Pacifier??

[mamadelbosque]

So, my first DS (now 2.5) never took a paci, but 'found' his fingers pretty early on as I recall. My 2nd DS (4 weeks tommorrow), has yet to 'find' his fingers/thumb, and nurses wonderfully *most* of the time. But at some point many/most evenings he starts wanting to do nothing but nurse for HOURS on end - a couple days ago he nursed non-stop from 5:30-6pmish till 1am - at which point I just couldn't take it anymore - my boobs HURT like all hell!! And so then he screamed and cried for 2 hours because I could *not* imagine letting him nurse anymore... and the past 2 days he's started the same cycle - last night it was from 8-11ish that I just stopped letting him nurse and just rocked him and tried everything else to settle him - but all he wanted to do was suck, and tonight its starting again So... I'm considering getting a pacifier tommorrow. Because I can't take the nursing for literally HOURS on end, nor the screaming cause' all he wants to do is suck... Would a paci help? I'd not use it much, just when he got like this... any thoughts??

[bajamergrrl]

My DS was like that too. I never thought I would want to but I finally introduced a pacifier when he was 3 weeks old. Unfortunately he didn't really like it. He's 6 weeks old now and will sometimes take it but only after some coaxing and only for short periods of time. I'd say if nursing is well established you could give a pacifier a try. You may need to find one your DS likes though.

[madeleines_mom]

Jeez, I don't know how you managed this long without giving your DS a paci! I gave in on day 5 or something I think. It never caused any problems to our BFing relationship, and from what I've seen it rarely does. I totally think you should go for it! Good luck, I hope he takes to it well and gives you a bit of a break! Ouch!

[StrawberryFields]

I used a pacifier with my ds and it didn't cause any problems with breastfeeding. I wouldn't hesitate to offer one to a future child. It was not a negative experience for us in the least.

[Fujiko]

My dd would love to suck so much that she would get overfull and vomit up all the milk. That wasn't fun for me OR her. So as long as I was feeding her often, I would offer a pacifier. She didn't like it at first but did end up taking to it eventually. She quit wanting it on her own at around 11 months. I think I introduced it at two months.

Honestly, don't feel bad. As long as you aren't substituting a pacifier for actual feedings, it won't hurt your dc and it will save your sanity. Some people hate the idea of a paci, and that's fine for them, whatever, but don't feel like a bad mom.