Breastfeeding & Pacifiers

[liminal1]

My daughter just had her baby and I was a little disappointed that when I went to see her in hospital the new father had put a pacifier in her mouth on day one saying, "Its what she wanted". I was shocked and horrified! Is it true that it is not good to give a new breastfeeding baby a pacifier? I am totally against them anyways and have explained to my daughter that if she is crying its due to her either being hungry, dirty or having some sort of tummyache. Am I just being a paranoid grandma?

[Becca75]

It can mess with good breastfeeding initiation, so it's good to hold off until breastfeeding is very well established. I don't feel terribly strongly after that - it can help some babies, but it can also become a crutch. None of my kids liked them at all and we survived just fine.

[Maret00]

It can mess with breastfeeding. And a baby that young does not know what a pacifier is. He/she does know what a nipple is and she would have wanted her mom to be held to be feed she didnt want a fake thing shoved in her mouth that doesnt have any really need if the mother is around.

It can mess with breastfeeding and shouldnt be encouraged if it can be helped have him ask that question on this board and let him see what the answer is. A lot of people dont undersand even nurses. They gave my son a pacie at the hospital even when I told them I wanted to nurse uninformed people sometimes.

[crystal555rose]

Infants want to suck all the time because it will stimulate the production of mom's milk. No pacifiers until breastfeeding is going well, my LC said 4 weeks.

My son is a pacifier boy and while sometimes I hate that we have to keep tabs on the pacifier there are other times I am so grateful he has something to suck on other than me.

[sealy]

My DD started a paci at 4 days old because otherwise she would have never left my chest. She's always been an awesome nurser, no issues with latch or nipple confusion (we did a bottle within the first month due to necessity) or pacifier preference. She gave up the paci the day she found her fingers to suck on. I think it TOTALLY depends on the baby and how well the nursing relationship has been established. It can be a life-saver or breastfeeding pitfall.

[Jen0608]

My daughter just had her baby and I was a little disappointed that when I went to see her in hospital the new father had put a pacifier in her mouth on day one saying, "Its what she wanted". I was shocked and horrified! Is it true that it is not good to give a new breastfeeding baby a pacifier? I am totally against them anyways and have explained to my daughter that if she is crying its due to her either being hungry, dirty or having some sort of tummyache. Am I just being a paranoid grandma?

It is not advisable to use a pacifier because it would only cause the baby to have gas pain specially to new born baby.

[StillSingingMom]

I'll be the opposing voice here. In general, any kind of artificial nipple can interfere with breastfeeding.

But.

Is it the world's biggest issue? No.

Also, there are times when it is actually a good idea. I, for instance, am blessed with a generous milk supply. So generous that I had lots and lots of milk by the time my last newborn was two days old. Being a healthy and normal baby, she had a strong urge to suck, which was completely overwhelmed by the milk she got in return. For her, a pacifier proved to be invaluable.

You are probably not a paranoid grandma (how should I know? Are you worried about the little green men coming to take over? ;) ) but let's not condemn all use of pacifiers forever.