Even if you’ve already researched it beforehand, with a newborn baby, you’ll always have something to learn.
When facing new situations, various doubts and questions arise, and the best you can do is to keep yourself aware of the situation and how to deal with it.
Keep reading to know more about:
Can babies sleep with pacifier?
Breastfeeding and Pacifier.
When & How To Remove The Pacifier?
Lots more…
So if you are asking yourself, “Should I Remove Pacifier When Baby Is Sleeping” you are in the right place!
Soothers are often used to calm and relax our babies, helping them fall asleep.
When other methods of calming your baby prove ineffective, a pacifier can be useful to support his desire to suck, making him drift off to dreamland.
Parents know that there is nothing more beautiful than the quiet breathing of a sleeping baby, but the noise he makes holding the pacifier in his mouth while he sleeps is also adorable!
Parents clearly cannot keep their children under control all the time they sleep (Sad but True!).
But thanks to the soothers for the night, you and your baby can sleep peacefully.
Besides, learning about SIDS and how to reduce its risks is essential.
As we said earlier, don’t worry if the pacifier falls out of your baby’s mouth when they fall asleep. It’s natural because the baby can move during sleep.
Can a Aewborn Sleep With a Pacifier?
Yes! You don’t need to take it off after you fall asleep. However, if the soother falls during the night, which is very common, there is no need to reinsert it because even if it does happen, the protective effect against SIDS persists throughout sleep.
Sleeping with a pacifier is not a critical factor for sleep since there are no significant differences in sleep patterns between babies who sleep with a pacifier and those who do not.
Therefore, parents should not be overly concerned if their little one cannot do without a pacifier when it is time for bed.
Do soothers reduce SIDS?
Yes! Scientific research has shown that using a pacifier while sleeping can protect against Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Parents often fear that pacifiers left while sleeping pose a risk of suffocation. Still, the pacifier’s ventilation and design allow your baby to breathe easily with the pacifier in their mouth.
Furthermore, to ensure an even safer and more relaxing sleep while reducing the risk of SIDS, place the child in the supine position (belly up) and avoid placing pillows and fabric toys on his bed.
Your kid can play with it after a good nap or at night. Soothers can comfort your baby throughout the day and night – that’s why they were created with their needs in mind in both situations.
Keep in mind, though; you don’t have to force your baby to use the pacifier if he refuses it. Your child may need time to get used to the new sensations, so be patient!
Related: 5 Best Humidifiers For Babies
When To Use a Pacifier?
You can’t offer a pacifier to keep your little one busy or distracted or to keep him from interacting with you. If you constantly try to calm a crying baby with a pacifier, you deprive him of the opportunity to speak out and yourself – to understand his desires and take action.
If you offer your child a pacifier, do not leave it on all day long. The time will come when the child begins to put all objects into his mouth and then will learn their properties. And if the baby is constantly busy with the nipple, he will not get a chance to explore the world around him!
Tip: As soon as the baby forgets about the nipple, remove it.
Interestingly, when the child’s hands become more skillful, he will decide when to take or remove the pacifier. From 6 months, the sucking reflex will gradually fade, and the baby will ask for a pacifier less and less over the days.
Remember not to abuse the pacifier! The more the child gets used to it, the more difficult it will be to wean it. It is necessary to finally part with the dummy before the baby turns one year old.
Keep in mind, though, constant sucking on a pacifier can adversely affect bite formation. It also distracts the child from getting to know the outside world and can interfere with his development.
It is important to know that if a breastfed baby constantly requires a pacifier, he may be malnourished or lacking your attention.
Related: Discover The 9 Best Crib Sheets For a Comfortable Night Sleep
Breastfeeding and Pacifier
The most common concern when using a pacifier is possible problems with breastfeeding, so the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the introduction of a pacifier after lactation has become established.
Interestingly, there is evidence that nipple sucking may promote breastfeeding, and many studies have found no association between pacifier use and frequency of breastfeeding.
To clarify: In the first months of the baby’s life, using a pacifier can negatively affect lactation and nipple latch in breastfeeding babies, leading to breastfeeding.
The sucking mechanisms of a pacifier and a mother’s nipple are fundamentally different. When a baby suckles at the breast, many more muscles are involved, and the tongue undulates.
The negative side is that getting used to pacifier sucking, the baby transfers another easier sucking technique to breast sucking, making it ineffective.
Sucking on a pacifier changes the movement of the tongue from wavy to piston, affecting the quality of breast sucking.
Using a pacifier reduces the amount of time spent at the breast.
All of these together (less frequent and poor quality suckling) often result in painful suckling, reduced weight gain, reduced milk production, lactostasis, breast rejection, and cessation of breastfeeding.
Pacifier Pros And Cons
Benefits Of Pacifiers
Parents benefit greatly from giving their kids a pacifier; the child does not cry, stays calm, and is busy sucking.
Here are why parents give their kids a pacifier:
- Keeping the kid calm: Mothers will have more free time for relaxation as well.
- More for the On-The-Go: the pacifier can be handy when your baby is crying, while you are not home, or cannot breastfeed.
- By sucking the pacifier, babies also learn to coordinate breathing and swallowing.
- The pacifier favors correct mouth development, stimulates facial muscles, and helps the tongue evenly distribute the pressure on the palate, favoring its progressive enlargement.
- Reducing the risk of malocclusions; the tongue’s position facilitates breathing, and the pacifier allows a correct mouth closure and favors air passage.
- Its use is favorable for the regular development of the oral cavity.
Disadvantages Of Using a Pacifier
Just as using a pacifier can be beneficial for falling asleep, it also carries some disadvantages that must be considered when incorporating it into the kid’s life.
Here are the following risks that you should consider:
- Dental problems: The prolonged use of pacifiers in children causes problems in the alignment of the teeth in the long run.
- Increased chance of getting ear infections: The pharynx communicates with the middle ear through the Eustachian tube, so constant suction could generate changes in pressure, favoring the appearance of disorders such as otitis media.
- Reduction of breastfeeding time: This problem occurs if it is introduced during the first days of life, so it is recommended to wait until breastfeeding is well-established.
- Reflux episodes: Constant sucking on the pacifier increases saliva production, which reduces heartburn and makes the baby more likely to spit up.
- Mouth injuries: One of the most common injuries associated with pacifiers are sores. They usually appear as a product of microorganisms when the teat is not cleaned correctly.
- Dependence on the pacifier to sleep: The frequent loss of the pacifier during sleep creates irritability in the little one and could disturb rest.
- Latex allergy: Most pacifiers contain latex, so if your baby shows any strange symptoms, such as red lips or swelling, you should remove the device and consult your pediatrician
Related: The 10 Best Baby Cribs For a Better Sleep
What to consider when giving your kid a pacifier
- Buy a safe and age-appropriate pacifier.
- Ensure a timely replacement depending on the composition.
- Always keep it clean! Wash regularly, sterilize at least once daily, do not lick, and use pacifier wipes for a quick clean.
- Store the pacifier in a particular container to keep its shape.
- Wean the baby from the pacifier at the right time and teach him to cope with stress in other ways.
Related: Preparing And Storing Baby Milk Bottles: Step By Step Guide
When & How To Remove The Pacifier?
The habit of sucking objects, even without the purpose of feeding, tends to wear off spontaneously around three years of age, the age within which it is recommended to remove the pacifier.
But what to do if the child keeps claiming it? How to remove the pacifier without trauma?
In fact, if you offer the pacifier to appease the baby’s crying, for example, there is the risk that the baby and the parents suffer everything too passively: the first because the baby will treat the pacifier as an object capable of giving an immediate consolation, the latter because they will be dissuaded from looking for the real reasons for the discomfort that their child manifests.
Conversely, suppose you can tolerate your child’s frustration and mirror his emotions using the gaze, facial expressions, contact, and later language. In that case, you will provide your kid with support to train in a fundamental emotional competence to conquer.
That is! Teaching kids to regulate their emotions without using a pacifier.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends avoiding the pacifier during the first period of “calibration” of breastfeeding (4-6 weeks after birth) and removing it within 2-3 years of age to exclude the risk of dental malocclusions and speech disorders.
Conclusion: Should I Remove Pacifier When Baby Is Sleeping
Psychologists believe that sucking gives the baby absolute pleasure and calms him down. Therefore, if children are given a pacifier at the right time, it will distract and comfort them.
Babies up to 2-3 months old on a free feeding regimen should be given a pacifier only if necessary. Some experts believe that in the first month of life, sucking on a pacifier can interfere with the development of breastfeeding.
In summary, the pacifier helps soothe and comfort the children, allows a natural gesture, allows babies to coordinate breathing and swallowing, promotes correct mouth development, and stimulates the facial muscles.
Keeping the pacifier when your kid is sleeping is not a problem at all, as long as you can control using it during the day when your kid doesn’t need it.
Plus, most modern pacifiers are also orthodontic, promoting regular growth of the dental arches and the correct tongue position.