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Pacifier Pitfalls
Some parents and grandparents worry that pacifier use may teach a
baby bad habits. But truthfully, a pacifier is just a tool to help calm your
baby until she can do it herself. There are, however, six potential
pacifier problems you’ll want to steer clear of:
1. Nipple confusion—Before nursing is well-established, some
breastfeeding babies get confused when they’re given rubber nipples
to suck on. A baby sucking on a rubber nipple often uses a lazy,
biting motion, which requires much less effort and coordination
than sucking on the breast. Unfortunately, this also sometimes
teaches a baby an improper way to use her mouth muscles.
Therefore, bottles and pacifiers should be avoided during the first
two to three weeks of life to avoid nipple confusion (or longer, if
there are any breastfeeding problems).
Once the nursing is going well, you have a choice. You may
decide never to offer a bottle and exclusively breastfeed or you may
choose to offer your baby occasional bottles. If you choose the
latter, because of work or to have the option of giving a bottle if you
are ever sick or unavailable, I strongly recommend that you
introduce the bottle by three to four weeks of age (parents who wait
longer than that are often rudely surprised by their baby’s emphatic
rejection of the synthetic nipple). Additionally, once your baby is
taking a bottle well (with breastmilk, water, or non-caffeinated
peppermint or chamomile tea), do not skip more than one to two
days without giving a bottle … so your baby doesn’t forget how to
take it.

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2. Chemical contamination—Buy clear silicone pacifiers instead of
yellow rubber ones. The yellow rubber gets sticky and deteriorates
after a while and may release tiny amounts of unwanted chemical
residue.
3. Keep sweets away—Don’t dip a pacifier into syrup to make your
baby suck on it more eagerly. Sweeteners like honey and maple or
corn syrup run a risk of giving your baby botulism (a disease
causing temporary paralysis, and even death).
4. Keep it clean—When you buy a pacifier, wash it well with soap
and hot water. Rinse it when it falls on the floor—and several times
a day even if it doesn’t. Don’t suck your baby’s pacifier to clean it in
your mouth, since your saliva may spread colds, herpes, or other
illness.
5. No strings attached—Never hang a pacifier around your baby’s
neck. Strings or ribbons may get caught around her fingers, cutting
off the circulation, or wrap around the throat and choke her.
6. Enough is enough—Once a baby reaches four to five months of
age, I usually get rid of pacifiers. By that time, your infant can suck
on her own fingers and do many other things to calm herself.
Stopping the pacifier after six months is more difficult, because by
then your baby has already started to develop a close emotional
relationship with her “paci,” much like a teddy bear or security
blanket.
The Whys About the “S’s”:
Questions Parents Ask About Sucking
1. How can I tell if my baby needs milk or just wants to suck?
These signs indicate your baby is crying for food:
When you touch her face, she turns her head and opens her

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mouth in search of the nipple.
A pacifier may initially calm her, but within minutes she’ll
start fussing again.
When you offer her milk she takes it eagerly and
afterwards becomes sweet and calm.
2. Does sucking on a pacifier shorten breastfeeding?
Since how a baby sucks on a pacifier differs from how she sucks
on a breast, wait two to three weeks, until breastfeeding is going
well, before introducing the pacifier. At that point, pacifiers can
occasionally make breastfeeding more successful by lessening a
baby’s crying and helping her mom get a break from nonstop
sucking.
3. Can pacifiers cause ear infections?
A few studies have reported that babies using pacifiers get more
ear infections. This probably happens because sucking hard on a
pacifier disturbs the pressure in the ears (the same way pressure
changes on airplane flights can give kids ear infections).
Fortunately, young infants can’t suck a pacifier hard enough to
cause much pressure to build up. So you don’t have to worry
about this for the first four months.
4. Can pacifiers protect babies from SIDS?
Scientific studies consistently report a lower incidence of SIDS
among infants who use pacifiers. It’s not entirely clear how
bedtime pacifier use protects babies. Nevertheless, the American
Academy of Pediatrics recommends bedtime pacifier use (bottle-
fed babies from birth; breastfed babies over one month of age).
5. Can my baby become addicted to the pacifier if she always sleeps