Pacifiers - anyone NOT use 'em?

[MrsT]

To add on - if you DON'T use one, do your kids STTN or nap for long periods?

DH and I were just wondering how many people are like us. DS has never gotten a paci. I didn't want to introduce one b/c of BF at first, then I didn't want to introduce one only to have to wean him from it later.

Lately, I have been wondering all of these good sleepers and nappers are using pacis and DS is doing the same thing, just using a human paci (well, sometimes I'm a paci at night, sometimes the kid's just plain hungry).

[nancy drew]

we never used one, because she wouldnt have it. she has been an off and on crappy sleeper but i blame it on lots of other things, not a lack of a paci.

[AttyGrl74]

We've never used one - she STTN most nights now - but it did take us about 9 months to get to that point. And I am a human pacifier still occasionally.

[twinnyme]

We tried to use it but Becca rarely took, or takes, it. She has started to occasionally suck her thumb. We never use it at night in the crib (again, mostly because she never took to it), and she has STTN for the last 15 days (we had one or two other STTN periods that then ended; I'm hoping this will last for a while) - from usually 6:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. I do occasionally use it for her to get to a nap - she hardly ever naps in her crib when she's home - usually in her vibrating bouncy seat and once in a while I have to give her her pacifier in order to help her get to sleep.

[diedra1027]

We don't use one. Like Nancy's DD, mine will have nothing to do with it (we have a collection of different brands). I'm also serving as a human pacifier much of the time (DD is 10 weeks old).

As for sleep, DD has been STTN since about 5 weeks. I think co-sleeping is a big part of that though. I get a decent morning nap out of her as well. Enough time for me to take a shower and get ready plus some time to do a few chores around the house. The rest of the day is mostly cat naps right now.

[Marisa]

No pacifier here. I'd tried it once or twice -- when he was in the car seat or when we had to fly when he was 4 mos.... but for the most part the kid's too smart to be fooled by a piece of silicone. :)

Joey's never really "STTN", honestly... Not to scare you, or anything. He's got a pretty good routine and it doesn't bother me all that much. He sleeps in 4-hour stretches, usually... and yes, I'm *still* a bit of a human pacifier in the evenings. He's become better about having dad pat his back and snuggle him back to sleep, though, if I'm not ready to go to bed yet (usually I am, he'll sleep from 7:30 until 11 or 12 and then I join him).

I kind of feel the same way you did -- at least I don't have to break him of the habit. :)

[BooeyJ2]

Our daughter hasn't taken one since she was about a month old. In the beginning she would take one every once in a while (even though she couldn't keep it in all that great),but never when she slept. After that (and now) if we try to give her one she'll have that disgusted look on her face and spit it out....so yeah, she never uses one. She likes to hold them sometimes though LOL.


As for sleep, she is a WONDERFUL sleeper (usually sleeps from 8:00pm - 7:00 or 7:30am and has been sleeping in her crib since she was 2 months old) and great napper as well. She will just fall asleep when drowsy (doesn't need to be rocked, swayed, fed etc). It's great! :)

[tray622]

My dd took a paci here an there for a couple weeks. I kept trying diiferent ones because according to my family she needed one. Well she obviously didnt. She has always been a great sleeper and has never used a paci for naps or night sleeping. Like the pp, she took one well on a plane but I think it just helped her ears ;)

[nordey]

My kids are older now (8 and 9) but I'll chime in with my experiences as well. My DS (9) would NOT take a paci. Trust me, I TRIED! He was a very cranky little guy and was never satisfied. He is 9 years old and I can count on my fingers how many times he's actually slept through the night (yes, I said 9 YEARS old, not 9-months).

With my DD (now 8) I didn't plan on using a paci, she was such a contented little baby it never occurred to me to use one but she was a thumb sucker and my pediatrician suggested that a pacifier is better than the thumb so we gave her one. She loved it dearly and was very upset when we took it away at about 18 months.

[littlebear]

We used one at the very beginning (maybe the first month) to develop his sucking. He was a preemie and didn't suck well. After that, he really never seemed interested in it. He STTN (10 hour stretch) at 4 months and does 11-12 hours every night at 8 months. He wasn't the best napper when he was smaller, but he's getting better. I don't think a pacifier would have helped with his naps.

[tqsmom]

We tried every kind of pacifier possible.. I must have tried at least 12 different sizes and shapes, and ds never wanted it. He much preferred his human pacifier

He will be two at the end of next month.. We bought him a taggie from www.taggies.com. He will not sleep without that and a cup of water. As for sleeping through the night, the only way he would was to co-sleep with us. He sleeps now from 7:30pm to usually 6am. Normally the only thing that will wake him up in the middle of night now is rolling out of his toddler bed since he is so active.

[ezl247]

MY DD (16 months) did not take a paci no matter how hard we tried (FWIW she never took a bottle either, but that is another subject). People told me that she would be a thumb sucker instead and I am happy to report she never sucks her thumb! She does however; suck her tongue when she is really tired. DD started sleeping consistently through the night at about 4 months and we stopped feeding her in the middle of the night then too.

[Marisa]

You know, Joey sucked his thumb for a little while there. From about 4-9 months, and stopped when he got his top teeth. I wonder if it was a sucking thing or a teething thing, though.

[Winter Biscuit]

My DD never took a pacifier. I did not offer one the first 3-4 weeks because I wanted to make sure our BFing relationship got well-established. (We had some BF/latch issues in the begining...) I think she was about 8 weeks old when I first offered one, and she refused it. I never tried again. However, when I went back to work when DD was 12 weeks old, her daycare asked me to bring a pacifier in so they would have something to use/try in case she got upset and was not easily consolable. She occasionally did take a paci at daycare, but never at home.

She is 19 months old now, and whenever she finds the pacis from her early months (the ones that she refused at 8 weeks, the ones she used at daycare, etc.) she puts them in her mouth and gets very upset when I try to take them away. :rolleyes: She just chews on them and plays with them now, but doesn't actually suck on them. I have gone around the house trying to hunt down every last paci so I can hide them all from her - she just does not need a paci now and they're way too small for her anyway (size 0-6 months).

[SaphirimalMei]

DD takes a paci but VERY rarely...Maybe four or five times in the last couple of months. When she does use a pacifier, it is never at bedtime and Jilly has been STTN since she was 3 months old.

[ButterflyJen]

We tried, sort of, in the early months when all DD wanted to do was suck. She didn't like the ones we had (admittedly we only tried one kind a couple of times) and wound up using our fingers as pacifiers instead. After a while she started thumbsucking and is still doing that at 11 mos.

FWIW, she doesn't STTN. :rolleyes: Well, she sort of does.

[cgmom313]

My DD took a paci in the first few months but lately starting at 3 months she stopped and she has found her thumb and fingers to suck on. She is 4 mths old. It is nice because when she wakes up at night she sucks on her thumb and puts herself back to sleep. On the other hand I have heard thumb sucking is harder to break then a paci... We shall see.

Since 3 months she just spits the paci out.

[Kay]

Both my boys never really took to a pacifier. I tried giving it to them when they were born but neither one was fooled by it. The older DS is 10 and I honestly can't remember when he first started STTN. I think he was about 7months old. The younger DS is 2 1/2 and didn't start STTN until he was 1 1/2 and he still occasionally wakes up durning the night.

[2labradogs]

My twins were born almost 1 year before your Elliot - 2.20.04. One took a paci until he was 7 months old, the other one had nothing to do with it from week 1. Both boys STTN by 4.5 months, but the paci addict used to wake up at 5am needing the paci to be replaced while the non-paci boy slept soundly all night. After the paci addict gave up the paci on his own he stopped the am wakeups. No human pacifier experience here, but as far as soothing objects, they are definitely very attached to their loveys - stuffed puppy dogs.

[Koala_Gurl]

...As for sleep, she is a WONDERFUL sleeper (usually sleeps from 8:00pm - 7:00 or 7:30am and has been sleeping in her crib since she was 2 months old) and great napper as well. She will just fall asleep when drowsy (doesn't need to be rocked, swayed, fed etc). It's great! :)

Must be those girls born on 3/16! ;) I could write the same thing about DD!

She does use her fist though when she wants to continue sucking. I think she may have taken the pacifier once, but that was it.

[miel]

We wanted to...but we avoided because people said not to give the baby one before she could put it back in her own mouth...by the time we introduced it was like a toy for her....she chews on it vigorously as if to make a point, smiles and drops it.

[eee]

[QUOTE=MrsT]I have been wondering all of these good sleepers and nappers are using pacis and DS is doing the same thing, just using a human paci [QUOTE]

I *heart* DS's paci and think he really needed the extra help to soothe. But it falls out of his mouth at night, and even though he is quite capable of finding it and putting it back in by himself, sometimes he is just so tired he gets confused and cries until we do it.

So, you aren't missing anything by not having one. ;)

[MrsT]

Thanks everyone! I guess my paci/sleep theory was mostly wrong as many of you seem to have great sleepers sans paci (which, by the way, I am jealous of!). Makes me feel better about never offering it when a lot of people were telling me to! Guess I should make HumanPaci my middle name...

[kmmommy]

I'm on the other side, but thought I'd share.

My DS really liked his pacifier from the start. He's been STTN since about 5 weeks with only a couple short phases where he wouldn't. We liked the pacifier because it helped him learn to self-sooth and he is now great at putting himself to sleep both at naptime and bedtime.

We were nervous about weaning him, but as he gets older and likes to talk he's discovered he doesn't want that thing to shut him up! So, he's weaning himself from it.

[bamboo]

At 11 weeks here, we've never used one and she's ben sleeping through the night (5-7 hours), since about 5.5 weeks. Sometimes she'll suck on my pinky as I'm singing/swaying her to sleep, but I haven't felt the need for a pacifier. I breastfeed so at first I avoided it for that, and by the time I would have been okay introducing one, it just seemed like she didn't need it.

[lorbo]

James was given a pacifier in the NICU-he had a really strong suck reflex right after he was born and he wasn't nursing or bottle feeding-he was on iv supplementation and they were trying feeding tubes. so, i guess the pacifier was to help that suck reflex. that said...he never really got in to the pacifer when he came home. he'd suck on it for a couple of minutes, then spit it out. there are days i wish he'd take one, but he won't.

DD was also given a pacifier by the nurses when she was born. she was a vigorous sucker, jaws like steel when nursing. at about 4 months, she learned she could pluck it out of her mouth and that's when she weaned herself from it.

as far as sleeping, i think it only helped to get DD back to sleep if she was startled. DS just spits it out. he sleeps 4-6 hours at a time and DD was an excellent sleeper.

[jenn0911]

My oldest DD loved her "binky", she used it all the time, naps and bedtime. It was horrible if we lost them (as she would just drop it wherever she felt like it) I swore to myself that I would take it away by the time she was one, then two, then 3...you see where this is going! ;) Finally at 3 1/2, the binky fairy came, took it away, left a gift and that was that!

My 2nd DD was born when the oldest was 2. We tried a few times to give her the pacifier, she spit it out every time! She slept very well, 2-3 hour naps and always all night. If I had a third I would definately try to not use one, but I wouldn't hesitate if that is what calmed them.

[Mrs. M.]

I didn't read all the replies.

DD never had a pacifier. Neither did she suck her thumb/fingers. She STTN at 6.5 months. She was exclusively BF for half a year and never had a bottle. Worked great for us!

I don't like pacifiers, but I understand that some babies might need them more than others.

[T&M'sMommy]

My ds used one until right around his birthday. We took it away one night and he cried for about 5 mins and went to sleep. Then he never asked for it back. I found it the other day in a spot where I forgot that I hid it. As for dd, she's using one because she loves to suck. If its not her suckie, then its her fist, her fingers etc...

[Brady]

Since 3 months she just spits the paci out.

My son was the same way, it was a lifesaver to us in those first few months for nap/bedtime, then he suddenly did not want anything to do with it sometime right between 3-4 months. He just started pulling it right out of his mouth, or would have it in his mouth, but not actually suck on it. He's about 4.5 months now, and we haven't given him one in about 3 weeks. He also just started putting himself to sleep, and has been STTN for about a month now. I'm just glad he sort of decided on his own to wean himself now, rather than the pain of going through it later!

I'm so amazed at all the moms/babies that never used one at all! We left the hospital without one, as I swore I would never even start using one, and needless to say.. after that first night home without one, my husband was running to the store the next morning to buy one!! ;)

[linda_loo]

Thanks everyone! I guess my paci/sleep theory was mostly wrong as many of you seem to have great sleepers sans paci (which, by the way, I am jealous of!).

If it helps shoot down the theory more, my 38 month old is a pacifier addict and STTN only aboug half of the time.

[chiffani]

No paci here for the same reasons as you didn't use one and she has no issues whatsoever sleeping. It took her a while to STTN (6 months or 7 at most) but I think we just weren't following sleepy cues and were putting her down too late and what not. I don't think it was a paci issue.

[camberne]

My son was never interested in a pacifier. It was as if for him to suck on something, he better be getting something out of it!! He spit them right out. He never had issues sleeping either. I considered myself very lucky. :)

[monique]

my DS would not use one for the longest time, and used me for a paci instead. He had a lot of trouble STTN and in fact, still does NOT! (he is 13 mos). If you don't want to introduce a paci, then I would strongly suggest teaching him how to soothe himself with some other type of object instead of relying on you for all the comfort. I am not pro paci nor am I anti-paci, I just wish I had encouraged DS to soothe himself more. he will now take the paci but still wakes up crying for mama and at times when given the paci, he will throw it at me and lunge for the boobie. This method makes weaning VERY hard. It is easier to weane from the paci later on than the boobie and you can just lose the paci but the boobie is always there. good luck!