Should Your Baby Use a Pacifier?

I think that we have to stop listening to everything any expert says to us and start listening to our own babies. We are all an expert of our own child's particular character and needs. My baby for instance is a very happy baby but is always fussing and searching for things to put in her mouth.

There is nothing wrong with the use of a pacifier if you choose to use one, but a baby does not need a pacifier all of the time. The problem of dependency comes when it is constantly shoved in the baby's mouth without finding out what the baby was crying or fussing about to begin with, hence... the baby loses her voice and becomes dependent on that pacifier. To pacify is right, but how passive do you want your budding little person to be?

Just like most things the pacifier should be used sparingly. Most of my friend's babies which use the pacifier all of the time have found that its miracle affects have diminished over time and in its place is an addiction to one specific object that the baby comes to understand as the only thing that can soothe her. Notice what other objects she likes to suck and chew and try to give those as an alternative occasionally.

To surmise the problem with pacifiers start with overuse, keep it in a kitchen drawer and take it out only when it is really needed (like those terrible teething pains) I assure you their will be no addiction as the baby will be soothed by the sucking and then spit it out when not needed any more, and if she is any thing like my little one she will carry on the important task of crawling around every bit of furniture and babbling incessantly to herself!