Hi all. On the subject of pacifiers...

I have personal prejudices against them (they are ugly, dirty too often, prevent
baby/toddler/child from talking normally while in the mouth and probably when it
is out, too, and have to be weaned from somehow or another), but it is the
professional reasons I try to get across to parents--especially expectant
parents--who look at them as a wonderful way to escape the noise and "bother" of
24 hour parenting. As someone else has said, telling a mom that using a pacifier
is associated with "early weaning" that still may be LONG past the point she has
in mind to breastfeed, anyway, may not be convincing enough.

Another approach is to tell these moms that a pacifier teaches baby to suck with
his mouth closed--and translate that on the breast and you have PAIN and
inefficient breastfeeding! Since so many of them are assuming that pain is
normal part of breastfeeding (I endured 6 weeks of pain twice because I had
heard "fair skinned women have sore nipples"!), they are generally more than
willing to listen to THAT arguement. I tell them that after bf is well
established, then it becomes more of a parenting choice.

Then there is the "my baby is using me as a pacifier" line that we hear so much,
as if that is an awful thing to have happen. (I think it is rather nice,
myself!) A reminder helps that pacifiers came AFTER moms and that, if anything,
the statement should be "my baby is using a pacifier as ME!" along with the
information that the pacifier was made for bottle fed babies who need to suck
but don't need or want to be eating all the time they are sucking. This gives a
perfect time to talk about how baby can either suck to get food, or just hang
out for comfort, that the sucking is different, and that the breast responds
differently (giving milk or not), and that there is MORE to breastfeeding than
JUST eating. This is one of those bits of information that is hard not to be
impressed by how wonderful the system is! And it is information that goes beyond
just personal prejudices and parenting choices that are not likely to convince
moms who are already looking at the pacifier as the greatest thing since the
light bulb!

Y'all have a great week, and please try to keep discussions to something boring,
and not at all useful.;-) I'd hate to think I was missing out on anything while
I'm in Chicago!

Melissa Vickers, IBCLC
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