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Home › What Things to Consider When Looking for Pacifiers for Your Baby?

What Things to Consider When Looking for Pacifiers for Your Baby?
Posted on 9/21/2020 by OM
What Things to Consider When Looking for Pacifiers for Your Baby?Sucking is a natural reflex for babies, they suck on fingers, bottles, toys, and their own hands. It can be tempting when your baby is fussing or upset to soothe them with a pacifier, but there are definitely some things you need to consider before you pop a binky into your child's mouth.

Temporary Fix, Long Term Problems


While soothing your fussing child with a pacifier may give you a few more moments to finish up chores, or focus on something else, it's setting your child up for trouble later in life. A child who develops a sucking habit early in life. Some newborns can benefit from occasional pacifier use if they have a strong urge to suckle, or are struggling with latching during breastfeeding. The pacifier can help develop oral muscles. The problems with pacifiers lie in prolonged use of a sucking aide. Children should be weaned off of pacifier use by 6 months of age.

Children who use pacifiers past this age have a much higher risk of developing complications. Open bite, anterior open bite and posterior cross bite are big dental development problems that your child could develop when pacifier use is prolonged. Anterior open bite is when the front teeth don't come together when your child closes their mouth. Posterior cross bite is the condition when the front teeth develop an overbite, but the molars don't quite fit. These conditions can be repaired, but it's so much better to prevent them in the first place.

Stopping the pacifier habit by 6 months of age will help save from them from dental health issues later in their lives. If your child is past the 6 month age, taking the pacifier can be traumatic and uncomfortable emotionally for your child. Talk to us about it. Give our office a call and we can help you make the transition with your child. Good oral health begins at birth and lasts a lifetime, and we look forward to partnering with you to help your child.
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