Should I give pacifier to my newborn?

esthergal

Member
Hello,

Do you give pacifier to your baby? Can I give pacifier to my baby who is under one month old?

Coz I'm doing total breastfeeding and sometimes i feel that the frequency baby want milk is very high, ie sometimes less than an hour interval. Is it bcoz baby just want to suckle instead of feeling hungry?
 

meiteoh

Well-Known Member
Babies suckle not just because they are hungry but because they feel scared or insecure about something. Suckling is a form of comfort for them.

Personally, I feel that if your baby does suckle for comfort once in a while, it's okay. But if your baby wants to suckle for comfort all the time, maybe you need to look at what could be the cause of this suckling - new environment, uncomfortable temp/clothing/etc, illness and so forth.

Having said that, some babies are naturally hungry all the time and would want to feed every hour. The only way to be sure is to feed them. :)

I have never intro-ed the pacifier to Eva mainly because I believe that I should be her source of comfort should she ever need affection or attention, and not the pacifier.
 

snowbear

Well-Known Member
I've never given the pacifier to my baby even when she wanted to nurse every hour. But if you find that it makes life saner for you at the moment, I'd say you can try, but just bear in mind that weaning baby off the pacifier next time wun be easy.
 

newbie2009

Active Member
my baby once in awhile will need to feed every hour or so. but each time he will suckle till he is so bloated that he will puke out alittle of the milk whenever we moves him / to burp him . Is this normal?
 

isabelandrew

Active Member
mine was like that when she was young. i try not to move her after feed. she vomitted a little...

as for pacifier, i dun believe in it. but my caregiver gave her. sigh.

actually bf~ing babies don't crave for pacifier. when she was young, less than 3 months, she hated pacifier. now, she likes it. we only give her when she wants to sleep. other than that, NO pacifer...
 

Phoebii Cheng

Well-Known Member
I think it is a choice whether you want to give pacifier to your bb or not, for me I tried to give but my son did not like it....so we gave up. If you decided to give then, when your bb is teething, hopefully you will wean off the pacifier, if not heard that bb's sucking on pacifier will make the growing teeth protude....not sure if it is true though

You can try giving to bb, if ur bb do not like it, then dun force it.......mayb it is not the time to introduce the pacifier yet
 

diymummy

Moderator
I didn't give pacifier to my baby. I've heard of friends where they intro the pacifier and when they grow older and move around in their bed at night, the pacifier will drop out and they will cry. So the mummies and daddies would need to go into the room and put the pacifier back into their mouths. The babies become dependant on it for comfort and to help them fall asleep.
 

PinkDiamonds

Well-Known Member
Mine was like that initially, when the pacifier fall out will wake up looking for it. It's tiring because they don't know how to grab things yet. But it seems that now she doesn't really need the pacifier to fall asleep on her own. Suck for fun. LOL
 

cmeilim

Active Member
my boy is on total breastfeeding. he's now four months old. we only started giving him the pacifier when he was 7 weeks old to make sure we've established a good latch. he was looking like he needed to suck something all the time, even though he's just been nursed and was actually full. i think babies vary. some have stronger suckling reflex or need than others? also, friends have told me that their babies outgrew the pacifiers after some time, while there are others who have more difficulty weaning off. so i think it really varies from baby to baby. the key thing is just not to give baby too early such that he/she gets nipple confusion and refuse the breast. for my boy, the pacifier has not affected breastfeeding. he only needs it when he's fussing to sleep. most often, he would already have spitted it out or the pacifier would have fallen out of his mouth when he falls asleep and he won't even have noticed, but continue sleeping peacefully. other times, he doesn't crave for the pacifier and we also make a point not to give it to him at other times. hopefully this will make it easier for us to wean him off it when he grows older or he will just outgrow it naturally. =) sometimes, i think babies are a lot more hardy and adaptable than we adults think they are.
 

newbie2009

Active Member
Sometimes i do wish that baby will come with a guide book on why they cry. can mummy here share what are the steps to do when baby cry? For me, I will check for diaper, then to see if baby wants milk, else maybe need to burp the baby. Any other reasons why the baby will cry non-stop? Is it bcoz they wanted attention? Too hot?
 

Ting

Well-Known Member
i dun think babies cry for attention, as in wailing. they might just make noise.
for me, pin has nvr cried for attention. she will blabber, talk, throw things out of her playpen to get our attention.

maybe hungry?
wind in tummy? apply ru yi oil.
warm? sweaty? on the fan/ aircon if u must.
sleepy?

there r many reasons why baby would cry.
but as time goes by, u will start to read the cries n know wat they want.
if your child keeps cryin the whole day for no reason, i would suggest to bring to your PD for a check?
not to scare u, but maybe he/she is feeling pain(internally), but u wont know cos they cant tell u.
 

meiteoh

Well-Known Member
Babies cry because that's the only way they know how to communicate what they want. In the early stages, it's important to maintain an open mind about your baby's crying and his/her needs. Over time, babies will develop certain cries specifically for certain needs.

All parents cycle through the same thing, especially first timers. Babies can cry for the following reasons:

- Hunger
- Discomfort in the form of hot or cold, gas in tummy, relux, reactions to clothing/environment (allergy)
- Insecurity
- Fear of the unknown or unfamiliar
- Wet diaper
- Frustration (eg, want to sleep but cannot sleep)

And so forth.

How to find out which is which? Eliminate them one by one. It's tough but it won't last forever.

Inconsolable crying is an indication that your baby could be ill so if your baby cries for long periods of time, maybe you might want to visit the paed to see if there's anything wrong.

In the initial few weeks, Eva cried quite a bit and I would cycle through my list - is she hunger, wet, etc? Since she turned 1 month, she has a different cry for different needs/wants like comfort, hunger and so forth. In fact, she doesn't cry when she's hungry because I never let it get to that stage (crying coz of hunger means that your baby has been hungry for a longgggg time).
 

Starbat11

Member
I resisted giving a pacifier to my 2 months old baby until recently. My bb would always regurgitate after a feed. Checked with my PD and realised that I overfed him. Whenever my bb wants to suckle, I would contd to push the bottle into his mouth to get him to fall asleep. He ended up drinking more than he could take. PD recommend the pacifier. I would only give bb after a full feed to help him get to bed. Once he is asleep, I will pull it out frm his mouth. Sometimes, he will spit out when he has suckle enough.
 

piras

New Member
Well, there are many discussions about whether we are pacifiers always between mothers and doctors
But a good pacifier can calm down the restless kid and what's better than that
philips avent It's all the best
 

travelbugbunny

New Member
I was scared my bb's teeth growth will turn out not nice if always suckle pacifier..but no choice she was unsettled and cries, so gave in after 1 month and bought for her. So far so good..the doctor says pacifiers are ok and won't harm her teeth growth, and if bb sucks on thumb its worse
 
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