More Comforters: Pacifiers, Thumbs, Breasts, and
Bottles
Sucking
is another terrific, comforting “routine.” It helps toddlers calm
themselves—especially those who are shy or under stress. Worried
parents sometimes ask me if sucking is a sign of anxiety. Not usually.
Interestingly, a love of sucking is genetically passed from one generation
to the next, just like hair color or freckles.
Tips on Bottles, Breasts, and Pacifiers:
•
Don’t make sucking the answer to every little frustration.
You can offer a bottle, breast, or pacifier several times a day to
provide some comfort, but also leave your child with daily
opportunities to find other methods of self-soothing.
•
Bottles and pacifiers may cause ear infections. That’s because
strong sucking can create pressure inside the ear.
If your child is
prone to ear infections, cut back on the bottles and pacifiers, and
when she is drinking from a bottle, be sure to keep her head up a
bit. Consider switching her off the pacifier to a cuddly lovey, like
a blankie, or an “auditory lovey” like
a soothing-sounds white-
noise CD that can be played all night long.
•
Go easy on the juice. Fruit juice has tons of sugar. Sucking on a
bottle of fruit juice for twenty minutes may cause cavities. So, if
your baby loves juice, keep the sucking time short. You can also
add a bit more water every day to gradually dilute it. Or better
yet,
switch to a naturally sweet, caffeine-free tea like mint or
chamomile.
•
Wean your toddler off the pacifier by three to four years.
Sucking (especially thumb-sucking) may eventually cause
buckteeth. So from time to time, mention to your tot, “When
kids
turn three, the pacifier fairy flies away with their old pacis
and brings them back a
new toy! I wonder what cool toy she’ll
bring you.” (Don’t say she gives pacifiers to babies. Your child
might resent the next baby he sees who’s sucking on what he
thinks is his “old friend”!) Prolonged pacifier use doesn’t always
cause dental problems. Ask your doctor or dentist to check.
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