Would you judge - pacifier at bed time.

[Anonymous]

Had a comment from a relative, didn't think this was as bad as was mentioned. Daughter 5 years old has a pacifier at bedtime. Limited to only bedtime routine and occasional steady morning wake up or long early morning or evening car journeys.

She'll want to suck on anything when we tried to take it away coldnl turkey. With this she's not sucking on her thumb in the night and causing damage to her teeth. The dummy doesn't affect speech and hasn't affected speech. We will remove in a year or two but in no huge rush.

Is this awful parenting or something others have done?

I'm not looking for advice unless the whole consensus is that this is terrible as it works great for us.

[Anonymous]

I tried the pacifier, but my kids would have none of it. If it helps her self-soothe, why not?

[Anonymous]

Mine used hers until 5 yrs old at bedtime only (never even kept it in after she fell asleep) but she does in fact have a speech impediment and gets services now at age 7. She never had it outside her bed after age 2 but she has trouble with “s” sounds nonetheless.

[Anonymous]

5 is older than I am personally comfortable with but I’m sure it’s not the end of the world.

[Anonymous]

Hopefully you are saving for orthodontics.

[Anonymous]

that’s a lot of pacifier use for a 5 year old and yes I would judge you.

[Anonymous]

Would I judge you? No. Would I suggest that you speak with her pediatrician/ dentist and encourage other types of soothing objects? Yes.

You said that you’ll “remove it in a year or two”. Why? If you’ve decided for whatever reason that using a pacifier is just fine, then why plan to yank it at some other arbitrary time? If the issue is possible impact on permanent teeth and/ or speech, you should be consulting professionals as well as anonymous people here.

[Anonymous]

Five is really old for a pacifier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully you are saving for orthodontics.

My kid who was pacifier-obsessed didn’t even need braces.

[Anonymous]

Very honestly yes I would absolutely judge - that’s very far out of the realm of normal. But would I say anything to you? No - ultimately it’s your parenting choice, and while questionable (…and def bad for her teeth) it’s not abusive or neglectful or anything

[Anonymous]

OP - thanks for responses, appreciate the honesty I did expect judgement a bit, was just hoping it wasn't disastrous parenting. We've not brought it up with doctor or dentist, but dentist has flagged no issues with teeth or mouth

[Anonymous]

Five years old? That's way too old, and yes, I will silently judge. I'd judge if your kid were over 2. And you said you're going to keep going until the kid is 6 or 7? Absolutely ridiculous; get rid of it now.

[Anonymous]

Kody and Robyn's kid still has a pacifier on Sister Wives at times and she is over five. I am not a parent, but I do wonder if there is some long term effects that you should be worried about with her mouth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully you are saving for orthodontics.

My kid who was pacifier-obsessed didn’t even need braces.

NP here. That's really great for you and your kid. But to imply this is the norm is not fair to the OP. The consensus amongst dentists is that use much after 3 years of age can absolutely affect dental health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very honestly yes I would absolutely judge - that’s very far out of the realm of normal. But would I say anything to you? No - ultimately it’s your parenting choice, and while questionable (…and def bad for her teeth) it’s not abusive or neglectful or anything

+1, exactly this