Parents' Guide to Soothing Your Crying Baby
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Pacifiers: Pro & Con
Pacifiers: They can be a source of intense debate among parents. Should they use a pacifier with baby, or banish them forever from the house?
While the issue isn’t quite so black and white, you’ll often hear from moms and dads who either rave over pacifiers or revile them. To understand the shades of gray, WebMD went to pediatricians, parents, therapists, and dentists to get the pros and cons of baby pacifiers.
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Pacifier Pros: A Few Reasons to Use a Pacifier
There are lots of good reasons to use pacifiers -- just ask any parent who’s gotten a moment of quiet with the judicious use of one! But a bit of peace isn’t the only plus of using a pacifier. Others include:
- Protection against SIDS. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends parents consider letting their child fall asleep or nap with a pacifier their first year, as it seems to have a protective effect against sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Use the pacifier when putting baby down to sleep -- don't put it back in baby's mouth once he's already asleep.
- Helping babies pacify themselves. Infants need ways to help soothe themselves, says Jennifer Shu, MD, pediatrician and co-author of Heading Home with Your Newborn: From Birth to Reality, and a pacifier can be a source of comfort for a crying or colicky baby.
- It satisfies the suck reflex. Some babies have a need to suck that exceeds the time they get on the bottle or breast, says Laura Jana, MD, pediatrician and co-author with Shu of Heading Home with Your Newborn. For these infants, a pacifier can meet this very real need.
- Easier weaning. When you’re ready for a child to stop, it’s much easier to wean them from a pacifier than off of their own thumb, says Shu.
Pacifier Cons: Reasons to Avoid a Pacifier
While some parents hope to avoid pacifiers all together, Jana doesn’t think that’s necessary. Yet there are a few issues to watch for when using a pacifier:
- According to a study reported in Pediatrics, pacifiers may lead to 40% more ear infections (called acute otitis media). Though researchers aren’t sure why this happens, they suspect it may be due to a change in pressure between the middle ear and upper throat.
Reinforcing this, one study showed that “children who stopped using pacifiers regularly after the age of six months had more than a third fewer middle ear infections than children who use them,” writes Rod Moser, PA, PhD, in his WebMD blog “All Ears.”
- If a pacifier is introduced too early, there’s the risk of nipple confusion for a baby who’s just learning to nurse, says Shu. If you want to give your baby a pacifier, wait until after their first month before starting.
- Parents can mistakenly offer a pacifier when baby really needs nutrition-based sucking, such as a breast or bottle.
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