Should I Let My Child Use A Pacifier?

Sucking is one of the natural reflexes that a child can learn in the womb. Ultrasound photos are able to capture babies sucking their fingers while in utero. Sucking provides infants a feeling of coziness and security when they are sleepy, tired or unhappy. Thus parents usually find the use of pacifiers quite convenient. Parenting can be really challenging sometimes particularly when you are clueless on how to comfort your crying baby. However, many parents feel that the use of pacifiers may do more harm than good.

Babies are never content once they feel hungry. They are not used to the sensation of hunger and they also have not learned the virtue of patience. A pacifier can temporarily distract a baby while you are preparing his feeding. It can also make your child feel contented in between feedings. It also helps a baby go to bed simply because it tends to make them feel relaxed. The effect of pacifiers to the teeth is basically the same as compared to thumb sucking or finger sucking. Nonetheless, it may be easier to wean your child from pacifiers as compared to sucking fingers or thumbs. Besides calming the baby, the best benefit from utilizing pacifiers is that, it may lessen the chance of sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS.

The use of pacifiers can be really convenient, but it also has some disadvantages. Utilizing pacifiers too early may interfere with breastfeeding. Most infants may have trouble nursing correctly if they are given the pacifier too early. There is also a tendency for babies to become dependent on the pacifier. Some infants may have interrupted sleep and crying spells throughout the night once their pacifier falls out. The use of pacifiers may also lead to middle ear infections. Though this may occur, the risk of middle ear infection is lowest from birth to six months of a kid's life, that is roughly the same time that the little one may be genuinely interested in a pacifier. For most parents, their biggest concern may be the prolonged use of pacifiers, that can cause oral health problems. If pacifiers are used persistently, it may cause the front tooth to slant out or it may result in misalignment of the upper and lower jaws.

Pacifiers may be genuinely helpful especially when introduced and weaned at the proper time. The American Academy of Pediatrics even approves of pacifier use throughout the first twelve months of a baby's life. Therefore, parents need to exert additional effort in making sure that your child can get the benefits of using a pacifier, without being exposed to certain health risks. The ideal time to introduce the use of a pacifier is once your child has turned one month old. This may be the time that your baby has an established nursing routine. Doing so could make sure that the use of pacifierswill not interfere with breastfeeding. If your infant dislikes the use of pacifiers, do not force the issue. You can try to introduce it some other time, or you may skip using it entirely.

It is also important to choose the appropriate kind of pacifier that is safe for your infant. Some two-piece pacifiers can be choking hazards when they are damaged. While others may have clips or strings, these should be used cautiously simply because it may get caught around your infant's neck. It may additionally be good to purchase more than one kind of your child's favorite pacifier. If it gets dirty, it is easy to simply replace it with the extra clean ones since most infants may refuse a different substitute. It is also a good idea to check the wear and tear of the pacifier from time to time. Change the ones that are worn out in order to decrease the chance of damaged parts from potentially choking your baby. To stop any fungal infections, it should be appropriately cleaned. Soaking the pacifier with the same volume of water and vinegar for a few minutes every day can stop the development of fungus.

As soon as your baby grows older, it may be best to gradually wean your child from using the pacifier. Kids normally lose interest on the pacifier between the ages 2 and 4. Nonetheless, it may be good to begin weaning early in order to stop any health risks. The process may involve some time, but your little one should at some point learn to live without having it. The use of pacifiers may be a debatable subject matter for some parents, but at the end of the day, it truly depends on your decision if you want your infant to use it or not.


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