Evan never used a pacifier. He always seemed to spit it out as though he didn’t like it. I thought that once he realized no milk was coming out, he rejected it. Oh well, I thought, I guess he’s just not a pacifier baby. What I didn’t know then is that all babies spit out the pacifier at first. It’s a skill and they have to learn to keep it in. Typically it takes like 3-6 months for them to learn. With Evan I became the human pacifier. Whenever he needed to be soothed, I would nurse him whether he was hungry or not. With Cole, I’m going to try this pacifier thing and hopefully wean him from it at 6 months. Sucking is just such a powerful soothing mechanism and babies aren’t able to self-soothe until around 5 months so it really helps. The pacifier has proven very useful at times when I just can’t nurse: 1) in the car, 2) at Stroller Strides, 3) when he’s gassy and doesn’t want milk but does want to suck. I asked my pediatrician if it’s okay to give it to Cole to fall asleep at night and he said yea, but then you run into the problem of having him cry for it every time it falls out. The goal is for them to fall asleep independently, without any sleep aids. But for me, I’m not planning to go with the Ferber method of sleep training until 5 months, so I’m willing to help soothe him until then—whether that’s with the pacifier nipple or mine. Which one to use?
Whatever they seem to like. You probably have to buy a few before you find the right one. We use this one called GumDrop from Kahala Kids. It is the shape and style of the “Soothie” pacifiers they give premies in the hospital. It’s silicone, all one-piece, but there’s a cut-out for their nose. We tried other ones, including the Soothie, but he seems to like this one the best. See how happy he is? I’m behind the camera, but if you could see my face, I’m smiling too. :) Oh and I’m posting the video because I love how you can see his little mouth sucking from inside the nipple.
