[scheelimama]

My dd is VERY attached to her pacifier. Short of nursing to sleep, she must have her pacifier to go to sleep. And she often prefers it over nursing; she will nurse and then pull off and fuss until I give her her pacifier. She is 7 mo. (no teeth yet to worry about) and probably about half the time she will sleep with it in her mouth throughout her entire nap and sometimes partway through the night. Sometimes, if I catch her when she is good and sound asleep I will pull it out, but often she will wake back up or I will simply get busy doing other things and forget to pull it out. So, is this okay? She also likes to suck on it alot when she is awake. My older dd never really took to a pacifier, so I've never dealt with this. I don't wish to disturb her pacifier dependence if there is no reason to. I just want some reassurance that it is okay and if not, what are some of the potential risks.

 

[Parker'smommy]

I would say that as long as it doesn't interefere with nursing, it should be okay...if you are okay with it.

I personally, do NOT have a problem with pacis. My ds didn't take one, but my dd likes hers. I was all worried and talked with my LLL leader about it, and she basically watched her nurse and everything and said her latch was still good, she is just one of those kids that wants to suck but doesn't want milk coming out!! She is plenty chunky so I know she is getting enough bm, so besides me kinda hating the paci in the mouth look, she uses one.

Oh, and I read something somewhere that they have possibly linked paci use to helping guard against SIDS because sleeping with a binky keeps the mouth moving and doesn't allow baby to get into too deep of a sleep??? Just a thought.

Dont worry too much. I would just go with what she wants and needs.

 

[scheelimama]

Thanks for the reassurance. I don't like the binky in the mouth look either, but that's really my only qualm with her using it. That's interesting about the possible link to reducing SIDS.

 

[wednesday]

I also had a baby who sometimes preferred a pacifier to nursing. But he abruptly gave it up on his own at 7 months old. Really took us by surprise, and we had to learn some new soothing techniques all of a sudden, but ultimately it was easier than keeping up with binkies.

 

[Llyra]

I'm a big believer in what makes a baby happy-- as long as pacifiers aren't interfering with adequate nursing, I'm all for them! I also have read about the link to SIDS, and that's just one more reason. My DD is 9 months old and sleeps with a pacifier.

The only hitch with pacifiers is having to poke them back in when baby drops them all the time!

 

[Jadzia]

My baby loves to sleep with a pacifier. He usually falls asleep nursing (in my arms) and he will wake up halfway and kind of root around and if he doesn't get a pacifier or a boob in his mouth immediately he will fully wake up and be upset. My baby is a really light sleeper and using the pacifier is the only thing that will keep him asleep.

That said, he definitely knows how to tell me when he needs the real thing. Sometimes at night when he starts to stir, I'll give him the pacifier when I'm half-awake. If he's actually hungry, he swipes it out of his mouth really fast. That's when I know its time for booby.

My baby is a really strong sucker. I avoided giving him the pacifier until he was about 2 months old so I could make sure nursing was well established. But once I gave it to him, it was a big relief. Until then, he was practically nursing 24 hours a day which I just couldn't keep up with. I could tell when he was really eating and when he was just using it to suckle. He has become less dependent on it as he gets older, but he still likes to use it for sleep.

 

[glamourpup]

My baby loves her pacifier. I must say, I had serious guilt about it in the beginning (fears about our breastfeeding relationship as well as a general distaste for the pacifier look), but she's a fantastic nurser and frankly, all the BF moms I know IRL use pacifiers. She only uses it when she's going to sleep, and it really helps her. Most of the time she just spits it out when she's done and it doesn't wake her up. Whatever works for you and your baby is the right thing to do!

 

[rubelin]

my only issue with my older one falling asleep with his was that he'd wake up if it fell out. So I'd nurse him, he'd pull off, get the binky, and when I put him down I would wait until I could easily remove the binky without waking him up.