The case for pacifiers

In my experience, some babies are like Hoover vacuum cleaners, they will suck on anything and everything.  Research has shown that some babies need between 2-4 extra hours each day for "non-nutritive" sucking.  In other words, some babies like to work their mouths even when not eating.  It's pleasurable and helps them feel good.  Before about 10-12 weeks, most babies can't get their fists or thumbs in their mouths to suck on.  So many parents use pacifiers and in most cases, it doesn't seem to affect breast feeding.  Though every baby is different, most babies learn within seconds that the pacifier doesn't have any milk for them, and will cry if they're hungry.

Babies learn about the world from their mouths. There's a reason they call it the "Oral Stage" There are gazillions of nerve endings there.  And many adults are pretty much in the oral phase themselves.  Just look around at adults, people are sipping on lattes throughout the day, chewing gum or popping something into their mouths, not to mention smoking.

When my patients ask me, I offer options.  You don't have to use a pacifier, you can be the pacifier, with your breast or a clean finger.  The point is not to be rigid, but find what works for you and for your baby. We all want the same things, happy, healthy babies and if using a pacifier helps you attain that goal, then use it and don't look back.