK ones.
Other than my first who seemed to like the pacifier for the first 2 months then he spat it. I tried it with #2 and #3 but I would have to hold it in, they weren't fans so didn't bother with the rest. Unfortunately a few of them developed the insane to break self sooth habit of thumb sucking. I don't find them evil but they just aren't/weren't dug by my kiddos.
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FTM so I don't have experience. I would like to not use one, but am not totally against it. I was a thumbsucker and even though I would only do it at night, I remember my parents and pediatrician coming up with ways to get me to stop sucking my thumb...gloves at night, dousing it with vinegar, hot sauce, soap, etc before bed. One day, I just stopped and thanks to the thumb-sucking, I was in braces from 6th-9th grade. My point, I suppose, is that kids will find something to self-soothe. Everything has it's pros an cons. From friends, family and TB, I've definitely learned that the best plan is to be flexible and see how your particular child is. I have plenty of ideals of "how I want to raise my child and what I do/don't want them to have..." but I'm not sure he will be on the same page and I'm not afraid to compromise.
I know I'm not a fan of seeing a child who can walk..walk around with a pacifier in their mouth, but I also haven't been there and can't say..."I will never..." I plan to be breatfeeding, but will eventually head back to work for long stints away from baby where he'll be bottle fed, so the pacifier might come in handy. Ha, let's just say...I'm not registering for any, but I will definitely take at least one home from the hospital.;)
FTM so I don't have experience. I would like to not use one, but am not totally against it. I was a thumbsucker and even though I would only do it at night, I remember my parents and pediatrician coming up with ways to get me to stop sucking my thumb...gloves at night, dousing it with vinegar, hot sauce, soap, etc before bed. One day, I just stopped and thanks to the thumb-sucking, I was in braces from 6th-9th grade. My point, I suppose, is that kids will find something to self-soothe. Everything has it's pros an cons. From friends, family and TB, I've definitely learned that the best plan is to be flexible and see how your particular child is. I have plenty of ideals of "how I want to raise my child and what I do/don't want them to have..." but I'm not sure he will be on the same page and I'm not afraid to compromise.
I know I'm not a fan of seeing a child who can walk..walk around with a pacifier in their mouth, but I also haven't been there and can't say..."I will never..." I plan to be breatfeeding, but will eventually head back to work for long stints away from baby where he'll be bottle fed, so the pacifier might come in handy. Ha, let's just say...I'm not registering for any, but I will definitely take at least one home from the hospital.;)
Chances are you probably would have braces anyway. Everyone in my junior high had them including myself - and i never sucked my thumb.
Its pretty common for kids to get braces now. Regardless of whether they suck their thumbs.
My DS never really took one, would just spit them out... I was mainly happy for that because one less thing I'd have to break him of later.. but it would have been nice in certain loud instances I suppose.
For the next one, I wont push it... I'll possibly offer it to see if it's something they like (preferably after BFing is established)... but meh.
I was very against one at the hospital with my first, but gave her one once were had BFing down. I really didn't want her sucking her thumb like I had for far too long since you can't just take the thumb away. With my son, they gave him one at the hospital (with my permission), but he wasn't a big. We tried many and gave up.
At his 1yr appointment, his pedi said we needed to push the pacifier again because his bottom lip wasn't strong enough from lack of sucking practice. (He was a gulper and ate about 6-8oz in 5 mins at each feeding.) We tried again and were successful. I even think we took it back away a little early, but he's learned to speak an doesn't have any problems now.
FTM so I don't have experience. I would like to not use one, but am not totally against it. I was a thumbsucker and even though I would only do it at night, I remember my parents and pediatrician coming up with ways to get me to stop sucking my thumb...gloves at night, dousing it with vinegar, hot sauce, soap, etc before bed. One day, I just stopped and thanks to the thumb-sucking, I was in braces from 6th-9th grade. My point, I suppose, is that kids will find something to self-soothe. Everything has it's pros an cons. From friends, family and TB, I've definitely learned that the best plan is to be flexible and see how your particular child is. I have plenty of ideals of "how I want to raise my child and what I do/don't want them to have..." but I'm not sure he will be on the same page and I'm not afraid to compromise.
I know I'm not a fan of seeing a child who can walk..walk around with a pacifier in their mouth, but I also haven't been there and can't say..."I will never..." I plan to be breatfeeding, but will eventually head back to work for long stints away from baby where he'll be bottle fed, so the pacifier might come in handy. Ha, let's just say...I'm not registering for any, but I will definitely take at least one home from the hospital.;)
Chances are you probably would have braces anyway. Everyone in my junior high had them including myself - and i never sucked my thumb.
Its pretty common for kids to get braces now. Regardless of whether they suck their thumbs.
I'll out myself here as being probably a pretty emotionally insecure child. By the time I was 9, we had moved to 3 different states and had had 5 different places of residence. I totally sucked my thumb at night until right around that age. Blisters from it and all I kept doing it.
NEVER had braces and dentists don't believe I've never had them when I get dental stuff done.
I've never been sold on pacis and thumbs causing dental problems.
BTW: constant sucking is a great way to establish your milk supply.
It is!! I had the opposite problem with both of mine though. You're going to love this, but one of the pedi's we were seeing (we almost immediately switched) said that I was over feeding my son. He was constantly sucking and getting 6-8 oz at a time (I had to start measuring) every 1-1.5 hours before he was even 4 months. He was exclusively bf'd at that point.
I wanted to get him on a paci,but he prefered the boob, so I gave in.
E didn't use one at all except to play with until he was about one and then he started taking one after he weaned after his bedtime bottle to fall asleep. He has been using it for a couple of months and last night and tonight fell asleep without one. He used to suck on our pinky fingers when he was really small kind a funny habit from having to syringe feed him for the first month. I got all worried about weaning him from that and he just dropped it on his own, and seems to have done the same with the pacifier. I know that we are lucky in that department! Now of I could get him off bottles we'd be set!
Kind of unrelated to the OP. We cut off bottles at one year and switched cold turkey to sippy cups. My oldest did this because she wouldn't take regular milk from a bottle so we tried the same with my youngest and it went pretty smoothly once he realized that all the bottles were "gone." I had them all cleaned and packed away before he woke up the morning I planned to switch.
I chose "not sure" because I don't know if this baby will take a pacifier. We will use one if needed and if s/he "accepts" one, though.
We waited 6 weeks until offering one to C because I was EBF her and I didn't want her to take a pacifier if she were really just hungry. That went out the window when she just suckled for a bit then fell asleep and would cry when unlatched.
She had no issues latching after the paci, and had zero nipple confusion with the bottle and breast either. She is over a year and a half now and says "No thank you paci" now.
She only "liked" one type, so I recommend not getting a bunch of one brand until you know the baby will take it. (We have a TON of the Avent pacifiers and only had one sample Nuk. Wouldn't you know that's the one she actually "liked.")
This exactly! DD#1 took MAM brand which are round on both sides. DD#2 took Nuk which has the flat side.
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For me, it's all up to the baby. I don't buy into nipple confusion, so that doesn't phase me. It's nice to have a way of soothing baby without giving her the boob, so pacifiers are ok by me. None of my kids have taken to them, really, though.
DD1 used one a bit until she discovered her hands, and then she preferred to hold it instead of suck on it. DD2 would keep it in only if someone was holding it for her, which wasn't very helpful for me. DD3 gave the paci a stinkeye and decided to be a thumb sucker.
I don't buy the nipple confusion either. I mean, if they are hungry, they will nurse :-)
@Latham12 sorry but sometimes it's just not that easy. Took me two weeks to get my daughter to latch. I feel the need to comment here because people need to be prepared for some struggles with breastfeeding. Not everyone has them and that's great but a lot do. I'm still nursing my 20 month old but it was a rough start and it wasn't as simple as "if she's hungry she will nurse"
I think it's more of nipple confusion once BFing is established. We had a hard time with latching with my first. It was from her mouth not being able to open wide enough to latch on. We ended up using the nipple shield until she was done BFing. Even with both being silicone, we didn't have the "nipple" confusion. There will always be exceptions, but for the most part I agree that the blanket of high chances of nipple confusion are exagerrrated.
FTM so I don't have experience. I would like to not use one, but am not totally against it. I was a thumbsucker and even though I would only do it at night, I remember my parents and pediatrician coming up with ways to get me to stop sucking my thumb...gloves at night, dousing it with vinegar, hot sauce, soap, etc before bed. One day, I just stopped and thanks to the thumb-sucking, I was in braces from 6th-9th grade. My point, I suppose, is that kids will find something to self-soothe. Everything has it's pros an cons. From friends, family and TB, I've definitely learned that the best plan is to be flexible and see how your particular child is. I have plenty of ideals of "how I want to raise my child and what I do/don't want them to have..." but I'm not sure he will be on the same page and I'm not afraid to compromise.
I know I'm not a fan of seeing a child who can walk..walk around with a pacifier in their mouth, but I also haven't been there and can't say..."I will never..." I plan to be breatfeeding, but will eventually head back to work for long stints away from baby where he'll be bottle fed, so the pacifier might come in handy. Ha, let's just say...I'm not registering for any, but I will definitely take at least one home from the hospital.;)
Chances are you probably would have braces anyway. Everyone in my junior high had them including myself - and i never sucked my thumb.
Its pretty common for kids to get braces now. Regardless of whether they suck their thumbs.
Oh totally agree! Just the length of time due to my thumb pushing my front teeth out. Most of my friends had braces, but for maybe 2 years tops...I had them on for 4 solid years. Everyone gets braces nowadays for even the tiniest imperfection in their smile...at least where I've grown up. No doubt I would have had them, just the thumb sucking didn't help me get rid of them very quickly.
My question stemmed from I hate seeing toddlers walking around with a pacifier in their mouths, but I know I like the pro of it helping prevent SIDS. I am not going to directly breastfeed, i will probably be pumping and bottle feeding due to going back to work after 6 weeks. I never took one, maybe the baby won't either, but I was trying to get other Mom's opinions and views on them.
I think a better question is when should they be taken away. I hate seeing older kids walk around with them or worse at the playground and other LOs try to "share" them. My son was 18m though an we got funny looks for him having one because he was as tall as a 3yo and played on the playground like one, so by 2y we were only doing it at nap and night. By 2.5y we'd completely taken it away, though I think it may have been too early.
With my oldest, we had a "no paci" rule at playdates. If your child couldn't play without one that day, hopefully they were in a better mood the next week. It was never a complaint. With our current group, it's more relaxed and there is no such rule, but them you have some 3 and almost 4yos still having to have one while they play.
FTM so I don't have experience. I would like to not use one, but am not totally against it. I was a thumbsucker and even though I would only do it at night, I remember my parents and pediatrician coming up with ways to get me to stop sucking my thumb...gloves at night, dousing it with vinegar, hot sauce, soap, etc before bed. One day, I just stopped and thanks to the thumb-sucking, I was in braces from 6th-9th grade. My point, I suppose, is that kids will find something to self-soothe. Everything has it's pros an cons. From friends, family and TB, I've definitely learned that the best plan is to be flexible and see how your particular child is. I have plenty of ideals of "how I want to raise my child and what I do/don't want them to have..." but I'm not sure he will be on the same page and I'm not afraid to compromise.
I know I'm not a fan of seeing a child who can walk..walk around with a pacifier in their mouth, but I also haven't been there and can't say..."I will never..." I plan to be breatfeeding, but will eventually head back to work for long stints away from baby where he'll be bottle fed, so the pacifier might come in handy. Ha, let's just say...I'm not registering for any, but I will definitely take at least one home from the hospital.;)
Chances are you probably would have braces anyway. Everyone in my junior high had them including myself - and i never sucked my thumb.
Its pretty common for kids to get braces now. Regardless of whether they suck their thumbs.
I probably would have had braces no matter what, but I had to have jaw surgery from sucking my thumb so long that my top jaw grew normal, but my mandible didn't have a chance to lengthen from the constant pressure. My mom tried all of the methods to get me to stop. Even trying to switch me back to a paci, but I was allergic to the laytex they they used to be made out of.
My 14 month old still uses one at nap time and bed time and has been using one since he was born. I caught some flack from nurses and family member about "nipple confusion" but he never had a problem latching at all so I'm a huge fan of the pacifier!! It's saved me from a lot of sleepless nights!!!
For me it all depends on what the baby wants. My son sort of took one during the day if he was upset, but after about 3 months had no interest. So I'm not against it at all and I don't think it affects breastfeeding. I nursed my son for over two years and he took a pacifier for a bit and took a bottle in his first month. I'm not saying that it's impossible for it to cause nursing issues just that it's not a definite thing and I know a lot of nursing mothers whose children use them.
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I was totally against it for DD, but then my mom was there and she wouldn't stop crying, and for some reason my mom thought it'd be a good idea to let her suck on her pinky finger. It helped calm her down, and then the nurses (we were still like, a less than a day post-delivery in the hospital at this point) offered me a pacifier because she would not fall asleep that first evening. She had been fed, changed, everything, just needed some immediate comfort that I guess she found when gramma gave her a finger to nom on.
Turned out that she was a pacifier baby, and loved them up until her 2nd birthday, at which point her pacifier broke and she threw it away on accident (we'd been practicing throwing away things so she did it without thinking about it). We hid all the other ones we had around the house since she assumed they were all broken and gone. She was super upset for a day or two, then was fine.
I'm glad someone brought up the teeth thing, that's always been my biggest concern. I don't know if I'll be using a paci with my second child. My first didn't like one when the nurse gave her one in the hospital when I had her. Everyone keeps wishing me a horrible second child since my first was so easy. Well easy by my standards anyway. I have two much younger siblings that I helped take care of and raise so in comparison to them my daughter seemed easy to me. So I may need a paci with my second to calm him.
We offered DS and he loved it. Our next baby will have a chupa if s/he wants it.
FWIW, I never had a pacifier or sucked my thumb and I needed braces (my mouth is too small. Ha). DH, who had a pacifier past the socially acceptable age, has never had braces.
My dd didn't consistently take a paci until 6 months but she used it from day 2. I don't plan on offering that soon this time as I want to be sure to get off to a good start with bf and any sucking he needs to do can be done at the breast to help bring the milk in lol. Hopefully anyway.
Re: Pacifiers?
<p align="center"I will say, too, that this is just another thing that you'll weigh pros and cons on possibly needlessly, IMO. Every parenting decision is a "pro vs. con" debate in someone's head (maybe not yours and mine, but someone has an opinion on everything! LOL!). So don't stress about what's best. You'll find yourself throwing out plans of some kind along the way because every child has varying needs, sometimes dictated by the parent's needs as well.
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FTM so I don't have experience. I would like to not use one, but am not totally against it. I was a thumbsucker and even though I would only do it at night, I remember my parents and pediatrician coming up with ways to get me to stop sucking my thumb...gloves at night, dousing it with vinegar, hot sauce, soap, etc before bed. One day, I just stopped and thanks to the thumb-sucking, I was in braces from 6th-9th grade. My point, I suppose, is that kids will find something to self-soothe. Everything has it's pros an cons. From friends, family and TB, I've definitely learned that the best plan is to be flexible and see how your particular child is. I have plenty of ideals of "how I want to raise my child and what I do/don't want them to have..." but I'm not sure he will be on the same page and I'm not afraid to compromise.
I know I'm not a fan of seeing a child who can walk..walk around with a pacifier in their mouth, but I also haven't been there and can't say..."I will never..." I plan to be breatfeeding, but will eventually head back to work for long stints away from baby where he'll be bottle fed, so the pacifier might come in handy. Ha, let's just say...I'm not registering for any, but I will definitely take at least one home from the hospital.;)
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At his 1yr appointment, his pedi said we needed to push the pacifier again because his bottom lip wasn't strong enough from lack of sucking practice. (He was a gulper and ate about 6-8oz in 5 mins at each feeding.) We tried again and were successful. I even think we took it back away a little early, but he's learned to speak an doesn't have any problems now.
I wanted to get him on a paci,but he prefered the boob, so I gave in.
This exactly! DD#1 took MAM brand which are round on both sides. DD#2 took Nuk which has the flat side.
Oh totally agree! Just the length of time due to my thumb pushing my front teeth out. Most of my friends had braces, but for maybe 2 years tops...I had them on for 4 solid years. Everyone gets braces nowadays for even the tiniest imperfection in their smile...at least where I've grown up. No doubt I would have had them, just the thumb sucking didn't help me get rid of them very quickly.
With my oldest, we had a "no paci" rule at playdates. If your child couldn't play without one that day, hopefully they were in a better mood the next week. It was never a complaint. With our current group, it's more relaxed and there is no such rule, but them you have some 3 and almost 4yos still having to have one while they play.
FWIW, I never had a pacifier or sucked my thumb and I needed braces (my mouth is too small. Ha). DH, who had a pacifier past the socially acceptable age, has never had braces.