The Baby Pacifier
Actually Quite Good!

Have you heard that a child using a baby pacifier will get ugly teeth and have trouble learning to talk?

Well, experts now say that these risks are way overstated. Instead there are clear benefits of using a pacifier when babies are young.

The most important one is that it seems to reduce the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

Two other benefits are that mom doesn't have to be the baby's human pacifier and that it is easier to teach the baby to fall asleep on its own if he uses a baby pacifier.

Last, as many babies suck on something anyway, a pacifier might be a good alternative, because they can be thrown away. It might be much harder to help the baby (or toddler when the day comes) to break the habit of sucking his thumb.

Babies need to suckle. Many babies have a strong urge to suckle especially during their first four months. After that the need decreases.

So, easy decision, go ahead and buy one. Put it in to the baby's mouth and... what, he spits it out?! Again and again...?

Look below for a few tips on how to make your baby accept the pacifier. If you want o learn more aboute dummy usage (how to wash it, when to throw it away etc), you'll find tips on using baby pacifiers here.

Baby Pacifier Acceptance Tips

• Wait a few weeks
• Be patient
• Try different kinds
• Try when your baby is content
• Tap it

Wait a few weeks

Don't introduce a pacifier until breastfeeding has started to work well if you plan to breastfeed your baby. To suck on a pacifier and to suckle are two different techniques, so the baby can get confused.

The general recommendation is to wait a month with the baby pacifier if you plan to breastfeed. I did that with my first baby. With my second baby, the breastfeeding went so well that I tried to introduce a baby pacifier when my newborn was less than two weeks old. It didn't work at all! Not that it interferred with breastfeeding, he just didn't want to have anything to do with a pacifier... Actually, none of my babies have been interested in a pacifier until they were 2.5 months old.

So don't give up!

Be patient

Even when the baby is old enough for a pacifier according to the recommendation, there is no guarantee that the baby is ready. It may work immediately, after some time or never. All kids are different. Try every other day or so and not when your baby is crying hysterically.

Try different kinds

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So, which is the best pacifier? Well, the answer is that the best pacifier is the one that the baby likes! There are all sorts of different pacifier styles and materials that you can offer your baby. He might not like the first one you choose.

All my children have preferred pacifiers made of latex, rather than silicone. Don't know why, maybe it is because they are slightly softer.

But there are really no baby pacifiers that are harmful for your baby's teeth today. Just pick and choose the style you (and your baby) like.

Try when your baby is content

It is very tempting to try the pacifier in some desperate situation when the baby is crying at the top of his lungs.

Forget it!

No one, baby or adult, appreciates to get an unknown object shoved into his mouth when upset.

Let the baby get used to the pacifier when he is a little bit tired or show signs to want to suckle. But not when he is starving or too tired!

Tap it

Some parents notive that their baby immediately starts to suck on the pacifier when they put it in his mouth and then tap it lightly with a finger nail. Another trick is to shake the pacifier a little bit inside the baby's mouth. Both these tricks stimulate the baby's instinct to suckle.

Check out a variety of pacifiers and pacifier clips below.

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