Are pacifiers safe for our babies?

Hi Steemians, How are you today?

I am sure that those of you who are parents are familiar with pacifiers and there use for calming babies, sometimes toddlers too. Generally, a pacifier is given children from birth to about 3 years of age. Sometimes however, older children are still seen with them in their mouths Are these children addicted to their pacifiers?

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I recently learnt that during a baby’s oral development, they will put nearly everything they find into their mouths – this in fact is how they start to learn, by using the senses in their mouths to feel and taste objects. This is a crucial and healthy stage of development. Sometimes however, if a young child constantly has a pacifier in their mouths, they will not have the opportunity to “mouth” anything else, and learning might be inhibited.

If used to calm a baby down then pacifiers do a great job, it is important to sooth our children and if a pacifier makes them feel safe, then please do give it to them. However, from the ages of two our children start to change, it is at this age that they need to learn how to self-soothe and discover emotions, as well as how to deal with these emotions. Taking a pacifier away from a toddler is not that simple however and can cause emotional distress in its self. I noticed this through the behavior of my own two sons. My first child was introduced to the pacifier when he was 4 months old and only stopped using it at the age of 4 and my second child is now 3 years old and he is still very stuck on to it too. In attempts to remove it from them, they get very upset.

This worries me, since they have become so set on their pacifiers that is has almost become a part of them. I truly do think that they are too old to use them but how do you put a stop to this somewhat “addiction”? Are they safe to use at this age? Apart from the development issues, what is they bite their dummies and swallow the parts? How does one put an end to the pacifier addiction without causing emotional distress?

Your feedback would be appreciated?

This post has been edited by a member of the @blue-pencil team.

@abdys Pacifiers are safe to use. At age 2 it should be weaned because it can cause teeth development problem later on. Weaning sometimes can be hard. But you have to do it slowly, wean it on nap time ,if kid fusses try to offer comfort toys or your hug until kid fall back to sleep. Wean next on bedtime . It can be challenging but do not give in to it. Goodluck!

Thank you very much.

Master transfer knowledge

Thank you for allowing a member of the @blue-pencil team to edit this post for you.

I agree with @phillip20steem . It will not be an easy thing, especially for kids over 2. My son was somewhat easy to give up his binky. Some kids are harder than others. You just have to find something to replace it with. Something that will provide comfort when they need it. Sucking on pacifiers or thumbs as their teeth are developing can cause the teeth to grow crooked too. I wish you luck and hope you find ideas or suggestions on here :-)

Ulasan yg informatif bg @abdys..
Saya jg pny anak laki2, ngompengnya pake 2 jari malahan, jari kelingking ma jari manis tgn kiri.
Klw abg berkenan, kita bs sharing lg ttg edukasi sama parenting.
Folback yah bg akun @jamanfahmi.
Salam kenal, makasi.

Makasih banyak bang @jamanfahmi atas kunjungan dan responnya. Salam

Kesinlikle katilıyoum. Bende bir anneyim ve bebeğime emzik vermedim. Ama etrafımdaki herkes neden emzik vermiyorsun? Şeklinde sorgulamalarla geliyorlar her zaman. Herşeyi engelleyen anlamsız bir nesne benim için.

Thank you so much for your feedback