Written by Editorial Team
Baby pacifiers or binkies as they are commonly called are magic for babies who wish to suck even after they have been fed adequately, especially during nighttime. As the name indicates, this rubber or plastic pacifier in the shape of a nipple help to calm down your child when he acts cranky.
Pacifiers comfort a baby by calming the need for suckling, especially till the time a baby does not figure her fingers out. Available in a variety of shapes, and sizes, it might be a while till your baby picks her favorite one. You can read more about Pacifiers here.
In This Article
Some babies, when irritated or fussy can be soothed by rocking, hugging or cuddling, or humming a lullaby. This won’t work for all babies. For some babies sucking fingers helps to turn off worries and turn on the merriment and feeling of security. When your baby shows a strong urge to suck more even after he is well fed and if not allowed, becomes grumpy then a pacifier is your answer.
However, a pacifier should be introduced to a baby only after she has become comfortable with breastfeeding. Because breastfeeding requires more effort from a baby’s side, if a pacifier is introduced early, it can make your baby lazy to suck breast milk.
When your baby shows a strong desire for sucking and if you don’t give him a pacifier he will easily fall into a thumb-sucking habit. A Pacifier habit is easy to wean off than a thumb-sucking habit, though it is entirely your choice whether or not you wish to introduce your baby to a pacifier.
The answer is “Yes”. Using a pacifier during nighttime is approved and encouraged until the baby is 6 months old.
In most preterm babies the skill of sucking is found to be less developed. Skill to suck properly is very important for easy breathing, and for both physical and neurological development.
When a pacifier is introduced to a preterm baby shortly after birth, the breathing process, oral-muscle functions, and physical and neural developments are found to improve noticeably. They are discharged from hospitals faster due to quick gain of weight.
Pacifier Activated Lullaby or PAL is an FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) – approved patent system created for premature babies for helping them to develop proper sucking skills. PAL is a uniquely wired binkie that provides musical lullabies each time the baby sucks on it correctly. It is found that the preemies, again and again, try to continue the sucking motion to hear the soothing lullabies.
This device is still in its early days. But the pre-term babies using PAL are found to experience:
Refer here to know more about the pros and cons of pacifiers.
We wish your baby safe and pacified sleep.
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