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Helping Your Baby “Suck”ceed with Pacifiers
For thousands of years, mothers have offered their breasts to their
babies as pacifiers. Our babies are designed to suckle frequently; in fact,
mothers in some cultures put their babies to the breast one hundred

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times a day! In our culture today, however, such frequent nursing is
impractical even though many of our babies still “desire” it. Some
parents try to help their babies suck on their thumbs, but for most
infants, that is like picking up ice with chopsticks—it slips away despite
the best efforts. That’s why they usually need a little sucking assistance.
Luckily, today’s parents have another effective sucking tool for moms
whose babies want to suckle one hundred times a day—pacifiers.
However, as with other aspects of baby calming, there are certain
tricks to using pacifiers well. These tips increase your baby’s chances for
pacifier “suck”cess:
• Try different nipples—In my experience, no pacifier shape is superior
to another. Some babies like orthodontic pacifiers, with their long
stems and tips that are flattened on one side. Others prefer nubbier
pacifiers with short stems. Ultimately, the perfect pacifier shape for
your baby is the one she likes the best.
• Don’t try the hard sell—You can try putting the pacifier in your baby’s
mouth when she’s crying, but don’t force it if she refuses.
• You’ll be most successful if you calm her first with the other “S’s”
and then offer the pacifier.
• Use reverse psychology to keep the pacifier from falling out—This is the
best trick I’ve ever seen for teaching a baby to keep the pacifier in
her mouth. When your baby is calm, offer her the pacifier. The
moment she starts to suck, tug it lightly as if you were starting to
take it out of her mouth (but don’t tug so hard that it actually comes
out).
Your baby will respond by resisting your tug and automatically
sucking on the pacifier a little harder. Wait a moment and then give
a little pull again. Repeat this process ten to twenty times, whenever
you give your newborn the pacifier. Her natural tendency to resist
you will train her mouth to keep a firm grip on the pacifier. Many
two-to three-month-old infants can be trained to keep the pacifier in
their mouths even while smiling—and crying.
This reverse psychology technique is based on a simple principle
of human nature: We all believe that what is in our mouth belongs
to us! That’s why trying to pull your nipple out of your baby’s

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mouth is like prying a toy from the arms of a two-year-old; the
harder you pull, the more she resists, and thus develops the
coordination and strength to keep hold of it.