Things to consider with pacifier use: The pacifier can become a sleep crutch, something your child must have to sleep. It may be easy to reinsert in the newborn stage. Once you hit the 4-month sleep regression, reinserting it every 3 hours may pulverize your stamina.
However, pacifier use can also become a powerful sleep association, leading some babies to wake up every 1-2 hours all night long needing to have it replaced. In addition, some studies suggest that pacifier use interferes with breastfeeding during the first few months of a babies life.
It's perfectly safe for babies to sleep with pacifiers. In fact, sleeping with a pacifier may even help reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). For babies who find great comfort in sucking, pacifiers can be very useful. They can soothe a fussy baby and also help them fall asleep at bedtime.
In the dental world, thumb or pacifier habits fall under the category of “non-nutritive sucking habits”. Sucking habits are NORMAL for children up to the age of about five or six. Many children use sucking habits as a comfort and coping mechanism when they feel anxious or hurt.
Sleep crutches, also known as sleep associations or sometimes referred to as sleep props, are anything that we do for or to our child in order to help her fall asleep at the onset of sleep. Some examples of sleep crutches are: Rocking. Feeding (both breastfeeding and bottle feeding) Holding your child's hand to sleep.
The earlier a child can shake their sucking habit, the better! This is why the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends reducing pacifier use and thumb sucking by 18 months of age.
Babies like sucking on pacifiers because it reminds them of being in the womb. In fact, sucking is one of 5 womb sensations (known as the 5 S's) capable of triggering a baby's innate calming reflex.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents consider offering pacifiers to infants one month and older at the onset of sleep to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.
As outlined in the review, pacifier use during sleep may improve autonomic control of breathing, airway patency, or both. Further, it has been hypothesized that the pacifier could prevent accidental rolling leading to less risk of SIDS.
Pacifiers have many benefits – including soothing babies, helping them fall asleep at night, and potentially reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Cons of pacifiers include establishing a habit that could be hard to break, as well as a possible increase in ear infections.
If not try to use minimal soothing to settle baby back down without the pacifier. Often jiggling the crib (so baby's head jiggles lightly) or gently patting baby's back like a tom tom are good non-invasive techniques.
Your best bet is to try and replace the pacifier with a different soothing method. So start off by swaddling with only one arm in, that way your baby can begin to learn to self-soothe using their hand. It will very likely take a few nights for them to adjust- this is totally normal!
"They do interfere in the beginning with breastfeeding sometimes so that's why we don't have them in the hospital and have them for the first three to four weeks," explained Dr. Theresa Patton, with Methodist Dallas Medical Center. "Pacifiers are gone from general use.
Consider the drawbacks: Your baby might become dependent on the pacifier. If your baby uses a pacifier to sleep, you might face middle-of-the-night crying spells when the pacifier falls out of your baby's mouth. Pacifier use might increase the risk of middle ear infections.
They recommend using a pacifier to reduce Sudden Infant Death (SIDS) or Sudden Unexplained Infant Death (SUID) after breastfeeding is going well.
Prolonged pacifier use can cause speech sound disorders and a speech delay! They can also cause a reverse swallow and a tongue thrust. A tongue thrust is when the tongue protrudes between the front teeth during speech and swallowing, which is caused by an open bite.
Many dentists recommend discouraging pacifier use after age three. However, studies by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry show that pacifier use increases the risk of ear infections and bite issues starting at 12-18 months of age.
The most common sleep props are nursing/bottle feeding, rocking, patting, singing, bouncing, pacifiers, and the presence of a parent (sitting in the room, laying with the child, co-sleeping, etc.).
A sleep prop is anything that your baby uses/needs to help him/her fall asleep and stay asleep. It can be anything from a soother, to breastfeeding, bouncing, rocking, swinging or even a car ride.