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The Choice to Use a Pacifier

12 May 2024

Although the use of pacifiers is controversial, many infants, and children of various ages, use one, which helps them calm down, facilitates coping with pain and more. A pacifier is one of the factors that help cot death during sleep. The choice to use a pacifier is made by parents only. Parents can offer a pacifier to enjoy its advantages, but using it is not essential.

Some infants just refuse to take a pacifier, which is certainly natural. This means that it is important not to force them to use a pacifier, and in no case should you push one into their mouth, because it may result in an unpleasant feeling that could influence their willingness to eat.

Some parents are undecided whether to use a pacifier, mainly because of the concern of developing dependence, damage to the tooth structure, fear of ear infections and delayed speech. Studies in the field are not unequivocal, but it has been proved that the frequency and duration of pacifier use have an effect on the type and extent of the risk.

Have you chosen to give a pacifier? It is important to make sure to limit its use to short durations and for specific needs. It is important to avoid your infant having a pacifier in their mouth all day long, but only when need, such as when crying, at bedtime or during vaccinations. In addition, particularly after one year’s age, it is important to make sure that a pacifier is not the only thing that soothes or calms your infant, using other ways to sooth them as well. After one year’s age, it is recommended to offer them alternative calming solutions and start weaning them off the pacifier in a regulated manner according to their individual character.

Pacifiers and breastfeeding: to prevent disturbing breastfeeding, it is recommended to wait with the pacifier until breastfeeding is well-established, about a month after birth.

Giving a pacifier or not is a question that engages many parents. Using a pacifier is considered controversial and the many studies on the subject often contradict each other and yield opposing conclusions, only one of which is unequivocal: the decision on whether to give a pacifier is that of the parents rather than a medical concern.

It is important to make the choice after considering the pros and cons and of course after choosing a safe pacifier. It is important to avoid forcing your infant to use one. Some infants just refuse to take a pacifier, which is completely natural. You can offer a pacifier but it is important to avoid pushing one into their mouth, because this action could give them discomfort in the mouth area, which could affect their willingness to eat.

Breastfeeding and use of a pacifier

Pacifiers can interfere with breastfeeding, so health organizations around the world recommend to nursing mothers to postpone starting using a pacifier until breastfeeding is well established, about a month after starting it. It is important to remember that breastfeeding itself can relieve most of the situations we mention below such as pain, soothing and flight.

Infants and pacifiers

Infants are born with a natural suckling reflex and use it when they need it, such as in breastfeeding, several times a day. The pacifier is a modern invention that was devised as an artificial “alternative” to the mother’s nipples. Every country in the world has different figures, but high percentages of infants and boys and girls of various ages use pacifiers, which combined with other means, gives them calm and comfort. Many parents express fear of developing dependence on pacifiers, damage to the jaw structure, inhibited speech and recurring ear infections. As mentioned, studies have no unequivocal conclusions on these, but it is known that the frequency and time of using a pacifier has an effect on the type and extent of each risk.

Have you chosen to give a pacifier? It is important that you make sure to use a pacifier for a limited time and for specific needs. It ןs important to avoid letting your infant go around with a pacifier in their mouth all day, but only when needed, such as when crying, at bedtime or during vaccination. Also, particularly after the first year of life, it is important to ensure that the pacifier is not the only thing that sooths your infant and relieves their discomfort, by developing other means of doing so. Prolonged pacifier muse may result in your child depending on it and after the first year of life it is recommended to offer them alternative soothing solutions and start gradually weaning them off the pacifier, according to their specific character.

Using a pacifier can be a kind of pain reliever, it reduces the experience of pain in infants, so if your infant takes a pacifier, you can give them one before any painful medical procedure such as: blood sampling, vaccinations, infusion, and so on.

Various studies conducted around the world show that a pacifier can serve as a kind of “transitional object” that helps the infant reduce anxiety and soothes them, even helping them cope with stressful situations, such as separations from their parents, and it can help infants when they cry.

The pacifier may help an infant fall asleep. Calm sleep reduces the chances of your infant turning over, moving around and pulling the blanket over their head.

Important health organizations around the world such as the AAP recommend considering offering an infant a pacifier when laying them down to sleep during the first year of life, because using a pacifier during sleeping may help, with other factors, reduce the risk of cot death syndrome.

Important: if the infant drops the pacifier while asleep, avoid reinserting it. If they do not awaken crying, let them fall back to sleep again unassisted so that they do not learn to fall asleep only with a pacifier. If they wake up crying, then you can gently try to restore the pacifier into their mouth.

Infants have no knowledge or ability to cope with the pressure in their ears during flights that may hurt them. The suckling action may discharge the pressure and relieve pain.

Pacifiers and preterm infants

Before choosing whether to use a pacifier, it is important to consult the staff at the preterm infant unit. For preterm infants, a pacifier may be used for practicing mouth and jaw functions and improve eating. Studies on the subject show that preterm infants who took up a pacifier stayed in the hospital for less time and gained more weight.

Potential for damage to the teeth and jaws

Many parents express concern that a pacifier will cause damage to their infant’s teeth and jaws, but recent studies around the world in this field have reached the conclusion that if the pacifier is discontinued by the age of two or three, the damage will not usually be significantly. Use of a pacifier past the age of 3, and particularly the age of 5, has been found to contribute to a high frequency of disorders in the jaw structure, prognathism and retrognathism (misaligned bight) and gaps between the two rows of teeth.

Ear infections (otitis media)

Some studies that have assessed the connection between using a pacifier and acute otitis media, particularly in the first year of live, have successfully shown causality between them and an increased chance of recurring ear infections. The researchers’ recommendations were considering reducing the use of a pacifier or discontinuing its use to reduce the risk of infection.

Speech development

Many parents fear that prolonged use of a pacifier has an adverse effect on speech development, but studies do not support or confirm this concern and no proven, significant connection has been found between using a pacifier and lingual or speech disorders. On the other hand, it is desirable to encourage the child to speak, and it will be hard for them to do so with a dummy in their mouth.

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