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Question for Mommies!!

January 19th, 2011 at 08:56 pm

So my MIL has this huuuuge issue with pacifiers. I've read up on them and what I've seen is there is a risk of ear infections and down the line if your baby is using them past 3 years old it might cause dental issues.

Sometimes my baby gets really fussy and she loves to stick her hands in her mouth to soothe herself but hasn't quite figured out how to do it (or maybe it's just that her fingers are still too small). So for maybe 30mins a day I'll use a pacifier to calm her down and keep my sanity.

What is your experience with pacifiers? Did you not use them? At what age did you quit using them? Did you experience any dental issues?

My mother tells me I both sucked my thumb and used pacifiers when I was little and I've had no dental issues. I have a feeling that if they were so detrimental you wouldnt see such widespread use of them and whole walls filled with them at baby stores.

Please weigh in!!!

21 Responses to “Question for Mommies!!”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1295470974

    As a child, I sucked my thumb until age six...I needed braces and may have needed them even if I didn't. My girls both used a pacifier past age one, but sometime before age three we began limiting and then took them away. The child does get attached, but it is easier to take away a pacifier than a thumb!! Smile No dental issues related to a pacifier.

  2. laura Says:
    1295471573


    Child #1 - loved the pacifier. As first-time parents, we liked it too. Child #2 came one year later and didn't like the pacifier. Child #1 gave up the pacifier at about 18 months when she fell in love with her sippy cup.

    Child #3 - liked the pacifier. Didn't use it with #4 or #5, just because at that point it was "just another thing to keep track of" (and when #5 came my kids were 7,6,3 and 1).

    None of my children had issues giving it up. None of them have lingering tooth issues due to use.

    If you don't have a problem with it, I say use it. Your MIL will have opinions on every child-related issue from here to teen-agedom (when to potty train, when not to let them eat x, y or z). You're the mom!

  3. laura Says:
    1295471626

    Child #1 - loved the pacifier. As first-time parents, we liked it too. Child #2 came one year later and didn't like the pacifier. Child #1 gave up the pacifier at about 18 months when she fell in love with her sippy cup.

    Child #3 - liked the pacifier. Didn't use it with #4 or #5, just because at that point it was "just another thing to keep track of" (and when #5 came my kids were 7,6,3 and 1).

    None of my children had issues giving it up. None of them have lingering tooth issues due to use.

    If you don't have a problem with it, I say use it. Your MIL will have opinions on every child-related issue from here to teen-agedom (when to potty train, when not to let them eat x, y or z). You're the mom!

    And I should add that my child who was plaqued with chronic ear infections did not use the pacifier.

  4. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1295471916

    My old dentist told me he thought that thumb sucking probably plays a role in getting the bones and teeth properly lined up! Now that's a view we don't hear often. I hope your baby figures out how to suck her thumb. It's a useful skill for a baby. Big Grin In the meantime, I also am not opposed to pacifiers. Poor MIL will just have to live with your decisions. Actually, it seems rare for a 3 year old to use a pacifier, so I would not even think about that now. I mean, you could ask, "What if she is still using it at 14 years?" Pbbthbbth.

  5. peter Says:
    1295473214

    i used to suck thumb at the age of ten :-) mother made me stop a lot of time but i didnt. due to this obstinateness i have to face dental effect that is my teeth has been misplaced;-)

  6. MonkeyMama Says:
    1295473724

    Both my kids loved their pacis and no longer wanted them all of a sudden (around age 1 or 1.5?). So, easy peasy.

  7. Looking Forward Says:
    1295475011

    I have read it's better for babies to have them for sleeping up to 1 yr (reduces SIDS). Babies NEED to have something to suck on for soothing purposes.

    DD used hers whenever she needed it. And then totally gave it up at 8 mo.

    DS uses his whenever he wants it. I avoid just stuffing it in his mouth. But he has it around for when he wants it. He's 8 mo. now and still uses it. I figure if need be I'll have to wean it away about the time he's 1.5yr.

  8. ThriftoRama Says:
    1295478984

    Use it. It will make your life easier. Both my kids used them and no dental problems. When they are old enough, you can also just throw them out, which you can't do with thumbs.

    I resisted it at first because I had the same reservations you did. My mom was finally like "oh my god already just use one it's no big deal." She was right.

    Your mother in law had her turn to raise babies. Now it's your turn. You do what works for you.

  9. mjrube94 Says:
    1295481437

    I'm with Thrift-o-Rama. My advice: Ignore your MIL's advice. This is one of many, many decisions you'll make that she (or anyone else, for that matter) may disagree with. Do what you think is best. Either way, it's not going to kill her...

  10. Petunia in an OP Says:
    1295488638

    No pacifiers here for Daisy. I don't really care for them, and Daisy wasn't a thumb sucker anyway. There are so many "right" ways to raise a child. . . Just let MIL know, when she brings up the subject, that the decision has already been made.

  11. MonkeyMama Says:
    1295496518

    "What if she is still using it at 14 years?" From Joan.

    So wise. I remember rolling my eyes at a lot of this stuff thinking, "Who cares - by the time they are 5, 10, 15, what will it matter???" It's much easier to parent when you are over thinking this kind of stuff. I can attest to that! Big Grin

  12. MonkeyMama Says:
    1295496574

    P.S. Obviously this means tuning out a lot of opinions, but I would think most moms would be used to that.

    Um - I meant to say when you are NOT over thinking - I can't edit that last one so am correcting myself here.

  13. My English Castle Says:
    1295499183

    DD used her pacifier very little--just not interested.
    But sucked her thumb for a long time. My M-I-L wailed about it all the time. One day I said to her, "Look how your kids turned out." I never heard another word about it. :-)

  14. guppy Says:
    1295528661

    I know, I know. I agree with most all of you. She's my child so I should do what works for us. It's so hard with a MIL sometimes. We've had a good relationship so far, so I'm now finding myself biting my tongue to not create issues. It's just hard when I hear this advice coming from a woman who smoked around her children. She doesn't smoke around my daughter but she will come in smelling like smoke. But then again my husband comes in that way too (he's currently trying to quit, and some days are harder than others.)

    Meh..

  15. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    1295556840

    Mine never took one. No thumb sucking either at 1 year old. Who knows. I'd let it go.

  16. ceejay74 Says:
    1295638381

    Use it when she's not around & try not to talk about it with her. ;-)

  17. Jerry Says:
    1295649334

    Our first daughter didn't really suck on anything that wasn't attached to Mommy. Our second daughter also enjoys Mommy, but has discovered her middle and ring fingers, and sucks them when she is tired. Upside down. (Which is hard, if y

  18. Jerry Says:
    1295650155

    you aren't a flexible baby... I tried.) I don't think it leads to anything major in most cases, the only reason we didn't get binkies was because we didn't want to go through the process of weaning from binkies. I think that you have pretty good insurance that it is a bigger deal for MIL than it is for the kid. Smile Jerry

  19. SnoopyCool Says:
    1295696597

    "It's so hard with a MIL sometimes." You are preaching to the choir there, sister! When my oldest was a baby, my MIL took his first baby picture around her office (while I was there) and asked everyone if his hat looked stupid, because she thought it did. It's been a long haul with her ever since...

    All three of my girls sucked their thumbs. My oldest DD stopped at 5, but my 5 yo DD and 3 yo DD have yet to stop. I'm not worried about it; we have yet to have dental problems with any of them.

  20. miclason Says:
    1295753319

    DD hated them... I think she used it once (somehow, her father got her to use it... I donīt know how he did it) She loved to play with it, but she used to suck on her middle and ring fingers... it shows, one of her teeth is crooked! If she had used the pacifier, i would have just thrown it out!

  21. mjhnall Says:
    1296080813

    I am 42 and have worked for my father since age 15 in his dental office. I have personally never had a patient come in with a large OVERBITE, crooked teeth, or decayed teeth for that matter from over-use of sucking on the pacy. The ones that end up with major dental work, are the thumb suckers! Over time, suckers tend to push their palate forward and this can cause major disruption to the new teeth coming in and also do irreversible damage with problems arising in the adult years. I had three boys back to back and all three took them for a long time, the oldest until he was five. He is 19 now and is a normal young adult. Keep your sanity and use it.

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