What are your views on pacifier?

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-10-2005
What are your views on pacifier?
12
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 1:21am
What do you guys think of letting a 6-month-old baby use pacifier as a sleep aid? I know the books says don't let it become a habbit. Has any of you had to stop that habbit for your babies? Was it hard? Do you think it's absolutely essential to keep pacifiers away from babies?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 10:00am
Dalton still uses a pacifier.
I am planning on taking it from him soon.
I think he needs it more to sleep, and that is it.
We will see how that goes when the time comes.
I think if it is something your child needs to comfort themselves, then so be it. I just don't think it should be used past a certain age.
One thing I cannot stand, is seeing a kid who is 3 or so using a pacifier. That is what I call a lazy parent!





Lilypie Baby Birthday

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-08-2004
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 11:13am

Both of my kids had their pacifiers until they were 3. After about age 1, the only time they got it was for naps or bedtime. They both are great sleepers...they loved napping and going to bed right up until the time I took it away. They used it to fall asleep and then I took it out and laid it next to them so it wasn't in their mouth all night. My doctor and dentist both thought this was fine, and neither of them have any problems with their teeth. When it came time to taking it away, I started telling them a few months in advance that they were going to be too big soon and when I took it away there were no problems.

I think they are a great comfort to some children and if it works for you and it's not causing any problems, then don't feel guilty about it.

Hope this helps!
Wendy

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-06-2004
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 11:37am
I know this sounds bad but I would love for my DD to take a pacifier. She is seven months old and the only way she will go to sleep is to nurse, which I don't mind, but every once in a while she still wakes up during the night especially now since she is teething and all she will want to do is nurse but its for comfort because she will only nurse a few minutes to put herself back to sleep. The problem is is that she won't go back to bed in her crib! She immediatly wakes up when I lay her down. So before I would put her back to bed with me and my DH but she fell out of bed once and I've felt horrible about it ever since (she was perfectly fine) So if she would take a pacifier to help her go to sleep I would love it but the only interest she has in one is to chew on! Now she's starting to suck on her thumb a little bit and I would much rather her suck on a pacifier because even if it means a few sleepless nights I can still take it away, a thumb I cannot! My step sister in laws are 10 and 13 and they both still suck their thumbs! I think it is disgusting and there teeth are absolutly awful!! The 13 year old just went to see what they could do braces wise and they have to wait until she is 17 because they are going to have to break her jaw and do a couple small surgical procedures before they can even do the braces but she really really needs them. So all in all I think that a pacifier is awesome because like I said even tho your DS Or DD will be cranky and upset for a few days you can still take it away!!
Sorry for babbling!!!
Amanda
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-10-2005
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 1:37pm

thank you guys for the different views and sharing with me your experiences.

My 6.5-mont-old son only needs pacifier to go to sleep, which is fine and dandy up until he develops a habbit of having me get up all night to fetch the pacifier for him so he can fall back to sleep.

Some book says this is an interruption to the baby's sleep as well, not to mention the parents'.

Did you guys have to get up in the middle of the night to replace the pacifiers?

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 2:01pm
Yes. That is a problem we have with Dalton. I think he would sleep through the night if he did not lose it during the night.





Lilypie Baby Birthday

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-10-2005
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 3:04pm

So is the pacifier preventing babies to sleep though the night?

Do you still get up several times a night to replce it?

Does it get less frequent?

Pardon all these questions...I am feeling desperate being so sleep deprived due to this problem.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-08-2004
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 3:48pm
I never had a problem with the kids loosing their pacifiers at night. I took it out of their mouths after they fell asleep and laid it next to them. I guess if they needed it at night, they found it themselves.
Wendy
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-09-2003
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 4:46pm

Well I have a 2yo using a paci as a sleep aid. I did take it away for 2 night a couple of months ago and she was up til midnight. It is the only thing that calms her down to where she will go to sleep. And sleep is the only time that she gets it.


I have tried so many things to try to get her attached to something else and it is just not working. She did get a cabbage patch kid for Christmas that she has been sleeping with so I hope them become good friends and can take the place of the paci.


So I say go and give them the paci


Sarah

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-08-2003
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 8:52pm

I say give those babies their pacifiers! My 4 year old was (and still is) a thumb sucker. He only sucks his thumb when he's in bed and nearly asleep. But he has put himself to sleep since he was 6 weeks.

My daughter started out as a thumb sucker as well, but switched to a pacifier. (We somewhat encouraged the pacifier because she had horrible problems with eczema, her thumb would get rashed and infected from sucking it.)

Anyway, she's coming up on 2 and the pacifiers are not permitted out of her crib. Although she must have a stash of them somewhere because she'll occasionally show up with one in her mouth!

As for keeping the pacifier in the crib -- I bought a clip for a MAM, shortened the ribbon, and clipped it to a small stuffed bear in my daughter's crib. (She was around 9 months when I did this.)The bear couldn't fall out and the pacifier stayed in.

Hope this helps!

Kelli

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-18-2003
Thu, 01-13-2005 - 1:40am

Josiah had a pacifier right from the start... we had one in the hospital. He used it all the time until he was about a year and then started self-weaning from it. From then until 16 months, he used it only at bedtime or in the car. One day during his nap, he had thrown it out of his crib, and so that night I didn't give it to him when he went to bed. He cried for awhile that night, but he finally fell asleep. He was weaned completely within 2 days.

HTH
Karyn
Josiah - 19 mos.
Micah Nathaniel - EDD 5/21/05

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