Disadvantages
The disadvantages of pacifier use are almost too numerous to list. You may get more sleep by using pacifier in those first months, but the trade-offs could be insurmountable. Of course, not all of these possiblities apply to everyone, but they certainly are food for thought.
- At some point, they HAVE to get rid of it. Whether the day comes at age 1 or age 8, they will have to throw that thing in the trash. It would be much easier to never have to deal with it or at least deal with it early. I took the pacifier away from my two little ones by 12 months and 13 months and never lost a minute of sleep.
- Reformed jaw. Depending on how much the child sucks on the pacifier, those little bones could be moved out of place. Considering how much they grow and how soft those bones are in the beginning, I wasn’t surprised to read this suggestion.
- Overbite/Cross Bite. Again, because children grow and their bones solidify during these first years, you can introduce a problem that wasn’t there to begin with.
- Delayed speech. If you had a plastic plug in your mouth all the time, how much would you talk?
- Inhibits social skills and development. From the research I did, this seems to be a big concern among doctors and parents. Other kids may not want to play with someone they perceive as a babys since many children see pacifiers on small babies primarily. But, I will say that some doctors and parents are concerned that homeschooling will effect the socialization skills of children – I don’t agree.
- Sleep concerns. Here is where an advantage can become a disadvantage. If the child is accustomed to having a pacifier in order to sleep, what will happen when that pacifier falls out during deep sleep. “I! WANT! MY! PACIFIER!” No more restful sleep for anyone! The pacifier may interfere with the baby’s ability to himself as he gets older.
- Soothing with the mouth now leads to soothing with the mouth later. I had never thought about this before, but one doctor suggested that children who use the pacifier for long periods of time may turn to food, cigarettes, nail-biting, or other forms of oral soothing later in life.
- Pacifiers get dirty. They fall on the ground, they roll under beds, they get lost between the couch cushions, they get touched by others. All kinds of things can happen to a pacifier that would introduce germs to mouth of your little darling. Of course, there are lots of things babies put in their mouths that might be dirty.
- Prevents oral learning. Babies use their mouths to learn about the things around them. If there is a pacifier in the way, they may not do as much learning.
- Breastfeeding interference. A well established rule is not to introduce the pacifier until the milk supply is well established. Even after a good supply is maintained though, a baby may not nurse as frequently as she could, thereby reducing the cues sent to mommy’s body to make enough milk.
- Increase in ear infections. There has been a link established between ear infections and use of the pacifier. If your baby seems to get lots of ear infections, you might see if this is true for you. My oldest had many ear infections and three surgeries to place ear tubes before he was three – and he did use the pacifier. Baby #2 used the pacifier less and had no ear infections. Baby #3 did not use the pacifier and has had two ear infections (which happened at three years old).
- Less mental stimulation. It seems that some babies who use the pacifier may look around their environment less when they use the pacifier. They are so content sucking on the pacifier that nothing else matters and they experience less of what is around them.
- What is that pacifier made out of anyway? Generally, latex or silicone. In the case of latex, chemicals are added to keep the material soft. Latex does not hold up well under high temperatures, so parents need to be very careful about sterilizing a latex pacifier too often as it will break down more quickly. Silicone is a better material to use as it holds up better under heat.
How To Get Rid of the Pacifier
You might be feeling that it is time for your baby to get rid of the pacifier but the thought of HOW to actually do that is fairly daunting. Depending on the age of your child, it can be a very easy task or it can feel like the onset of World War III. Catch it early and you’ll be so thankful you did.
I aimed to get rid of the pacifier for my first baby when he turned one year. I collected all the pacifiers and bottles and threw them away. To my memory, he never complained about it.
For some reason, with my next baby (five years later) I was very nervous to follow the same procedure. She was such a great sleeper from just a few weeks old, I was afraid I might stir up some problems. Finally, when she was 13 months old at the reassurance of my mother-in-law, I finally took her off the pacifier and she did just fine. With this baby, I did it a bit more gradually. First, I only let her have the pacifier at home, then only in the bed, until finally we took it away altogether. This all happened over the course of three or four days. As it turns out, I was more attached to the pacifier than she was! She is still my best sleeper of the four.
If your baby is a little older, a little more mentally congnitive, a little more vocal – you could be in for trouble. If your child is anywhere beyond two years old, you might want to try one of the following methods for taking away the pacifier.
- Gradually. As I mentioned above, try taking it away in increments. First, no pacifier outside the house. Then, no pacifier outside the house or outside the bed. Then, no pacifier at nap. You get the picture.
- Trade. You might take your little one to the store and let him choose a toy to trade for the pacifier. Once you get home, make a big ceremony of it so that he remembers and understands exactly what it happening. Then, have him give you the pacifier and give him the toy. Make sure there is applause and lots of pomp and circumstance! He’ll feel so important for making the trade.
- Sudden. Just make up your mind to take it away on a certain day and do it. You’ll have to endure more crying and whining with this option and you really have to have a will of iron against her alligator tears and sobs for the pacifier.
- Warnings. Take a few days to remind and warn your child very often that on a certain day, the pacifier will go away. You might even make a visual aid such as a calendar or paper chain to help him count down the days until there is no more pacifier.
So, whether you choose to introduce a pacifier or not and regardless of when you decide to take it away, make sure you know all of the important facts about the pacifier and its use. You would also do well to have a plan ahead of time regarding when to introduce it and when/how to take it away to save yourself worrying about it and making last minute decisions during emotional times.
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Something to consider with the “advantage” of pacifiers preventing SIDS, is what is the mechanism behind this protection? I would think that it’s because the constant sucking prevents deep sleep and maintains lighter sleep, which is supposed to be safer for babies. Read Dr. Sears’ research on this for more information.
So if you don’t want to use a pacifier but want to reduce the risk of SIDS, you want other methods of maintaining lighter sleep — which include co-sleeping, and more frequent waking. That’s right, sleeping too long might mean your baby is sleeping too deeply. Babies are supposed to wake frequently, it’s quite possibly a protective mechanism until their brains are developed enough that SIDS is no longer a danger. So instead of despairing and complaining over the lack of sleep, be grateful that your baby is awake and alive — this kind of positive outlook on it can help get through those late-night (and early-morning) interruptions, without having to resort to plastic.
And of course it should go without saying that nursing to help sleep is preferable to plastic imitations. It always astounds me how certain “experts” maintain that you shouldn’t let your baby get used to nursing to sleep because then they become “addicted” to it and you’ll “never get them off”, but there are no similar warnings for using pacifiers to help sleep! All a pacifier is, is a “trick” to make baby think that he is getting the comfort of nursing without actually nursing.
Another disadvantage I’d like to see mentioned, is that parents all too often become overly dependent on the pacifier as a cure-all for their baby, rather than dealing with whatever the actual problem is. Baby fusses? Stick in the binki. Baby spits it out? Stick it back in.
I’ve even seen MANY times when baby wasn’t even fussing at all, and parents stick it in there… why? Just because babies are SUPPOSED to have one in their mouth all the time? I wonder sometimes if some parents have that perception. Little wonder it becomes so hard for these poor kids to “break the habit” as they get older.
Thank you so much Heather for conributing! It is very interesting what you mentioned about doc’s advising against “too much” nursing but never “too much” pacifier. I know from personal experience that it is too easy to rely on that pacifier all the time. Thanks for the visit!