Pacifiers to Comfort Baby

Pacifiers or dummies are used by most parents to comfort their babies when they start crying. Babies who have a strong urge for suckling but have not learnt how to suck their own fingers usually use pacifiers. They are called pacifiers because of the soothing effect they provide your baby. The use of pacifiers have been an ongoing debate among parents for quite a few years.

Pacifiers usually have a silicone or rubber teat with a plastic or silicone mouth shield. A handle is attached to the shield for you to hold the pacifier when you offer it to your baby. The mouth shield prevents the baby from swallowing the teat or choking. Pacifiers are safe to use and can be easily sterilised.

Tips for Using Pacifiers

• Clean and sterilize the pacifier immediately before and after each use.
• Change the pacifier periodically. This avoids germs from entering your baby's stomach through possible cracks in the teat.
• Do not dip the pacifier into sweet food such as honey and corn syrup before you offer the pacifier to your little one.
• Use the pacifier only when it is absolutely needed and all other methods of comforting the baby fail.
• Do not make the practice of offering the pacifier a habit. Try and wean your baby off the pacifier before he is a year old.
• Never fix a pacifier to your baby's cot, pram or wherever you lay the baby.
• Do not tie the pacifier on to your baby's neck or hands so that he can insert it into his mouth himself.

What are the advantages of using pacifiers?

Using pacifiers has a few advantages although many parents prefer to do away with the dummy altogether. Some advantages are:

• Studies have shown that pacifiers help in preventing cot deaths. Do not worry if the pacifier falls out of his mouth while sleeping.
• Pacifiers help restless babies to sleep peacefully. However, do not force your baby to take a pacifier if he does not like it.
• A pacifier is always under the parents' control. Take care that you do not insert a pacifier into your baby's mouth every time to comfort him.

Video on Choosing Pacifiers for Baby

Are there any disadvantages of using pacifiers?

Pacifiers have their own disadvantages if they are not used properly or are used without care. Some drawbacks of using a dummy are:

• The baby may have trouble distinguishing between your nipple and the teat in the pacifier. This is called nipple confusion. Some babies take a very strong liking to the pacifier that they refuse to breastfeed. This deprives them of the required nutrients. So, it is advisable to give a breast feeding baby the pacifier only if he nurses well and gains optimum weight.
• Prolonged use of the pacifier may cause infection of the stomach as well as vomiting, fever, colic, diarrhoea etc.
• Inserting the pacifier into your baby's mouth prevents him from trying to making various sounds that is the first step towards beginning to talk. This may cause difficulty in speech at later stages.
• Long term usage of pacifiers can give your baby middle ear infection because infection can pass from the mouth into the Eustachian tube that connects the middle ear to the back of the throat.
• Using a pacifier during bedtime may make your baby associate the sleeping action with the pacifier. He may not learn to sleep by himself in the absence of a pacifier.

How do I wean my baby from a pacifier?

The best time to wean your baby from pacifier is before your little one is a year old. The more he gets attached to the pacifier, the tougher it will be to wean him from one.

Tips to Successfully Wean from Pacifier

• Slowly decrease the number of times in a day that you offer a pacifier to your child.
• Do not give your child the pacifier during bed time.
• If your baby is slightly older, keep him occupied with other fun activities.
• You can comfort your infant when he is restless by patting him.

Video on Weaning Your Child From a Pacifier

Shoppers Stop has various pacifiers by brands such as 3M and Philips Avent in many fancy shapes. Bonne pacifiers have a food grade natural or silicone rubber nipple and a food grade polypropylene plastic part. The pacifiers are modelled keeping the shape of the baby’s thumb in mind.