The Oasis - A spot for FORT parents

[PWS]

These days they are supposedly designed so that they are ok for the teeth--can't tell you tho as my two would only take one brand, and when that wore out at about 3 months they wouldn't take any other brand....some screaming the first night, but then that was that. They did have bottles in bed though (with water... they were nursed). And I'm glad they went the pacifier route vs. the thumb, which after all does not wear out and can't easily be detached! Every baby's gonna suck something, easier to end the pacifier than anything else.
However mine did use bottles for years...that is, they drank from cups at the table or in nursery school, but at home when they were wandering around with juice or milk or even water I gave them a bottle...too lazy to clean up accidents I guess (they didn't have sippy cups then). They knew that it was a social no no to do it in front of other kids so that wasn't an issue (their observation and decision, not mine). When each of them turned 5 we made a deal...no more naps and no more bottles. A nice rational discussion! The advantage of age. The first day was tough at the end, mostly because of the missed nap and consequent crabbiness, but that was it. They wanted to be "big" and not take naps and didn't miss the bottles that much apparently. I have some adorable photos when they were about 2 and 4, with the 2 year old imitating the 4 year old's posture exactly while drinking. Sigh. The two year old just passed the bar exam and has a job in a big firm, the four year old is a tenure track college teacher. Sniff! Enjoy the pacifier/bottle years while you can! Oh yes, and their teeth were fine--no cavities (thank you, prenatal flouride!), no braces needed in the teen years.
I think the big rush to get rid of pacifiers is at least partly social--like using bottles with kids who are old enough to hold a cup--people think it looks immature. Plus a lot of people hate the "look" of a pacifier, think it looks like a plug in the baby's mouth...which it is of course in a way! But really, who cares what other people think--if it works for your family, what's the rush?

ETA myrosiedog--I see we were writing about the advantages of pacifiers over hand parts at the same time, same thoughts!

[Google]

 

[lildago]

Lois, everything I've read suggests children give it up before permanent teeth come in. My son just turned two and I felt it was time. He was only using it at bedtime(which is the last time you should phase out) and it was more for security than anything else.

[Duxxy]

Dentists mostly agree that a pacifier will not affect a child's teeth/mouth. It's fine.
I happen to detest bottles, M used a bottle for the last time a week after her first birthday and the kids in my daycare are all weaned from a bottle by the time they are 16 months. With all of the different cup designs out there now you can avoid spills and bottles at the same time.

warning: my own personal opinion; over the age of 1 a pacifier is for bed only. I can't stand to see a kid out in public with a pacifier in their mouth. I swear I saw a 5 year old in WalMart the other day sucking furiously on one!

DR - there were a lot of pacifier stories shared some time back in this very thread. About a year or so ago I guess. They are all around post #2294 - this is my own post.

[lildago]

Originally Posted by Duxxy

warning: my own personal opinion; over the age of 1 a pacifier is for bed only. I can't stand to see a kid out in public with a pacifier in their mouth. I swear I saw a 5 year old in WalMart the other day sucking furiously on one!

I agree, Duxxy. There's a girl in my daughter's class that shows up with one in her mouth every morning. She hands it over to her mother before she leaves.

[Duxxy]

That's disgusting.

[bbnbama]

Originally Posted by lildago

I agree, Duxxy. There's a girl in my daughter's class that shows up with one in her mouth every morning. She hands it over to her mother before she leaves.

My opinion is if you are old enough to KNOW to hand it over to your mom then you are old enough NOT to have one!!! JMO, of course!

My son never really sucked on a pacifier...he sucked on a cloth diaper...I can remember him at around 2 years old running thru the house with a cloth diaper hanging from his mouth and his headful of curls flying along behind him!!! He gave up the cloth diaper sucking around 2 1/2...on his own....I still have a couple of them boxed up with his baby clothes!!!

[DesertRose]

Originally Posted by lildago

I agree, Duxxy. There's a girl in my daughter's class that shows up with one in her mouth every morning. She hands it over to her mother before she leaves.

That is a little too much. I remember my friend shopping with her 3 year old (now 5) and his pacifier. She was so embarrassed by it but didn't know how to stop him. When she finally did, I swore to myself I'd never let it get to that. Two days after I noticed Anthony was old enough to handle his pacifiers (always had a 3 or 4) and I saw myself picking them up everywhere in the house, I decided pacifiers belonged in cribs. He was too young to be affected by it and now only wants one outside of his crib if he's really not feeling well.

[PWS]

Well, as you can see from the above, Lois, just confirms my previous post...no health reason to worry about it, all depends on how much you weight the emotional responses from non-family members, the emotional responses from other family members, your own emotional response to it, and your child's emotional response to it. But as you can see there are really visceral emotional responses to it. Be an interesting psychological study to figure out why for some psychologist at FORT. Kids chewing on diapers, blankets, hair, fingers, etc., get far less response than a kid the same age with a pacifier... why? You can practically feel fingers itching to snatch the thing out of the kid's mouth in the writings of normally calm and kindly posters. Who is it hurting? Kind of like the responses on the subject of gay marriage! Luckily no one can quote the Bible.
The one reason I can see to worry about what others' think is if you think someone you have to trust your child to will be mean to the child because of it. Of course then you might want to rethink your childcare arrangements! I would say that you can safely assume it will be gone for social fitting in reasons before adulthood no matter what you decide except for the recent fad of rave attendees to wear one.

[Lois Lane]

Thanks all! There's so much to learn...

[AJane]

Originally Posted by myrosiedog

Better a pacifier than fingers. My daughter sucked her 2 middle fingers, wouldn't take a pacifier.

Heh. My youngest does that, the two middle fingers on her left hand. Neither of my kids would take a pacifier, but only my little one sucks her fingers. She's 3 1/2 and still does it, but now only when she's falling asleep or very tired or upset. Hopefully she'll give it up before it affects her teeth. She gets embarrassed if someone teases her or tells her to take them out of her mouth (which upsets her and makes her suck harder) so we avoid making a big deal out of it.

Not a great habit, but I agree that it's just plain yucky to see older kids with pacifiers. To me it's like letting your kid pick his nose or scratch his crotch in public. I can't believe that a mom lets her kid take one to school, lil. Ew.