Pacifiers are a substitute for sucking nipples or eating hands by satisfying non-nutritious sucking needs to soothe children.
Should a pacifier be used? This may also be one of the problems that many parents struggle with. Dad would like to say that as long as you have the following information, you can make the pacifier your biggest helper!
Advantages and disadvantages of pacifiers
1
merit
1. Reduce the risk of sudden infant death
Moms and Dads have a pacifier in their baby's sleep to prevent them from falling asleep on their stomachs, which greatly reduces the risk of sudden death syndrome.
2. Soothe naughty babies
Babies are the most relaxed when they are holding something in their mouths, and they prefer to have things in their mouths, so when the baby is vaccinated, blood drawn, and seen a doctor, they can use a pacifier to divert their attention and let them obediently cooperate with the examination.
3. Help your baby sleep well
A pacifier can also help your baby sleep. If you find that your baby is sleeping unsteadily, you can plug a pacifier for him, which will not only soothe the baby, but also reduce annoying problems such as waking up at night.
4. Protect your ears when flying
Because babies do not consciously relieve ear discomfort by swallowing or yawning like adults when they are on an airplane, they will generally make a big fuss. If you give your baby a pacifier at this time, you can just let your baby do swallowing movements and reduce discomfort.
5. It can correct the baby's habit of breathing with mouth
Babies before 4-5 months of breastfeeding, without exception, breathe through the nose. However, after 5 months, when food supplements are added and vocalizations begin, they become mouth breathing. Breathing through the nose prevents external viruses and pathogens from invading the body, while mouth breathing cannot. At this time, you need something to make the baby "shut up", and the pacifier is a good choice to correct the baby's habit of breathing with mouth.
6. Meet the needs of sucking and reduce overfeeding
Small babies have a need to suck, especially in the first trimester, so even if they are not hungry, they need to suck. In the case of uncertainty, the use of a pacifier can help new parents distinguish whether the baby is crying because of hunger.
2
shortcoming
1. Affect breastfeeding
Allowing your baby to use a pacifier too early can confuse your baby's nipple and nipple and interfere with breastfeeding. Because the taste of the mother's nipple and the pacifier is always different, some babies are very sensitive to these differences.
2. Affects nighttime sleep
This is mainly because of the concern that the baby sleeps with a pacifier, and once the pacifier falls out, the baby may wake up his parents by crying.
3. May increase the risk of otitis media
Studies have shown that excessive use of pacifiers may increase your baby's risk of otitis media. However, you parents do not have to worry too much, because the period when babies rely most on pacifiers is 0 to 6 months, which is the period with the lowest probability of otitis media. The risk of developing otitis media may increase after 6 months, after which moms and dads can reduce or simply stop using pacifiers.
4. May affect the development of teeth and oral cavity
If children over 4 years old still use a pacifier, it is easy to have problems such as reversed teeth (ground wrapping), open and closed teeth (there is a gap between the upper and lower front teeth), and anterior protrusions of the front teeth, so if the baby is 4 years old, they should stop using the pacifier.
Correct use of pacifiers
In the use of pacifiers, we must control the frequency, time, and occasion, and do not rely too much on them, otherwise it is easy to ask God to send God difficult. Combined with its advantages and disadvantages, how do we seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.
Timing of use
1. First of all, be sure to wait until the baby has adapted to the mother's nipple to use the pacifier, that is, after the baby is born about 4 weeks later. The use of pacifiers during this period can avoid nipple confusion and affect feeding.
2, the use of pacifiers is best used when the baby is not hungry, do not use it as a means of delaying feeding, so it is best to use a pacifier for the baby after feeding or between meals, of course, do not use the pacifier for the child all day.
3, do not rely too much on the pacifier, the baby wants to use it as soon as he cries. Try more other methods, such as changing your baby's position, or touching him more and singing to him.
4, see that the pacifier has so many benefits, parents and parents do not force the baby to use, if the baby is really not interested in the pacifier, do not use.
5. If the baby is sleeping, the pacifier falls out, as long as the baby does not cry, there is no need to put it back.
safety first
2. The shield between the nipple and the ring is at least 4 cm in diameter, which is also to prevent being swallowed by the baby.
3, can not be for the sake of convenience to tie the pacifier with a rope to the bed, or the baby's neck, hands, which is likely to lead to the rope to the baby's neck.
4. Always check whether there is loose and aging place on the pacifier, and replace it in time if found.
5, can not take the nipple on the ordinary bottle instead of the pacifier, because the ordinary nipple is relatively soft and small, the baby may suck into the mouth when sucking hard and even suffocate.
6, do not let the baby eat in order to make the pacifier dipped in sugar or honey and other foods, especially honey can not be used for children within one year of age, there will be a risk of poisoning.
3
Cleanliness and hygiene
1. Disinfect with boiling water before the first use to clean up thoroughly.
2. When babies less than 6 months old use pacifiers, it is required to disinfect the pacifier with boiling water before each use.
3. Until the baby is older than 6 months, you can only clean the nipple with detergent and water.
Pacifier withdrawal
Abstaining from a pacifier is not an easy task, and its difficulty may be second only to abstaining from breastfeeding. It is ideal to reduce or even stop using between 6 months and 1 year of age.
If the baby over 2 years old can't change the habit of sucking the pacifier, you can use "forced" techniques, such as: changing the environment (traveling, going back to grandma/grandmother's house, etc.), so that the pacifier "suddenly" disappears. Although the sudden disappearance of the pacifier may cause the baby a certain sense of uneasiness in the first few days, it can reduce the baby's dependence on the pacifier.
PS: The most important thing is that parents should accompany the baby more, don't let him be too bored to take a pacifier to relieve his boredom
Precautions
1. Choose a pacifier
It is best to buy a softer nipple, and it is integrally formed, not the kind that can be disassembled, so as to prevent the loosening and falling off of small parts and causing children to swallow or suck by mistake.
There are two main types of latex and silicone in the material, and there are also subdivisions for daily and night use in function.
Preferably a biomimetic design, the material can not contain BPA;
The nipple should have a breathable design to prevent pressure on the small face and the appearance of saliva rash;
Bright and beautiful colors, easy to be loved by babies, pacifiers with luminous light will be more convenient to use at night;
Choose disinfection varieties such as microwave ovens;
2. There is no need for training
Sucking pacifiers is an alternative to the habit of sucking fingers, for babies who do not like to suck fingers themselves, there is no need to train him/her to suck pacifiers;
3. Replacement frequency
Usually you need to change a new one every two months, if your child sucks with great strength, you need to change it more frequently;
4. Prevent over-dependence
After the baby is 1 year old, the dependence on the pacifier is gradually shifted. Don't think that the baby's sucking pacifier will become quiet, and parents think that it is too much to reduce their burden.
Whether a pacifier is good or bad depends on the method you use, and only at the right time, with the right method, can it play its greatest role. So you must grasp the details listed in this article, so that the pacifier becomes your biggest helper!
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