Should you use pacifier?

Corky Harvey from Pump Station and Nurtury shares some clever tricks to limit pacifier use and explains how to get rid of them completely without creating drama.
Should you use pacifier? | Kids in the House
KidsInTheHouse the Ultimate Parenting Resource
Kids in the House Tour

Should you use pacifier?

Comment
42
Like
42
Transcription: 

- Many parents are really worried about using a pacifier but babies really need to suck. That reflex is calming and relaxing to them so you're gonna have to make a choice about what that might be and you won't even know your baby for a little while and how much your baby really needs to suck. This is kind of an example of parents trying to parent a newborn baby as if they were two years old. You may have to work on taking the pacifier away if you do use one but wait and see what your baby really needs. So babies are gonna suck something, the breast, the pacifier, a finger, or a thumb. Some of those things are all gonna come into play so what's the choice? Pacifiers, not my favorite thing, because they can be tied into malocclusion, change of the palette, ear infections, et cetera. But it might be what really works for your baby and we don't want you to feel guilty about that. If you get a chance for a shower while your partner's holding the baby and bouncing on the yoga ball and letting him have a pacifier, that's probably what you need to do. But don't just put it in any old time when they don't seem to need it because it wouldn't be necessary. If you wanna take the pacifier away a little later, then do so. Baby will be okay with it. It might be a few fussy days but people do creative things. They gather up the pacifiers, wrap them up, tie them with a bow and mail them to some friend who's gonna have a baby. Or they put it on the pillow in the morning with a little ceremony saying it's for nite-nite time, we'll put pacie on the pillow. So you can be creative and you can take the pacifier away whenever you wanna stop using it. After all, a pacifier might be a lot easier to take away than a thumb, which may last for years.


Corky Harvey from Pump Station and Nurtury shares some clever tricks to limit pacifier use and explains how to get rid of them completely without creating drama.

Transcript

Expert Bio

More from Expert

Corky Harvey, MS, RN, IBCLC

Certified Lactation Consultant

Corky Harvey is a co-founder of the Pump Station & Nurtury™ - the first new parent resource center of its kind. She is a registered nurse with a master's degree in maternal/newborn Nursing, and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She teaches breastfeeding and baby care classes, facilitates the New Mother Breastfeeding Support Groups, and is a frequent guest lecturer. Corky has three grown children who were breastfed and she loves to claim that their intelligence is linked to this. Corky has two grandsons, Diego who nursed over two years, and 18-month-old Axel who is still breastfeeding. 

More Parenting Videos from Corky Harvey, MS, RN, IBCLC >
Enter your email to
download & subscribe
to our newsletter