So far, I didn't do much crafts for the nursery. However, Friday, I took the sewing machine out because there is more to life than eating at 6:45pm and sleeping at 8:00pm! So I used some lovely ribbons that I was keeping for the perfect project (um...for the past two years) and made two pacifier clips from this tutorial.I think that my pacifier clips are pretty cute. However, I realized that just like a lot of baby items, there is always a bit of controversy. Some people are perfectly fine with giving a pacifier to a baby while other will never consider it.
So, ignorant Claudia wants to know: should I give my baby a pacifier?
I also made, as my husband says, a Sophie hanging device. We got the toy as a gift and it would suck to lose this fancy squeaky giraffe at the park this summer.
22 comments:
I love your weekly questions, I find them so sweet!
In my own experience, each baby decides by herself to take or not a pacifier. My babygirl never EVER, took it. She hated it, she got so angry when we tried to get into her mounth that I didn't understand why it is used to call "pacifier" and I felt an ugly person trying to get a piece of plastic into her baby mouth. We tried because it was a pediatrician advice, it didn't work for us, pediatricians are not always right.
I think you could include one in your maternity bag and try to give it to your baby. If she refuses it, don't force her to take it.
Think as well that all what a baby has to comunicate is crying so, listen to your baby first and then, when you understand her message and the solution is giving a pacifier, give her a pacifier. Pacifiers abuse is very frequent and is very sad, it's like when someone put a hand on your mounth and you urge to say something.
You must read "Secrets of the baby whisperer" by Tracy Hogg, it includes an interesting chapter about pacifiers.
I don't like very much her breatfeeding method, but everything else is quite ok.
Your pacifier clips are beautiful : )
Our kiddo likes the pacifier -- we jokingly call it his mute button. Sometimes he doesn't want/need anything other then to suck, and this does the job of helping keep him content and calm.
It helps keep him relaxed enough to fall asleep, but he spits it out before falling completely asleep. If he wants to talk to us, he just spits it out and babbles away.
I say it's up to you and the baby. As long as she's latching fine and gaining well, it won't hurt her.
Le bébé aime ou non..
Pour ma part, je trouve que l'option "mute" qui vient avec la suce très appréciable ;-)
Disons que c'est une source de réconfort artificielle qui, chez nous, aide beaucoup pour le sommeil.
Trop belle tes attaches! Je veux apprendre comment en faire une pour mon PO.
My two absolutely refused to take one, but would suck on my little finger for a few minutes of peace. They also refused a bottle, but I blame that on my husband's...
husband not husband's... I can't type this evening...
Great project idea - looks like I am going to have to go ribbon shopping!
I don't know the correct answer to the pacifier question but I figure I will get a few and see how it goes :)
I had this very conversation with my mum last night. She said my sister and I were never going to have dummies (as they're called in Australia), but sure enough we had dummies. Apparently my nanna always used to say 'there's those kids who were never going to have dummies' when we'd be walking around with one. I think I'll give the bub a dummy, or at least buy some just in case it wants one.. play it by ear I guess! I think it comes down to what's right for you and your family :)
One of mine loved his, the other never wanted one.
In the UK, you are discouraged from giving them to newborns until you have cracked breastfeeding (I think the theory is a dummy might interfere with the latch).
But after hearing my super cranky baby cry for 4 days non-stop before we left the maternity unit, because all he wanted was to suck all day and all night, the midwife whispered to me 'stop by and pick up some dummies on the way home'.
I think it's one of those things it's good to keep an open mind on - use one if it's useful.
Have one! Sometimes (many times) you need some peace!
I was 100 per cent against pacifiers. Jesse and I desperately wanted the newt to be a thumb-sucker (we both were) because, frankly, a baby sucking on his thumb is a billion times cuter than a baby with a giant plastic thing in his mouth.
The newt had completely different plans. He could not find his thumb but he really, really wanted to suck on something. He loved Jesse's pinkie finger, but one can only stand over a crib with one's finger in a baby's mouth for so long. Finally, when the newt was 2 months old, I gave him a pacifier. He was SO happy. He only has it when he's in his crib (I don't want him to think it's acceptable to have a big plastic thing in his mouth when he's in public!) and we're all much saner now.
Ah, compromise.
I agree with the other comments. I see nothing wrong with trying to give your child a pacifier. However, your child may not like it. My first child did not like it at all and kept spitting it out. My newborn only sucked on one for a few minutes and then spit it out when I guess she realized there was no food in it. (We didn't know she was still hungry.) Interesting.
Hm, tricky question. I think it's okay to give your baby a pacifier, you just have to find the right point in time to take it away again (I'm talking about one year old at most here). Otherwise, you'll end up with an almost two year old who still can't go to sleep without one and screams bloody murder if you deny it...
I really like the clips you made, and especially the Sophie hanging device!
We waited till about 6 weeks old to give Cal a soother / pacifier. I think we had read somewhere that it affects their palate shape the first few weeks. For a couple of weeks it helped him nod off with a quick switch from breast to soother but eventually he realised that milk was never going to come out of the pacifier and used to just spit them out.
Good call on the Sophie hanging device. We recently lost ours on a trip to the shops and the few days between a replacement being delivered was not good.
So you got a Sophie in the end. I'm sure you little one will love her!
Regarding the dummy, I bought one "just in case" but I really wanted to avoid giving it to my baby. However, L. cried so much that first night at the hostpital I tried it and he works wonders. So we decided to use it. Weak of us I know, but when you're getting 4 hours of sleep a day, anything is welcome to get extra snozzing time. And as it turned out, little L. used the dummy for 5 weeks, then decided he didn't want it anymore because he found his thumb which he sucked for about 3 weeks and since he has never wanted either! I think you just have to do what feels right and it will work out. There is no right or wrong - in the end, you need to chose what is best for you as a parent and for your baby.
Bisous
ps: I forgot to congratulate you on your sewing skills. Bon boulot!
I thought we'd use one for sure...but Will had other plans. He wants food to be coming out of everything he puts in his mouth, and I'm surprised anytime the paci works. Last night it turned out the thing to finally calm him down on our car trip was his (empty) bottle - I guess the shape was more soothing (now if only I could pump more so he could have a bottle every time he wanted one!).
We got so many as gifts and I was totally prepared to use them for sanity's sake or the sake of a decent night's sleep at least--but our baby never took to them (she seemed sort of offended at the suggestion of putting this artificial thing in her mouth that didn't provide her with milk) and she was also a really good sleeper from day one--we lucked out in that regard. I think it's true that babies will either love them or hate them. I was glad in the end that we didn't have to go through the stage of weaning her from the pacifier, and she even weaned herself from breast-feeding, which was a dream. Love those pacifier clips though--they are so sweet!
Here's the thing:
I didn't want to give Zoe a pacifier because I didn't want to deal with just one more item to take away from her later, and I didn't want to wake up to put her in her mouth several times each night when she loses it. But.
What happened was that later I thought it would be useful so I tried to give it to her. And, as many babies do when they exclusively breastfeed, Zoe didn't want it!!! She only took it here and there, a few times, but never really got into it.
And I was fine with that!
(Still, I crocheted a couple of pacifier ties...)
we will try the pacifier, but i really think it's up to the baby. some babies find immense comfort in sucking, and thumb sucking, unfortunately, is not a learned behavior. some babies naturally suck their thumbs, others don't. if you're concerned about what materials pacifiers are made of, it's really no different than putting a bottle in your baby's mouth. of course, i don't want to introduce these things too early to my baby, but i see nothing wrong with giving him/her (and myself) a little help once we've both figured out breastfeeding.
Love the Sofie leash! Very cute and a great idea.
It's funny, I was just looking at our small pile of unused soothers the other day and debating whether to throw them out or save them for the next kid. We bought a couple different ones before our daughter was born just in case but at the times when she was fussy/crying and wasn't interested in a boob, all she'd do was spit them out and keep crying. Sometimes, when she wants to spend all night nursing, I wish she had liked them more.
Sorry for the late comment, been a bit busy...
I was dead against dummys initially, but I've read several articles, and been told by various midwives, paediatricians and surgeons that they are actually recommended to reduce Sudden Infant Cot Death Syndrome. So I have had a change of opinion.
Whether or not you can get the baby to accept one is another matter! Our 2 week old can't keep his in his mouth for longer than a minute or two, but is very happy to suck on a finger for half an hour, so you might try that in the beginning.
I would also say that I don't use one to shut the baby up, but rather to calm him down especially after feeding, when he has had enough but still wants something to comfort suckle.
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