Introducing a pacifier to a breastfeeding baby?

Question

My lovely little girl is only 10 days old. She constantly roots, puts her hands in her mouth, etc. When I say constantly I mean ALL the time. I know she's getting enough milk because at her follow-up appointment at her pediatrician she was already back to her birth weight. She will latch on and suckle for HOURS we had a 2 hour on one boob the other night. It's been detrimental to my nipples because they're always raw, and it's really been bringing me down about breastfeeding. Well, the other night my husband wanted me to introduce a pacifier to her (our pediatrician said the same thing too let her feed for 20 minutes on each breast and then give her a pacifier he said). I did and I FINALLY got a break from her.

My concern is that the pacifier is going to interfere with breastfeeding. We're at a full day of breastfeeding-pacifier combo and she's doing well with latching still. My concern is that it will have long run reprocussions. Anyone else introduce a pacifier to their newborn earlier than a month and breastfeed them with no problems?

Answer

Go ahead and give her the paci. My daughter wouldn't latch at all for the first two weeks. She had bottles and paci and still finally learned to latch and has no problems going between all three. It's ok to give yourself a break.

Answer

I listened to the nurses and did not give mine the pacifier and instead she basically uses me as her pacifier. It ended up hurting me a lot and now she refuses pacifiers altogether. The nurses give the same advice to everyone but I think if the baby is latching and eating well it's fine to teach them a way to soothe that doesn't involve pain for you. With my next baby I'll definitely do things differently

Answer

Yes. I introduced a pacifier to my daughter on day 3 and a bottle to her on week 3 and I haven't had any trouble with her latching on. I still EBF and only give a bottle if I'm away

Answer

The nurses wanted to give my baby a paci at around a day or two old because the baby was chewing me raw. We are now 20 days pp and it never negatively effected her breastfeeding.

Answer

I think once they have learnt to latch properly you are unlikely to have problems with nipple confusion. Do what you need to do 😊

Answer

I did it at 2 days old and he is now 3 weeks and has no problem at all. He loves sucking even after a full feeding so I figure why not give the kid what he wants before he can get spoiled ;)

Answer

I wouldn't worry too much about it, I gave both my kids pacifier while breast feeding and they were fine. Plus I was even expressing and bottle fed them at least once a day as well, luckily never had a problem at all. Younger one is now almost 4 months old and BF and uses pacifier and gets expressed milk from bottle as well and no problems in either case. I was like u in that with both kids I was getting exhausted with the kids using me as a "pacifier" and it just wasn't fair on me so against my hubby's wishes I let them take it...my boobs were dying not his!! Good luck!

Answer

Yes! I was worried about the same thing since everything I read said NOT to do it but I needed a break like you. Mine is now two months old and has almost doubled his birth weight (he was only 6 lbs but still!) and I've had no problems with him distinguishing the two. I was really upset when I broke down and gave it to him when he was only 8 days old but I couldn't let me breasts be used as a pacifier anymore. I wish someone would have told me

Answer

Following

Introducing a pacifier to a breastfeeding baby?

Let's Glow!

The Top Baby Tracker App: Embrace New Beginnings with Tender Care

The Top Fertility Tracker App: Your Path to Achieving Pregnancy

The Top Pregnancy App: Nurturing Your Journey to Motherhood

The Top Period Tracker for Empowering Your Menstrual Health Journey