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What are the Benefits of Pacifiers: Should mothers let newborns use pacifiers, considering concerns about hoarseness and teeth appearance? For those still worried about potential harms, it's crucial to dispel baseless notions. Here are the positive effects of pacifiers on the health of newborns.
1. Promotes Quality Sleep for Newborns
For babies who struggle with sleep, a noisy environment can disrupt their sleep or cause frequent awakenings during the night. This sleep challenge often leaves many mothers fatigued and even stressed. Mothers' approaches, based on collective experience and instinctive knowledge, can be both amusing and challenging.
Additionally, the baby's unconscious feeding when not hungry hinders their understanding of natural body sensations and needs. This can pose a significant obstacle when the baby transitions to solid food later on. The dreamy scenario of the baby sucking while sleeping can also lead to milk regurgitation. These issues can be avoided when mothers opt for a pacifier, allowing the baby to sleep soundly without resorting to sucking hands or breastfeeding. This choice also eases the burden on mothers when caring for the baby.
2. Pacifiers: Supporting Oral Development for Babies
Concerned about potential hoarseness and misaligned teeth, many mothers hesitate to let their babies use pacifiers. Pacifiers not only have no impact on the baby's jaw and teeth but also aid in the development of the baby's mouth and teeth. These concerns are self-assumed and passed on from one mother to another, while in reality, there is no scientific study confirming that using pacifiers affects the baby's jaw and teeth.
Most Western mothers often give their babies pacifiers from an early age to prevent habits like thumb-sucking and lip-biting, which can be harmful and lead to abnormal oral development. So mothers, do not worry about whether to let your newborn use pacifiers because of the concern that it may adversely affect the baby's oral health. Using high-quality pacifiers, thoroughly researched and certified by dental organizations, also supports the natural development of teeth and the mouth.
3. Reducing the Risk of Sudden Infant Death
Allowing the baby to suck on a pacifier during sleep can significantly reduce the risk of sudden infant death by up to 90% due to suffocation (sleeping face down on a soft pillow, tightly covered face with a blanket, etc.). When the baby sucks on a pacifier, the airhole in the pacifier becomes an air passage for the baby, preventing suffocation.
4. Effective Method for Weaning off Thumb-Sucking
6. Breaking the Thumb-Sucking Habit: Can Pacifiers Help?
Most infants develop the reflex to suck their thumbs, primarily the thumb, which gradually becomes a habit. Some persist with this habit even into primary school, making it challenging to break. This habit not only affects aesthetics and hygiene but also impacts the oral development of the child. Almost 100% of infants can break the thumb-sucking habit with the help of a pacifier as a substitute.
7. Providing Moms with Extra Time for Baby Care
Every breastfeeding mom is busy with countless unnamed tasks. For fussy babies who resist eating and sleeping, mothers are always on their toes. Allowing the baby to suck on a pacifier is like a way to console and calm the baby, giving mothers the opportunity to use that time to prepare solid food or mix formula for the baby. Letting the baby self-soothe by sucking on a pacifier, playing alone peacefully, enables mothers to take advantage of the time to hang laundry or wash baby bottles—better baby care.
In summary, whether to use pacifiers depends on the baby's eating, sleeping, and health conditions. If the baby has a stuffy nose or difficulty breathing, it's advisable not to use pacifiers. For newborns who haven't mastered breastfeeding, using artificial nipples should also be delayed. Gradually reduce the time and frequency of pacifier use when you notice signs of dependency: requiring the pacifier to fall asleep, crying when it falls out, and the mother having to put it back in for the baby to sleep again.
