Newborn babies have a highly developed sucking reflex. The brighter it is expressed, the more difficult it is to calm the baby without a dummy. Such a child will pull everything into his mouth - fingers, a blanket, a diaper. In this case, it is better to give him a pacifier. Having satisfied the need for sucking, the child will fall asleep peacefully.
If a baby's sleep is stronger with a pacifier than without it, you should not refuse him. But to abuse this method of calming is not worth it. It will be better if the nipple is used only to relax the baby before bedtime.
What are the consequences if the baby is left with a pacifier at night?
The most common problem in children who cannot sleep without a pacifier is that it falls out of their mouth during deep sleep. As soon as the child discovers the loss, he will scream and demand it back. This situation can be repeated several times a night. As a result, neither the baby nor the parents will get enough sleep.
In addition to disturbing sleep, sucking on a pacifier at night can lead to such negative consequences:
How to wean a child from it?
Weaning from a dummy is best to start no earlier than 5-6 months. At this time, the sucking reflex begins to fade, and the process will be less painful.
After a year, it is much more difficult to do this. The child has already developed a strong habit, at the same time he is still too small to agree with him.
If the moment is missed, and the child does not have any special problems, then it is better to wait another six months or a year, when the baby is ripe for a conscious rejection of the pacifier. Usually babies will accept the argument that they are adults and don't need a pacifier.
To make the process of weaning from the pacifier painless for the child, you need to follow some rules:
What not to do:
- Smear the nipple with mustard, brilliant green, cut off a part or pierce. Such methods are harmful to the psychological health of the baby, since an object associated with safety and tranquility suddenly acquires unpleasant properties. Such changes cause anxiety and a sense of instability in the surrounding world.
- Replace the pacifier with a bottle of food. Frequent night feedings can lead to the development of cavities. And leaving a baby with a bottle in his sleep is not safe.
Watch a video on how to wean a baby from a pacifier:
Elena Zhabinskaya
Hello, dear readers, Lena Zhabinskaya is with you today with a discussion topic whether a newborn baby needs a pacifier while breastfeeding.
The question is relevant and not simple. On the one hand, a crying baby, which is convenient to soothe with a nipple, on the other hand, horror stories about malocclusion and refusal of the baby from the breast because of the nipple. Is it true or myths and how to be guided in the question of whether it is possible to give a dummy or not, we will find out today.
In order to understand whether your baby needs a pacifier, you need to understand the main purpose of its use.
Nature endowed babies with a sucking reflex. Thanks to him, they can find their mother's breasts and extract milk from it. This is a natural instinct, aimed at ensuring that the baby does not die of hunger.
Meanwhile, in some babies, this reflex is overdeveloped. To such an extent that they want to suck even when they are completely full.
Such a child is able to hang on his mother's breast all day and night, suck the breast without swallowing. Only in this state he is calm and good. But as soon as the mother moves away, the baby begins to burst into tears, forcing the exhausted woman to take him in her arms again and give her breast.
Familiar situation? And this is precisely the main purpose of the pacifier. It is needed in order to satisfy the sucking reflex of a well-fed, dry and healthy baby, while allowing mom to do her own business, home, dad, rest, older children, and how many things a modern woman has to do! Everyone is content and happy.
When not to give
Meanwhile, there are situations when a pacifier should not be given:
- Neonatal period. From the point of view of medical science, a newborn is considered a baby between the ages of birth and 28 days.
This prohibition is easy to explain. Now there is a formation and normalization of lactation. The woman's body learns to produce the right amount of milk, mother and baby get used to each other.
It has been scientifically proven that it is the stimulation of the mother's breast by the child in the process of sucking that is the most powerful stimulator of milk production.
Therefore, it is during this period, when it is vital to successfully establish natural feeding, that all the forces of the crumbs should be directed exclusively to the mother's breast. This is the main goal and task of both.
While the newborn is awake, it is optimal for him to be near his mother's breast. This is not difficult to achieve, because just now the crumbs sleep a lot of time, and putting them to the breast the rest of the time is not at all burdensome for the mother.
- If the mother has problems with the amount of milk.
At any age of the child, if the woman's body produces an insufficient amount of milk, or a period of lactation crisis has come, it is worth throwing all the forces of the sucking reflex of the crumbs into sucking the mother's breast.
As we have already noted, this is the main way to stimulate lactation. Read about other ways to increase milk production.
Is it worth teaching at all?
So, everything is in order with natural feeding, lactation has improved, and you are wondering: is it worth teaching a baby to a pacifier at all?
You don't have to do it on purpose. If your child grows calm, eats when it is convenient for you and him, sleeps, plays, does not cause you any inconvenience, and you are perplexed at what moments to give a pacifier, you can only be congratulated!
And there really are such babies - who grow up safely, knowing nothing but the mother's breast, but at the same time not causing inconvenience to mommy by sucking her around the clock.
Thus, giving a pacifier to a baby for the sake of its very fact and because the rest of the children, it seems, with it, is not worth it. Your child does not need it - and very well.
Another thing is when the baby's temperament is too active, and the sucking reflex is too developed. Let's talk about it below.
When do you need a pacifier
We have already found out that not everyone and not always needs a pacifier. It is optimal if the little one spends as little time as possible with her in her mouth.
But be that as it may, its use is fully justified, and the benefits are obvious in the following cases.
This list is by no means exhaustive, and you can easily add to it as you wish.
Expert opinions
The vast majority of modern pediatricians will agree that a nipple can be used, with the exception of the neonatal period and provided that the mother does not have problems with lactation.
There is a myth that a child refuses to breast after being introduced to a pacifier, because the nipple is easier to suck than the breast. Here there is a substitution of concepts. If a breastfed baby is periodically offered bottle food, then there really is such a risk. And it's easy to explain.
A child is also a person, looking for easy ways, and milk flows from the nipple much easier than it is extracted from the breast. Therefore, he will demand the food that is easier to get. But in the process of sucking on a pacifier, the baby is not satiated, he still receives food only from the breast and nowhere else. Therefore, a healthy, hungry baby will never refuse a breast because he sucked on a pacifier.
The opinions of dentists on this issue are divided. Some representatives believe that excessive and prolonged sucking of a pacifier can affect the formation of bite. As to this objection, let us turn to common sense.
In the days of our parents, no one cared about the rules of breastfeeding, and without exception, all lyalki grew up with pacifiers in their mouths. Are there many people among your acquaintances with frankly malocclusion now? I'm sure not - I don't know any such person.
Another objection from dentists concerns an increased risk of caries. But - attention - this risk increases when you systematically use a dirty object. In the case of regular and proper disinfection of the pacifier, the risk of developing caries is exactly the same as without it.
Now the most interesting. Some individual psychologists are ardent opponents of the use of pacifiers. They are echoed by lactation consultants who have elevated breastfeeding to the rank of religion.
These comrades call pacifiers "rubber surrogates" and "mom-substitutes." A woman, they are sure, is obliged to provide her child with round-the-clock warmth of her body and access to her breast. Otherwise, she is a lazy person and not a mother. The baby is crying? Is it really difficult - they ask aggressively - to take him in your arms and give him love? If this is not done, the baby will feel abandoned and grow up restless and unloved.
I do not know in what airy and fabulous world those who give such advice live. Maybe a round-the-clock life with a baby in your arms and a tit in your mouth is possible if you have a personal maid, a cook and a laundress at home, and also no husband and older children. It is also desirable not to be in public places and on the streets in winter. Then - yes, you can completely and completely devote yourself to serving the baby.
But most mothers live in the real world, in which you need to have time to clean up, wash, cook, put yourself in order, run to the store, manicure, pedicure, fitness, meet the older child, help him do his homework, take him to classes, meet her husband, chat with my husband at night.
If the price of all this is the fact that the baby will communicate with the rubber nipple instead of the mother during the day, it is reasonable to pay it and live a normal life, thinking not only about the baby, but also about yourself and the rest of the family.
How to choose
A young mother can literally feel dizzy from all the variety of choices on store shelves. Which pacifier is better to choose and how not to get confused in the assortment? So they are different:
- According to the age.
The size of the pacifier itself varies depending on the age of the baby. These are usually 0 to 6 months, 6 to 12 months, and 12 to 18 months.
Naturally, when buying, you need to pay attention to this, because a one-month-old baby will not fit a nipple the size of a one-year-old.
- By material.
Modern nipples are made of silicone or latex. The difference between them is not critical, but is as follows.
Latex pacifiers are usually yellow in color, softer and more pleasant to the touch, and harder to bite through. However, they wear out faster, are more prone to deformation, damage from boiling, etc. These nipples should be changed every 2-3 weeks of use.
Products made of silicone are usually transparent, harder and more durable to the touch. They are easier to bite through, so after teething, it is recommended to stop using them and switch to latex ones. Silicone pacifiers are more durable and resistant to wear, they need to be changed every 1.5 months.
- By form.
The fantasy of modern pacifier manufacturers is truly limitless. On the shelves you can find classic round nipples, flat orthodontic nipples, drop-shaped nipples and imitating a female nipple.
Some mothers recommend purchasing several, and giving the baby a choice of form. For me, you should immediately try a nipple of the correct form, which, according to the manufacturer, will reduce the negative consequences of its use and definitely will not affect the bite, that is, a special orthodontic one.
Thus, you will put a bold cross on your conscience - that you have acquired a safe and high-quality mamo substitute. If the baby has no choice, he will suck on the nipple that you give him, and it will eventually get used to it, no matter what shape it may be. So let it be the correct orthodontic shape.
Although - I repeat - this is more to calm mommy, since entire generations of children who have grown up on the most ordinary round nipples do not have massive bite problems.
- There are also pacifiers completely silicone or with a silicone ring.
They do not cause any inconvenience to the baby during falling asleep, when they fall out of the mouth and the baby turns on them and lies down on his cheek.
- Glowing in the dark, night.
Such pacifiers absorb daylight, as if being charged with it, and glow at night for a certain time, which makes it easy to find them in bed.
Additionally, do not forget to purchase a special case for the pacifier (if it does not come with its own cap) and a clothespin.
The clothespin is attached to the baby's pacifier and clothes, as a result of which it does not get lost and does not fall on the floor in public places. It is strictly forbidden to use a homemade lace or ribbon for the same purposes, and it is strictly forbidden to hang the pacifier around the neck of the baby because of the risk of strangulation.
How to properly care for a pacifier
After that, sterilize in a way convenient for you:
- In a special sterilizer for bottles and nipples.
- In boiling water in a saucepan for a couple of minutes.
- In a double boiler 2-3 minutes after boiling water.
As an express method, you can use boiling water treatment directly from the kettle. But this must be done very carefully so as not to get burned, and carefully, turning the nipple under the jet from all sides and angles.
And what do you think about the use of pacifiers, what was your personal experience, share it with doubting moms and with me.
Read this article:
Sooner or later, the time comes when parents face the question: how to wean a child from a pacifier? According to many children's doctors, you should not focus on this issue. The time will come, and the child himself will refuse it, all this is an age-related phenomenon. There are times when a child is already old enough, but he can’t refuse a dummy. Here it is already worth considering that you need to take some measures in order to wean him. When does this time come?
Until the age of one, you do not have to worry that your baby does not let the pacifier out of his mouth, as this is natural. However, when you see, for example, a three-year-old girl with a pacifier, dressed in heeled shoes, the first thing that comes to mind is that parents do not care about the health of their child.
Is weaning a pacifier useless?
Every baby, a few months old and older, has a different relationship with a pacifier. Some from birth refuse the pacifier, and parents try to teach their child to it, while others, on the contrary, literally instantly get used to it. Some babies cannot do without this accessory, while others need a pacifier only to calm down or fall asleep. Some parents spend quite a lot of time to wean their baby, while others only need a couple of days.
The main thing that every parent should know is that there are no standards or deadlines that would indicate the exact time when it is necessary to take away a dummy from the baby, and when, on the contrary, to give it.
Most pediatricians believe that the negative attitude of parents of six-month-old children to pacifiers is too exaggerated. Scientists have long proven that a dummy has absolutely no effect on bite, psychological development, or digestion. If we talk about the dangers of a pacifier, then, according to doctors, even if a person sucks it before the institute, it will not bring any harm to health.
Most often, when parents ask a pediatrician a question about how to wean a child from a nipple and, most importantly, when, they are advised to do this at a time when they themselves see fit.
Some begin the process of weaning their baby off the pacifier just because they have been shamed by it. As a rule, it is much easier for a child to refuse a pacifier when he has already grown a little.
Parents should not worry too much about how to wean a baby from a pacifier, since there are no known cases when a child would go to school with a pacifier. Every child still refuses it sooner or later.
Instinct is hard to fight
As mentioned above, there is no such age when it can be argued that the child urgently needs to be weaned from the pacifier. However, this is definitely not worth doing before the age of 1 year, since the sucking reflex is especially developed in an infant, and if the dummy is taken away from him, he will use something else instead, his own finger or mother's breast. For a baby up to a year old, a dummy is a kind of sedative, thanks to which he falls asleep faster and easier and is less naughty. And this is due to the fact that with the help of a pacifier they follow their instinct.
The only thing worth knowing is that you should not offer a pacifier to breastfed infants, since it is at this time that the sucking reflex and attachment to the breast is considered the most powerful lactation simulator. After the feeding has improved and the mother has made sure that there is enough milk, you can begin to give the baby a nipple to satisfy his sucking reflex.
How to wean a child to fall asleep with a pacifier?
If the child sleeps only with a pacifier and you have made the final decision to wean your child from it, then you will absolutely have to face the fact that the baby will be naughty for a long time and it will be difficult for him to fall asleep. In this case, there is no special advice, the main thing is the patience on the part of the mother and the fatigue of the baby.
In order to teach a child to fall asleep without a pacifier, only 3 to 5 days are enough, however, during the day, parents should actively spend the day as much as possible, and especially the evening. It will be good to take a walk before going to bed, bathe the baby in not too hot water, feed and then try to put him to bed. Simply put, the child must spend a lot of energy in order for the body to get tired and the baby to fall asleep quickly, regardless of what is happening around him.
Giving a pacifier as a way to refuse it
Most new parents believe that the best way to get a child to refuse a pacifier is to ask him to give it to someone, such as a sister or brother, if any. If the child is alone in the family and there are no babies so close to him around, then you can give a pacifier to a cat, a squirrel in the park, a crow with its chicks, and so on, you can think of anything you like.
Until the child decides for himself to give up the pacifier, no measures on the part of the parents will have a result, at least without hysteria.
Using this method, it is worth remembering that if the baby does not want to give a pacifier, in no case should it be taken away, morally pressured, or said that he is greedy. We must try to do everything so that the process of giving does not turn into a drama for the child. If the baby categorically does not want to part with the pacifier, this indicates that the time has not yet come when you need to try to wean him, and you just need to wait.
How to wean a baby off a pacifier?
In order for the process of weaning a child from a pacifier to give a positive result, you should not allow the following actions:
- You should never scold a baby for being old enough and still sucking on a pacifier. He is unlikely to understand why you are yelling at him, but he can get scared. Babies are known to copy adults and their behavior, and if you constantly throw a tantrum over a pacifier, your child will likely do the same. If you approach the weaning process with kindness, calmness and patience, then the baby will be less worried about parting with her.
- Some mothers, in order to wean their child from a dummy, smear it with various tasteless compounds such as mustard, chloramphenicol ointment, however, this is absolutely not worth doing. Firstly, by doing so, you give the baby resentment and feelings, and secondly, you develop fear in him, because, as you know, it is in the first year and a half that children learn the world around them through their mouths, that is, they need to taste everything. Thus, when a child takes a pacifier familiar to him in his mouth and suddenly realizes that it is bitter, he develops a fear of other things that were familiar to him from the cradle.
- You can’t scare a child with the fact that if he doesn’t stop sucking on a dummy, something terrible will happen to him, for example, a wolf will come and take him into the forest. By doing this, you put your child under additional stress.
- There is no need to compare a child with children and shame him that others are already walking without a pacifier, but he is like a little one. Regardless of what methods you use to wean a child from a dummy, the main thing to remember is that you are a source of positive emotions for the baby and nothing else, he must feel support from you.
- No need to change the chosen tactics. Even if something doesn’t work out and the baby still throws tantrums due to the disappearance of the pacifier, you should try to control yourself and not get angry. You should never give a pacifier back to a child under the influence of his cries, because he will immediately understand that with cries and tantrums he can achieve everything he needs.
Good luck in this difficult task and, most importantly, patience!
It is believed that the pacifier not only satisfies the baby's sucking instinct, but also reduces the risk of sudden infant death in the first 6 months.
Rules for using a pacifier.
Use pacifier until 6 weeks of age while breastfeeding is established
No need to use the pacifier around the clock
It is best to offer a pacifier to a baby once a day, in the evening.
If the nipple falls out it is not necessary to insert it again
Don't force your baby to take a pacifier if he doesn't want to.
Is the pacifier a "bad habit" or a "good habit"?
It is important to ensure that the baby's sleep remains independent of the pacifier. If the child has established a strong relationship between the pacifier and falling asleep, then the pacifier does more harm than good. And in this case, a dummy becomes another “bad habit” (link to an article about bad habits). Waking up at night, the baby will each time ask his mother to give him a lost nipple.
The problem with the pacifier is solved at the moment when the child is able to find it without the help of parents. Then the addiction to the nipple goes into the category of "good habits" when falling asleep. You can develop independence in your baby if you start putting the pacifier in your hand rather than in your mouth early enough. From about 9 months old, babies are able to put the pacifier in their mouth on their own, including at night.
Soothers often fall out of the crib onto the floor, so it makes sense to give your baby several pacifiers at once, put them in or near the bed. Remind your baby every night to pick up the pacifier himself and, if necessary, show him again where he can get it.
When is it time to give up pacifiers?
If your baby's pacifier is strongly associated with sleep, and he calls you at night to give it to him again, it's time to give up this habit.
Many pediatricians agree that the most suitable age for this is 1-1.5 years. Unfortunately, there are no pleasant painless ways to give up the pacifier. But keep in mind that giving up the usual pacifier is given to children much easier than parents usually think. No matter how strong the habit is, it will take no more than 3 days to quit it.
Refusal of the pacifier - what should I do?
1. Tell your baby it's time to give up the pacifier
2. Give the child a few days to get used to this thought and choose a day to start
3. If the baby is very worried, calm him down, stroke, pat on the back.
4. Be prepared for some tough nights and days.
5. Do whatever you can to strengthen your child's attachment to their favorite toy (link to article on pets). Say: "Now is not the time for the pacifier, but here is the bear here, he can hug you." This both distracts him from the pacifier and gives him a safe substitute. Better yet, give him a new favorite toy. This novelty may further distract him. You can even take your child to the store to choose a new playmate for himself.
8. Whatever you do, when you pick up a pacifier once, don't buy a new one after an hour of crying!
If you are not yet ready to give up the pacifier.
Many parents do not want to wean their child off the pacifier, preferring to wait to see if the child refuses it himself. If you are not yet ready, we would recommend
Avoid giving a pacifier during daytime naps and preparing for a night's sleep
Don't let your baby walk around with a pacifier all day
Some children, having lost a pacifier, begin to suck their thumb. But this is the exception rather than the rule.
So the nipple itself is not a problem. But most often it is used as an aid in falling asleep. If your child wakes up at night, and in order to fall asleep, he needs a nipple, the relationship is obvious - it is the nipple that is the cause of the baby's sleep disturbances.
