Pacifier Use: Pros, Cons, and Safety Tips

What are the benefits of using a pacifier?

• Pacifiers, as the name suggests, provide a way for your baby to be soothed.
• Pacifiers fulfill infants' needs for non-nutritive sucking.
• When you're ready to wean your baby from a pacifier, you can take it away (compared with a thumb or finger, which cannot be taken away). The process may still be challenging, however.
• Pacifiers may reduce the incidence of SIDS.
• A pacifier may help your baby fall asleep.
• Pacifiers may help preterm babies learn to suck.

What are the drawbacks of pacifier use?

• If breastfeeding is not well-established, pacifier may interfere with the breastfeeding relationship.
• Pacifiers may increase the risk of ear infections.
• With prolonged use, pacifiers can cause dental and orthodontic problems.
• Pacifiers may increase the risk of respiratory tract infections and parasites if they carry bacteria and contaminants.
• If you want to use lactational amenorrhea as a birth control method, pacifier use interferes with its effectiveness.

Pacifier Safety

• Sterilize pacifiers regularly.
• Don't use a pacifier that can come apart into multiple pieces. Don't use bottle tops or anything else that may pose a choking hazard as a pacifier.
• Pacifiers should be large enough not to fit entirely in your baby's mouth.
• Don't tie a pacifier to the crib, baby's wrist, or around their neck.