I think the main reason most parents in the US give their infants pacifiers
is that they see children all the time with pacifiers -- they think this is
normal.  From observations of parent-child interaction in the US, both in
person and from TV and movies, this is what one concludes:

1) babies are to be carried in plastic buckets
2) babies are to have pacifiers in their mouths at all times except when
they are being fed
3) babies are fed with formula in a bottle
4) babies need their own special room, with a crib and cutesy wallpaper and
wall hangings and mobils
5) babies need baby monitors so mother and father can hear baby from the
other room
6) babies are put down in their cribs wide awake, mother says "night night"
and turns out the light, and baby goes to sleep

y'all can add more, but you get my drift

parents give babies pacifiers because that's how babies live in the US
parents give babies formula in bottles because that's how babies are fed in
the US
parents carry babies in plastic buckets, because that's mostly what you see
in the US

Kathy D.

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