Binky...paci...nuk nuk...soothie...call it what you will but odds are, if you're a parent, you can call it a lifesaver...to a point.
Pacifiers. Love 'em, hate 'em they are omnipresent in the life of a baby. When my twins were born we were given these "Soothies" that are safe enough for their airway to con be constricted but big enough for them to suckle. The logic on pacifiers are that all babies crave that suck mechanism, especially early in life. It starts from their days of breastfeeding and that natural reflex that sucking = satisfaction.
According to the American Academy or Family Physicians pacifiers can be good to "help reduce pain during common procedures, like blood draws and shots. Sucking on the pacifier has been associated with shorter hospital stays and better bottle feedings in babies who were born early (premature). Pacifiers may also lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, if your baby uses it while sleeping."
But prolonged use of pacifiers can also lead to dental problems. Even chronic ear infections because pacifiers, in some cases, causes a reflux of secretions in the middle ear because of the sucking.
Because my boys are almost 7 months old, I haven't gotten to that point where i'm worried about taking away their pacifiers. Max, my littlest twin, isn't interested in pacifiers, preferring instead to suck on his fingers. Luke loves his pacifier but not to the point where he needs it all the time.
Last night we took the babies to a super bowl party and several older friends remarked they didn't see "pacies" anywhere. I told them the boys used them from time to time but we were trying not to get them "hooked." These parents seemed so pleased.
What we all started talking about were those older kids in the store walking around with a pacifier in their mouth. My opinion on this is that those kids look way too old to have a "binky" in their mouth. Pacifiers, at an older age, are less about a necessary suck mechanism and more about comfort and security. In my opinion parents need to be providing that feeling of safeness so they don't need to be 4 and 5 years old walking around with a binky.
I feel like pacifiers are a crutch, a catchall if you will. Baby crying? Put a pacifier in. Baby doesn't want to behave in the store? Put a pacifier in his mouth. This is cool to a point. But, at some point, parents need to go a little deeper and find out why their kid can't leave home without it, and then they need to leave home without it.
I'm not saying there are not instances and specific children who need to use pacifiers later in their little lives...But the majority of kids don't need them half as much as parents want their kids to need them.
And let me add a note about thumb sucking. I worry about it for mine b/c you can take away a pacifier but you cannot take away an appendage. I know moms who've used hot sauce to break the habit but that seems extreme. To me, thumb sucking past a certain age shows a deeper confidence issue.
The paci was a certified lifesaver when I had my oldest.He just wanted to suck on something for alot of the time.When I finally figured it out the pacifier was there(saved my poor sore bleeding nipples,sorry if thats tmi). Later on it became his beloved "benny".It didn't ruin his teeth and he finally gave it up (they all just got lost) a little after he turned 2.My youngest never really took to it.Side note,I've read that sucking releases endorphins in babies.Thats why the binky has so many fans.
lol...i love its name was Benny. that's so flippin' cute. I think 2's a great age to ditch them. I've heard so many horror stories about my friends trying to get their kids to ditch the pacifier I'm worried for mine to get addicted lol. I didn't find any info on the endorphins but it wouldn't surprise me. It's the much older kids with the pacifiers that I look at and cringe....
Well the paci was the 2nd in a long line of "let them take their time" for us.My oldest does things when he's ready.We tried around 1 to take it away and it didn't work out.I tried to quit breastfeeding when he was 6 months,and he wasn't having it at all.Potty-training ? He did it perfectly (not one accident) when he was ready. Plus they have these pacis now that are supposed to be better for their teeth.I don't know I think maybe 3 should be the absolute cut-off point for the pacis.
Before I had children, I thought: "I'll NEVER put a pacifier in my baby's mouth." Then my first had colic and I'd would have put a rock in his mouth, if it would have helped. (Well not really, of course, but I certainly tried a pacifier.) He never would have take it, to my frustration. Although I was relieved when I didn't have to go through the unpleasant process of breaking the habit later. It sounds like you're handling it well!
I was determined not to use the paci, but like most things in parenthood things didn't end up the way I planned. My limit was 9 months though. I said if he was still using it at 9 months I'd throw them in the trash. Luckily, he weaned himself off the paci well before I had to trash the thing. I think they have their time and place, but much seeing 3 and 4 year olds with them makes me cringe every time.
I cringe too...i always knew I'd use a pacifier but I hope beyond hope I can ween them from it. Had I been more forward thinking I would have talked about thumb sucking. I may add in a paragraph, come to think of it, after I post this comment. because thumbs are tough. Max doesn't like the pacifier but the kid will suck on his fingers all day. Have a feeling that'll be a hard habit to break. I cringe at that too...when I see these kids suck their thumbs at 5, 6, 7, years old. I know a grown woman who sucked her thumb till the 8th grade. I think that was attention seeking though.
I'd rather they used a paci than the thumb.Can't take that one away.I caught em a couple of times when they were first born,it was awful cute but I wouldn't let him do it.
We called our pacifier the 'sucky' and I managed to get each of my kids off of the sucky right around their first birthday. I can't stand to see kids walking around reciting their alphabet with a sucky in their mouth, lol...
My youngest who also happens to be the only one of my kids with colic and reflux, wouldn't touch the sucky and boy did I try... I was like Bev and would have given her anything (maybe even a rock if it wasn't a chokable, lol) to get her to stop but nope, no sucky for her... I wonder how many people with colicky (sp?) babies noticed that those babies wouldn't touch the sucky??
Abby- get ready as your next big item to wonder when to lose will be the 'sippy' cup. I am having that debate now with my 4 year old.. I think she should be drinking out of a normal cup (and she does at times) but she just really likes her sippy... She doesn't carry it around with her or anything but she just wants to drink out of it. Ugh...
OMG busy mommy...sucky? that's kind of sucky....lol. sorry couldn't resist. we say pacy or paci however it's spelled b/c they can't talk anyway. they'll no doubt have a name for it. I just hate seeing these kids old enough to walk and talk and play video games wandering a store with their pacifiers. I think tomorrow i'm going to talk about security issues...the dreaded blanket. And i'll let everyone in on a very personal secret. hee hee. yep you can guess it.
My daughter's was a binky. I never wanted her to have one but she had a "weak suck" when she was born and the hospital thought it would help build those muscles. She was almost 3 when we finally got rid of the thing. We had to do the weening thing. I'd tell her that big girls don't walk around with a binky, go put it back in bed. My daughter is very much a "I like to know how things are going to be" person, so she doesn't take to major change very well. It took months for her to finally get use to going to sleep without it and not throw a huge fit. What was really hard was being in public and seeing kids her age with a binky. She would look at me kind of confused, you could see it in her eyes, "Why can't I have mine Mommy?" I'd tell her what a big girl she is for not needing her binky. And that was how my daughter began learning that different people do things different ways. I don't think the security that is gotten from a binky or a blanky is the kind of thing that can be replaced by anything else. I feel like they get the feeling from the object because the object has always been there. So usually it's not so much something that the child is lacking that the parent needs to supply, but more the fact that the binky is part of the routine. And as we all know with small children, routine = security.
I use the word usually because I am sure there are those few instances where something is going on in the home during the binky days, like a divorce, that makes the binky extra hard to give up because it gave that feeling of security during a time of uncertainty.
Hottie...yep i think it goes from necessary to a feeling of safety....that's why i thought we'd talk more about that tomorrow..the security issue. how to give it, how to replace items for a feeling, that kind of thing. i think "binky" is a cute word for it and I hope I don't have huge problems ditching them...i think it'll be the fingers and thumbs that will be the toughest...but i also wonder if there's a difference in boys and girls? i don't know...and btw...most paci's are BPA free and i made sure mine were!!
My sister is 19mos younger than me and sucked her thumb through high school, despite 8 years of orthodontics due to the thumb sucking and it wouldn't surprise me if, at 29yo, she still does it.
My rule of thumb is take it before they know what it is. The first time he ask for it, is when it dissapears. I'm not goin through what her sister went through, he's lucky he even got it.
My daughter when never use one. If she was sucking on something, milk/formula better have been coming out of it or she would not be happy. So when she was about a month old I threw all the binkies away and never looked back...At 10 months I took her off her bottle and moved her to sippy cups and never looked back.
Binky...paci...nuk nuk...soothie...call it what you will but odds are, if you're a parent, you can call it a lifesaver...to a point.
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