When I was pregnant with Kiddo in 2013, I asked myself whether or not to offer him a pacifier seeing that many babies around me had one in their mouth and most mom's talked about how it soothed their babies. When he was two weeks old, I tried to give him one and he spat it right out with a cute ass frown on his face.
This spitting out continued for another two weeks until I gave up. He did not want a paci and I stopped trying to get him to use one. But he started sucking on my breasts so much that I got really tired and sore, sometimes he was not even sucking any milk out. He would just sit there sucking for comfort.
Fruitface, who is now seven months old refused to suck onto a pacifier at 4 weeks as recommended for breastfed babies. I was so distraught and wanted to cry because I had hoped he would take it. I enjoy breastfeeding but I don't enjoy being sucked on all the damn time, especially for soothing. And I needed another option to add when he is cranky and won't settle down.
To my luck, 3 months later I tried again and Fruitface sucked his pacifier. He would always signal to want to suck, when others were holding him, even after feeding for 20 minutes to an hour.
The choice on whether to offer your baby a pacifier is up to you as the parent (s), it helps me with soothing him and giving him comfort when he needs it and is an option when we have tried other things to settle him down. According to Baby Center; suckling is soothing and comforting for babies and I can attest to that, hence its also called a soother.
If you are going to choose to use one, you can always do your own research and see if that is the best thing for you, it has definitely proved to be for us, despite the disapproval from our nanny, who ended up using it too hahaha!.
You may be wondering, but how do I choose which pacifier is best? You have to buy several different ones and test if your baby likes that one. With Kiddo, I only tested with one, I did not have the time or money to buy more than one so I stuck to one, that could be why he refused it. FruitFace takes any pacifier you place in his mouth as long as he can suck he is happy.
If you choose to breastfeed, make sure your baby latches properly and establish your feeding cycle before offering them a pacifier.
Once your baby has started using a pacifier, make sure you have at least 3-4 pacifier chains. A pacifier creates a dependence, which you will later have to wheen off your baby or toddler or they will do it themselves, so having more than one helps for when you cannot find one, or lose one and your baby needs it, especially at night in the dark.
The chains are great because babies drop pacifiers which pick up bacteria from the ground, I also really got annoyed because Fruitface would drop it every 5 seconds or so and I would have to keep picking it up, rinsing it and then giving it back to him, so a nice little chain onto the bib or clothing will assist.
If you try and try but your baby continues to spit it out, unfortunately, you cannot force them to take one. Some babies just don't like it at all and there are other ways they can soothe, swaddling, babywearing, rocking, walking around, pacing, or even driving around with them in the car just around your block. I use the What to Expect Pregnancy app for tips, you can download it from your google play or I store on your phone, it not only tracks your pregnancy but continues to provide information after your baby is born.
Good luck!
Comments