Pros and Cons of using a dummy / pacifier?

Question

Thinking of introducing a dummy for my 6-week old baby. Parents that have used them before, would you do it again? Pros and cons?

Answer

Pros: baby can self soothe easily (if they like the soother). I have the technical option of keeping baby quiet and content whenever lol my daughter is now about to turn two and we only use it for sleeping, she knows she has to leave them in her room. 
Cons: my god I am terrified of taking it away from her 😬

Answer

My first used them. It was helpful for soothing purposes for sure. Pacifiers can help reduce the risk of sids. 
My second doesn’t use them, she was never interested. She prefers the boob over a pacifier, which isn’t always the best lol. She does suck on her tongue or her hand to self soothe, so eventually we will have to get her to stop doing that. She has teethers now so pacifiers wouldn’t be beneficial anymore. 
If we have a third baby I will offer a pacifier.

Answer

My husband and I are trying to not let our kids have them just because some kids around us use them and we can already see it affecting their teeth. We have a 1 yr old daughter and she never really took one (tho again, tried to avoid giving her one) I do see the benefit of using it to fall asleep or whatever. I had the scenario where she fell asleep nursing all the time so that kinda became her pacifier. Pro and con to that as well. 
Pro: helps calm baby in scenarios needing to be quiet and I think studies show they helps prevent SIDS. 
Con: bad for teeth formation and sometimes kids get “addicted” and you’ll eventually have to take it away which could be easy, could be hard

Answer

I am a mix 😂 I was pro not being used as a pacifier when I was nursing, reduce the risk of SIDS, and I did not want him to find a thumb instead. But now my son is 18 months and I really need to take the thing away and I know it’s going to suck. because now he’s obsessed with it to the point where he has to have one in his mouth AND be holding one to fall asleep 😅

Answer

My daughter never really took them. There were many times I wish she did but my breast was the ultimate pacifier so no big deal.
My second has been using one since he physically could. He was a micropreemie and in the nicu for 3.5m so he needed to comfort suck. Downside is that he got hooked on one specific pacifier by time he came home and this specific one was discontinued in 2018 (I contacted dr browns in desperation 😂).
I’m pro pacifier. It helps reduce the chance of SIDS. Comfort sucking is natural and beneficial for babies. I will have him off of it by age 1. 
Random but worth a try: If anyone (especially those who work in the healthcare system) has a Dr browns pacifier from before 2018, let me know! 🤪

Answer

No problem. I took my daughters away after her first birthday and it was never a problem

Answer

Introduced a pacifier in the hospital. Absolutely love them.

Answer

I tried giving a pacifier to both my kids, but neither one took it. They were both thumb suckers instead. I think giving the paci is a good idea, just know that baby may not take it

Answer

I’m very pro - it helps babe relax when fussy or upset and can reduce risk of SIDS. Never had an issue interfering with breastfeeding

Answer

My first uses one, my second doesn’t.
For my first, we have pretty much always only given it for sleep. When she was very young we’d used it during travel if she was getting fussy. It was always a great way to calm her quickly when I couldn’t nurse her. It’s a great sleep association. If we were on the go and I needed her to nap, giving her a pacifier helped her know it was time to sleep. She’s 2 now and we’re going to get rid of it soon, only because she keeps tossing them out of her crib and then getting really mad and crying for them so she can go back to sleep.
We tried to give our second a pacifier and she has just never been interested in it. I wish she would have taken one.

Pros and Cons of using a dummy / pacifier?

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