pacifiers?

yoyopez · August 2014

do you plan on using a pacifier with this little one? here's a link to the article "plain talk about pacifiers."
https://www.doublexscience.org/plain-talk-pacifiers/
in your comments let us know if you used pacifiers for any of your other children and how/when you took them away. thanks! *never made a poll before so sorry if it's confusing or lame.

MrMrsandBaby · August 2014

DD is 2.5 and we are trying to break her of the pacifier. It has been a really tough 5 days. I am not opposed to using one with this LO but I'm concerned that if we do our daughter will regress and want one back - I am not willing to deal with that.

I will say that if we end up using one it will be gone before 1 year...breaking the habit is killing me!

yoyopez · August 2014

i think i'll only use a pacifier as a last resort this go round. DD didn't want one for the first several months but i'd offer and keep them available in her crib. eventually she did take it. now she's 2 and only uses a pacifier for naps and sleeping at night but i dread trying to take it away. we tried in april and it went great for a few days but then she started getting very upset at nap time but would go down eventually. when she started doing the same at bedtime and also waking up in the middle of the night hysterically crying i couldn't take it and gave the pacifier back. since then it's never seemed like a good time because she got sick then we switched her to a big girl bed... i think if i want to try to get this done before tater gets here i better do it now but HATE the fight! looking forward to everyone else's 2 cents

lct2008 · August 2014

Ds used one a little bit. He much preferred my nipples though

but I tried to give myself some breaks. He sucked on his fingers more in the end though. He stopped taking pacifiers at 5 months so I didn't really have to worry about weaning.
We'll see how it goes with this one.

SusieBW · August 2014

DD used one. We started limiting it to only for naps and bed around when she turned 1, and got rid of it entirely around 1.5, if I remember correctly. I had hoped to be rid of it earlier, but since she was only using it in her crib, it wasn't such a big deal. We got her to stop using them by telling her they were for babies and she was too big for it. She was a little whiny about it for maybe 2 days, but got over it easily enough. The "it's for babies" argument has always worked really well with her.

I'd prefer that this baby not use one, but I remember them making it SO easy to calm DD down, I can't imagine that I'll avoid them altogether this time. Maybe I'll try and hold out a little longer than I did with DD, though, and also start trying to get rid of it earlier.

ss265 · August 2014

We offered them to DS and he never took to them which made me grateful because it was one less habit to break. I'm planning to try and avoid it with this LO as well, if I can help it.

yoyopez · August 2014

MrMrsandBaby said:

DD is 2.5 and we are trying to break her of the pacifier. It has been a really tough 5 days. I am not opposed to using one with this LO but I'm concerned that if we do our daughter will regress and want one back - I am not willing to deal with that.

I will say that if we end up using one it will be gone before 1 year...breaking the habit is killing me!

this in the bold! i'm aftraid DD will regress as well if we don't work on weaning her asap. she's only been in her big girl bed 2-3 weeks so not sure if it's too soon to introduce yet another big change. i may poke holes in it so it doesn't work right so she gives it up rather than taking them away. i think it will be less jarring.

golfingdarwinfish · August 2014

We will try one if we have to, but I would want to wean off it by a year @ latest.

MrMrsandBaby · August 2014

yoyopez said:

MrMrsandBaby said:

DD is 2.5 and we are trying to break her of the pacifier. It has been a really tough 5 days. I am not opposed to using one with this LO but I'm concerned that if we do our daughter will regress and want one back - I am not willing to deal with that.

I will say that if we end up using one it will be gone before 1 year...breaking the habit is killing me!

this in the bold! i'm aftraid DD will regress as well if we don't work on weaning her asap. she's only been in her big girl bed 2-3 weeks so not sure if it's too soon to introduce yet another big change. i may poke holes in it so it doesn't work right so she gives it up rather than taking them away. i think it will be less jarring.

Be careful with this...if she bites it there is a possibility of little pieces breaking off and her swallowing them - I though about cutting them for DD but this possibility made me nervous, I know DD bites hers!

yoyopez · August 2014

MrMrsandBaby said:

yoyopez said:

MrMrsandBaby said:

DD is 2.5 and we are trying to break her of the pacifier. It has been a really tough 5 days. I am not opposed to using one with this LO but I'm concerned that if we do our daughter will regress and want one back - I am not willing to deal with that.

I will say that if we end up using one it will be gone before 1 year...breaking the habit is killing me!

this in the bold! i'm aftraid DD will regress as well if we don't work on weaning her asap. she's only been in her big girl bed 2-3 weeks so not sure if it's too soon to introduce yet another big change. i may poke holes in it so it doesn't work right so she gives it up rather than taking them away. i think it will be less jarring.

Be careful with this...if she bites it there is a possibility of little pieces breaking off and her swallowing them - I though about cutting them for DD but this possibility made me nervous, I know DD bites hers!

thanks, i am aware of this issue. DD does not bite hers so they should be in good enough shape to support a few holes. i'll be sure to do it to the newest least used one. she doesn't suck on it all night. it falls out of her mouth w/in 10 -15 minutes of falling asleep.

Emerald27 · August 2014

Nope. DS didn't have a pacifier and this LO won't either. My only consideration will be if this baby hates the car. We might (just might) offer a pacifier while in the car only, if he cries while he's in his car seat, but only if he's really miserable and only after breastfeeding is well established.

bumpuser10309732 · August 2014

I'm worried I'll have one of those ones that won't let the damn thing go! One of my nephews was that way. His teeth came in and they were shaping around the damn pacifier. Not good...

yoyopez · August 2014

geetargirl05 said:

Question for you moms... I get a sense from the posts so far that most would prefer not to use a pacifier. Is that just because the habit can be hard to break? Or is there some other reason?

for me it's because the habit is hard to break. but on that same note, i think i prefer a pacifier to thumb or finger sucking because you *can* take a pacifier away. a little hard to take fingers away, hee hee.

wildflower75 · August 2014

We use one for DD... At around age 1 we began only using it for bed time. I hope to wean her completely before Christmas! And in terms of the options offered in the poll.. I would rather the pacifier than sucking on fingers because fingers will always be there (harder to get them to stop sucking those since they will always be at their disposal).

SCMomma · August 2014

We used one on a rare as-needed basis with #1. We did a LOT of nursing/comfort nursing though. She didn't have any interest in pacifiers by the time she turned one, and she was never a finger sucker. Hoping #2 goes about it just as easily. I think my favorite brand was Gumdrop.

Syllessa · August 2014

I'll offer one, but none of my kids have ever taken one past about 2 months old. We'll see how this goes.

vrj0522 · August 2014

We will offer one and let baby decide if she wants it or not.

We didn't want to do a pacifier with DS but caved in when he was 4 days old and would not stop crying when awake. A nurse at the hospital had told my husband that if he put on a rubber glove and put it in DS' mouth it would soothe him and we figured if we were going to use a glove, we might as well use a paci and he loved it from there on. We did a very long (6-7 weeks) but steady process of weaning him off the paci at 21 months and gratefully we were able to do it without any tears involved (used the cutting the tips off method) so I'm okay with offering a paci again this time. It was long but if there is patience in the process it can be done.

Also, with using a paci, there was no nipple confusion. Pacis are different than a bottle or the breast.

Oh, and our doctor recommended that we used one to cut the risk of SIDS.

SusieBW · August 2014

yoyopez said:

geetargirl05 said:

Question for you moms... I get a sense from the posts so far that most would prefer not to use a pacifier. Is that just because the habit can be hard to break? Or is there some other reason?

for me it's because the habit is hard to break. but on that same note, i think i prefer a pacifier to thumb or finger sucking because you *can* take a pacifier away. a little hard to take fingers away, hee hee.

Exactly this. I'd rather break the paci habit than thumb sucking. With DD, it was easy enough to get her to stop using pacifiers, but I know that's not the case for all kids, and I would rather not have to deal with it if it could be avoided.

CNJ4EVA · August 2014

My DD is almost 15m and using a pacifier. I keep telliing myself I'll wean her soon since I wanted to do it before this LO arrives, but I keep putting it off.

I really don't want to take it away, that thing is a god send.DH and I appreciate it more than she does!

Emerald27 · August 2014

geetargirl05 said:
Question for you moms... I get a sense from the posts so far that most would prefer not to use a pacifier. Is that just because the habit can be hard to break? Or is there some other reason?

For me, the reason for not using a pacifier is wanting to use the breast for comfort.

Here is some great info (and lots of resources at the bottom) regarding pacifier use for breastfed babies:
https://kellymom.com/ages/newborn/newborn-concerns/pacifier/

lisamahrt · August 2014

With our first, We waited till almost a month to offer a paci so we could establish a good routine with breastfeeding. Of course she took it. Now she only gets it at nap and bedtime. It is far easier to take a paci away than a thumb!

ashie0610 · August 2014

We used a pacifier with DS1. We introduced it around 4 months and weaned fairly easily at 18 months. I didn't have a deadline in mind for when I wanted to wean and planned to let him use it for nighttime sleep as long as he was still sleeping 11+ hours/night, but he went through a sleep regression/talking explosion at 18 months anyway.

We figured if it wasn't helping him sleep anymore we might as well get rid of it at that point. It was fairly easy and his sleep went back to normal pretty quickly.

Raesofsunshine1 · August 2014

We did with DD and we went cold turkey with it around 19 months. We tried trimming it and that never worked. Cold turkey worked really well, only having trouble with it for about a week.

ETA: I voted that we will offer this baby a paci but will let them decide if thet want it or not.

golfingdarwinfish · August 2014

Emerald27 said:

Question for you moms... I get a sense from the posts so far that most would prefer not to use a pacifier. Is that just because the habit can be hard to break? Or is there some other reason?
For me, the reason for not using a pacifier is wanting to use the breast for comfort. Here is some great info (and lots of resources at the bottom) regarding pacifier use for breastfed babies: https://kellymom.com/ages/newborn/newborn-concerns/pacifier/

Maybe this is my FFMC, but the bolded makes me nervous! The thought of LO seeking out my breast whenever he requires comfort is a somewhat intimidating thought.... Perhaps it's just FTM jitters.

ADH0906 · August 2014

I sucked my thumb at night and whenever I could get away with it well into kindergarten (early FFFC?)...my parents tried everything and could not get me to break the habit. I had a lot of oral issues and with that in mind, I've always felt very pro-paci, in moderation and introduced at an appropriate time.

ashie0610 · August 2014

golfingdarwinfish said:

Emerald27 said:

Question for you moms... I get a sense from the posts so far that most would prefer not to use a pacifier. Is that just because the habit can be hard to break? Or is there some other reason?
For me, the reason for not using a pacifier is wanting to use the breast for comfort. Here is some great info (and lots of resources at the bottom) regarding pacifier use for breastfed babies: https://kellymom.com/ages/newborn/newborn-concerns/pacifier/

Maybe this is my FFMC, but the bolded makes me nervous! The thought of LO seeking out my breast whenever he requires comfort is a somewhat intimidating thought.... Perhaps it's just FTM jitters.

I'm actually with you on this, as a STM who plans to BF again. DS1 was EBF until we introduced solids, and we continued to BF for almost a year. I know it goes against a lot of the current literature out there around BFing and I get why most people do it, but I didn't want him to associate nursing with falling asleep, so having him take a pacifier was a good tool for us. I also had a ridiculous oversupply; maybe I would have felt differently if the circumstances were different.

I'm sure this kid will be different, as all babies are, but I'm hoping to have a similar experience this time.

Emerald27 · August 2014

golfingdarwinfish said:

Emerald27 said:

Question for you moms... I get a sense from the posts so far that most would prefer not to use a pacifier. Is that just because the habit can be hard to break? Or is there some other reason?

For me, the reason for not using a pacifier is wanting to use the breast for comfort.

Here is some great info (and lots of resources at the bottom) regarding pacifier use for breastfed babies:
https://kellymom.com/ages/newborn/newborn-concerns/pacifier/

Maybe this is my FFMC, but the bolded makes me nervous! The thought of LO seeking out my breast whenever he requires comfort is a somewhat intimidating thought.... Perhaps it's just FTM jitters.

--------------------
It's not as scary as it sounds.

When they're brand new and you're getting to know their cues and personality, since you're worried about them growing well and getting enough to eat, you offer the boob instinctively whenever they cry anyway. Breastfeeding is for many moms about so much more than just feeding sessions, and it really comes quite naturally to comfort your baby at the breast. A lot of moms will also experience a let down and leak when they hear any baby cry! It's natural to WANT to comfort baby at the breast.

Some moms will offer the breast first when LO is upset. Others will bounce and walk around or snuggle them close or rock or try any number of other things to comfort them, and use the breast for comfort only if that seems to be what baby needs. Some moms prefer pacifiers for comforting LO. You'll find what suits you and LO and it will all work out.

bitsybubbles7 · August 2014

We used a pacifier while bf from 1 week on and had little problems with it. We started sleep training at 7 months and inadvertently dropped the paci too. We didn't realize lo had thrown it out of the crib until the next morning, so then we tried it again. Unfortunately, lo started thumb sucking instead. I'm hoping to break that habit by the time preschool comes about.

cozybluebear · August 2014

Our son never took one. We will offer it to the baby but definitely won't force it.

MollyC20 · August 2014

DD used one and we got her off of it around 18 months

Emerald27 · August 2014

@theresat858‌ In my experience, when artificial nipples are introduced prior to breastfeeding being well-established, it very often complicates breastfeeding. Latch issues, breast refusal, and even trouble gaining weight appropriately are all very common after early introduction of artificial nipples.

Helping enough mothers in tears from painful latch and other challenges faced after introducing bottles and pacifiers too early has taught me to always recommend that parents wait.

There is nothing wrong with using bottles and pacifiers with breastfed babies, but if breastfeeding is important to you, taking precautions and a careful approach will be beneficial to you.

wearenutts · August 2014

With DD we offered it if she wanted it. At 6 months I took it away except for naps and bedtime, and at a year I took it away all together. She didn't seem to mind at all. We will see what happens with this one.

BreandMikewedding · August 2014

Dd and ds both used them and loved them. We had to try different ones to figure out what they liked, but I was willing to try as many as necessary to prevent them from thumb/finger sucking. I took their pacifiers away at 1 year old and it worked well. I took the bottle away from Dd at that age too. With ds my h kept giving him the bottle before I got home from work so he is now addicted! It's his comfort thing and he wants it if he is upset or tired. I will give ds2 a pacifier and take it away at 1 and also throw all bottles away at that point too so DH can't keeping giving them. He really struggles with the kids growing up and wants to keep them babies forever!

PC0909 · August 2014

DS prefers his thumb, but we'll try a paci with DD.

Dubsgirlie · August 2014

Ill offer one. If they choose to take it, it'll be gone by a year.

MrMrsandBaby · August 2014

Can I just say I'm crazy jealous of those of you who had no trouble taking the pacifier away! DD been without it since Wednesday night and holy crap...the first few days weren't so bad, but now she is a mess. I hope that goes away soon, my willpower is starting to crack!

ss265 · August 2014

Emerald27 said:

@theresat858‌ In my experience, when artificial nipples are introduced prior to breastfeeding being well-established, it very often complicates breastfeeding. Latch issues, breast refusal, and even trouble gaining weight appropriately are all very common after early introduction of artificial nipples. Helping enough mothers in tears from painful latch and other challenges faced after introducing bottles and pacifiers too early has taught me to always recommend that parents wait. There is nothing wrong with using bottles and pacifiers with breastfed babies, but if breastfeeding is important to you, taking precautions and a careful approach will be beneficial to you.

@Emerald27, I hear where you are coming from but as a working mom, it is super important to me that my baby is used to a bottle before I go back to work at 8 weeks. A lot of the pro-breastfeeding literature recommend not introducing a bottle until 4-5 weeks and I just think that it's too late and doesn't give the baby enough time to adjust before they take bottles at DC (especially if a Mom has to go back to work at 6 weeks). I personally plan to introduce the bottle around 2-3 weeks to make sure he is used to it before he has to take bottles all day at DC. Luckily I didn't have issues going back and forth with breast and bottle with DS1 and FX this baby will be the same way.

Emerald27 · August 2014

@ss265‌ The rec I follow is for moms planning to return to work to introduce a bottle around 4 weeks or once breastfeeding is well-established. As long as breastfeeding is going well and you're careful/watching for any nipple confusion, you should be just fine.

[Deleted User] · August 2014

Emerald27 said:
@ss265‌ The rec I follow is for moms planning to return to work to introduce a bottle around 4 weeks or once breastfeeding is well-established. As long as breastfeeding is going well and you're careful/watching for any nipple confusion, you should be just fine.

Is this recommendation the same for moms planning to return to work after 12 weeks? Or do we want to hold off on the bottle a little longer?

Emerald27 · August 2014

deezidee04 said:

Emerald27 said:
@ss265‌ The rec I follow is for moms planning to return to work to introduce a bottle around 4 weeks or once breastfeeding is well-established. As long as breastfeeding is going well and you're careful/watching for any nipple confusion, you should be just fine.
Is this recommendation the same for moms planning to return to work after 12 weeks? Or do we want to hold off on the bottle a little longer?

If you can, it's recommended to wait until at least 4 weeks to introduce a bottle. Then, use only slowest flow nipples (usually 0m+), and look into methods of bottle feeding that are supportive of the breastfeeding relationship. One such method is "paced bottle feeding" which helps to mimic as much as possible a feeding taken at the breast.

In order to teach baby to take a bottle, you really don't have to offer too many bottles (usually). 1/2-1oz of breastmilk in a bottle a few times a week is often all it takes to get baby used to that alternate feeding method. Some moms prefer to give a small bottle each day or sometimes just once a week. Depends on you and your LO.

Here's some info about paced bottle feeding:

https://www.llli.org/docs/0000000000000001WAB/WAB_Tear_sheet_Toolkit/22_bfabreastfedbaby.pdf

https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/feeding-tools/bottle-feeding/

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UH4T70OSzGs

hippohat · August 2014

DD did well with a pacifier, I don't regret her using it. We took it away around 18 months because she was chewing them - she understood our deal, once they were chewed they were thrown away and not replaced. I don't think she was ready but I don't think we had another choice.. We also only used them at sleep times, I plan to do the same with this baby if they take to a pacifier.

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