Pacifier question - help!

[knash]

Help me out here, Moms. My newborn is comforted best by sucking, so of course I have her at the breast quite frequently. She is just 3 days. :-D

Did any of you use pacifiers this early? I want to avoid nipple confusion, but I have a few of the Natursutten pacifiers that are shaped like actual nippples. My husband's finger works to sooth her, but I am wondering if I am going to mess up our wonderful latching if I give her the pacifier.

Thoughts much appreciated!!

[aphel]

We never used a paci here, but DD loves to suck on mom or dad's finger, and it worked well for some months. Plus, you know, you're never without one.

Personally, I wouldn't chance messing up a good latch, but that's coming from someone who has been dealing with a persistent bad latch since birth, so do take that with a grain of salt. I will add though that an LC told me you can go ahead and introduce a paci at 4-6 weeks without much risk of nipple confusion, but that time frame will vary depending on who you ask.

[liberal_chick]

My ds was born at 1:25 in the afternoon and I introduced him to the paci about 13 hours later.  We've had no issues with supply or latch and he makes it very clear when he's hungry and when he just wants to suck.

[Snapdragon]

yes- we started ds in a paci at 3 days- we use the gumdrop paci. at 9 months he is still very into his paci so I am not sure how god of an idea it was- time will tell! But it has given him lots of comfort so far and helped him to be calm and helps him to sleep so there have been some good things that have come from it. No interference with nursing- if anything I think it helps clarify when he wants/needs to nurse vs just needing to suck.

[dalia]

I would wait a few more weeks if you can just until your milk supply is more established and to avoid nipple confusion. I know the paci is like a godsend! Ds still loves his natursutten Binky.

[Knitting Mama]

Has your milk fully come in? Before using a paci I would wait to see what happens when you've established a good nursing routine with your full milk supply. Some babies don't have a very high suck need outside of nursing, like my baby, whereas others do. I often hear my friends who have copious supplies talking about how mad their babies get when they want to suck for comfort but they keep getting milk. So looking for cues like that might be helpful in determining if she really needs a paci for comfort or not!

[Nicole730]

We used a pacifier the day DD was born.  I didn't plan on it, but she definitely had a suck v. eating preference.  She still won't comfort nurse or eat if she's not hungry.  We just used the basic gerber nuk pacifiers.  DD did not have any latch issues or supply issues or anything because of it.

OTOH, DS also loved to suck, but preferred my nipples, even when he wasn't hungry.

[lrgs]

I introduced a soother to DD1 right away but planned on waiting awhile before introducing it to DD2 (if I thought she needed one........if she didn't we were going to skip it). DD2 was born with a high need to suck, which was great before my milk came in, I just let her nurse and nurse.....which was great and my milk came in on day 2 but that caused her problems. On night 3 she just really wanted to suck.......all night long. I was letting her nurse but she was already full and we were ending up with a lot of puke. After 3 hours of this I gave her the soother.......she latched right onto it and went to sleep. She needed it so I gave it to her and it didn't affect her latch or wanting to nurse at all.......she just liked it to sleep and in the car.

[P.J.]

DS never took a paci, but we waited until 6 or 7 weeks to even try. Personally, I had a hard time establishing my milk supply, then for the first week or so latch problems, so I just didn't want to mess with that.

[SubliminalDarkness]

We didn't try until about 8 weeks. I wanted to make sure breastfeeding was well established and didn't want to alter the latch or anything else. 

[hakeber]

I gave DS a pacifier on day 2 when it he was sucking so much I was bleeding and crying and begging for a rest and he was breaking off violently sputtering milk because he really just wanted to suckle.  it gave us both a much needed break from feedings and though he liked my finger fine enough, he sort of despised my other fingers all up in face.  He spat his out at 5.5 months and looked at me like I was crazy to offer it.  He was not interested anymore and he never looked back.

DD also had a pacifier within the first couple of days, but around five or six weeks she figured out how to get her fingers in her mouth without poking her eyes out and she has never wanted one since...a short lived investment, but well worth the peace and comfort for her.

I have never had any supply issues or worries.

[whozeyermamma]

With both kids I used a binky at about 4 days - because they were/are both big suckers.

No supply, latch problems - but this DS in particular (6 mo) has definite times when he wants to nurse and times when he just wants binky. I think if you nurse for a good while and then offer the binky - you'll know whether baby is still hungry or just wants to suck. We use an Avent binky.

Good luck!

[knash]

Thank you all for the personal experiences and advice!