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.
Pacifiers can calm babies when they are feeling fussy or anxious. They may also relieve pain and ease their crying during medical procedures. Research suggests non-nutritive sucking, such as on a pacifier, may support healthy baby sleep.
Since sucking has a soothing effect, and most babies are born with a natural sucking reflex, it stands to reason that a pacifier would do the trick. The suckling action on a pacifier helps babies soothe themselves — just what sleep deprived parents need!
SIDS Prevention#
In a study published by the AAP, researchers “recommend that pacifiers be offered to infants as a potential method to reduce the risk of SIDS. The pacifier should be offered to the infant when being placed for all sleep episodes, including daytime naps and nighttime sleep.”
No, you don't have to remove your baby's pacifier after he or she is asleep. Even if the pacifier falls out while they are sleeping – which is quite common! – there is no need for you to reinsert it.
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.
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.
As your infant learns to breastfeed, a pacifier may confuse them since it requires a different sucking action. Also, breastfeeding to satisfy your newborn's urge to suck helps your body learn how much milk to make to keep your infant growing and comfortable.
Just know that after your baby reaches 9 months old, they'll have an emotional attachment to their binky. That doesn't mean you should rush your little one to give it up—simply be prepared for more protests after this age and difficulty in getting rid of the pacifier.
Using a pacifier can cause a baby's hunger cues to be missed because any kind of sucking, including non-nutritive sucking, can pacify or quieten a baby.
Pacifiers are soothing. And again, they are particularly soothing for children with Autism or Sensory Processing Disorders. If you take away something that is soothing from your child, she will generally find her own replacement item/activity that is self-soothing.
If your baby seems to be getting enough milk, but continues to suck for an hour or more, your little one might be nursing for comfort rather than for nourishment. This is called non-nutritive sucking or pacifying.
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.
The most important risks of this non-nutritive sucking habit are failure of breastfeeding, dental deformities, recurrent acute otitis media, and the possibility of accidents. The development of latex allergy, tooth decay, oral ulcers and sleep disorders are other problems encountered with pacifier 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.
Why do pacifiers have a stigma? The big concern most parents tend to have is that too much dependency on a pacifier leads to sleep issues – like your baby won't sleep without it.
So quite simply, by using a baby's innate skill of sucking, which literally must feel like a piece of home away from home, we enhance brain development.
Using a pacifier.
“Almost all babies will find some baby gas relief by sucking on a pacifier,” O'Connor says, because the sucking action releases endorphins that will soothe them.
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.
The holes are there to keep your baby from suffocating in the unlikely event a pacifier is aspirated. Look for pacifiers that have a handle specifically designed to hold a pacifier clip or attacher.
Around 3-5 months, you should also be on the lookout for the five signs of self-soothing: sucking on hands and fingers, bringing hands to midline, burrowing into a parent's armpit to turn off stimulation, developing a whiney, self-soothing cry, and rolling on his side or tummy.