Pacifiers - What am I missing here?

[Anonymous]

We didn't use a pacifier with our first daughter so this is all new to us with baby #2. She's clearly got a strong sucky need so we gave it to her last night and of course she loved it. However, after a few minutes she spit it out (or it fell out of her mouth) and then of course she was upset that she didn't have it. Of course it became a bit of a cycle of picking the pacifer up from her bassinet and putting it back in her mouth until she fell asleep. Is this how it goes? Does this go on forever? Our baby is six weeks. Thanks for any advice or ideas ... I feel so lame here!

[Anonymous]

Young babies have two reflexes that are relevant here: one in which they automatically push foreign objects (including solid food) out of their mouths with their tongue; and a second one in which, if a nipple is being pulled out of their mouths, they suck it back in harder. The first is what is causing your db to accidentally push out the pacifier over and over again. To overcome it, use the second reflex by doing the following: when db is sucking on the paci and you see db beginning to push it out a little or to loosen mouth hold on it, grasp the paci and gently pull on it as though you were removing it. Db will suck harder on it to pull it back in. If you do this a few times several times a day, db will learn to treat the paci as a nipple instead of as a foreign object.

Hope that helps - congrats and gl!

[Anonymous]

Well the book I used (baby whisperer) said try to wean your baby off the pacifier use because otherwise you are just going to be running back and forth for the next couple months.....I pretty much just ran back and forth and SLOWLY tried to wean him off the pacifier. Luckily he gave it up by 3 months. I mean ideally wean her off using it at sleep times but realistically whatever it takes to get her to sleep.

[Anonymous]

Eh, the running back and forth thing lasts only so long, and some babies (like my first) didn't wake up when they lost the pacifier. So I'd wait a while and see what happens before deciding that the pacifier is more trouble than it's worth; for my first, it has been an invaluable self-soothing tool. (My second won't take one, and I sooooo wish he would.)

[Anonymous]

my DS just eventually stopped doing that at about 4 - 6 wks old. he then loved the pacifier for sleeping, but not while awake. it was a great tool to get him to nap, too. then, all of a sudden, he didn't want it anymore. like, at about 7 or 8 months.