Smart Ways To Use Pacifiers

Pacifiers can easily become a bad habit and that’s why the majority of mothers avoid using them. Yet, sucking on a pacifier can be good for babies since it calms them down, makes them feel secure, and helps them relax.

If you choose, contrary to the majority of mothers, to adopt the harder way and introduce your baby to the pacifier, we advise you not to over use it so that your little angel doesn’t become strongly attached to it and unable to easily get rid of it when it’s time.

If you need help in this issue, try these smart and necessary ways:

• Don’t use pacifier in the first four weeks after birth. Wait until your breast milk is steady and your infant is used to breastfeeding. This way you won’t waste any of your milk in favor of the pacifier.  
• Don’t use pacifier as an alternative of breastfeeding or rather don’t try to use it to deter your infant from breastfeeding for longer.
• Make sure to restrict the use of pacifier during crucial periods, such as colic and bedtime. Long use of pacifier might cause ear infection, as well as other health problems, according to many studies.  
• Give pacifier to your baby when putting him to bed. However, beware of putting it back in your child’s mouth once it’s dropped after he falls asleep. 
• When your baby is fussy for one reason or another, try to calm him down in various ways first — by singing, dandling, hugging and playing some white noise. Only resort to the pacifier when everything else fails.
• Stop giving your baby the pacifier if you notice that he’s having a hard time adapting to breastfeeding or putting on weight or suffering from health problems such as ear infection or nipple confusion that could cause you breast pain.
• Make sure to wean your baby from the pacifier as soon as possible. It’s best to do so by his first birthday. 

In addition to the aforementioned, remember that using the pacifier is subject to selection conditions and care standards that must be taken into consideration to avoid facing problems. You can take a look at these conditions and standards in one of our articles: "The Do’s and Don’ts Of Pacifiers".