Pacifier, yes or no? Is he eternal debate between pediatricians and different families. Let's start with the origin of the pacifier; was invented just over 100 years ago and sold as «Infant comforter». Before its invention, mothers used knotted rags or pieces of rubber instead to soothe babies (somewhat frivolous in my opinion and totally devoid of a modicum of empathy towards the little one).
But hey, let's go back to our century in which we proudly show the advances that science and technology have given us. Nowadays we have pacifiers of all colors and of all shapes, with customizable text, made of different materials and surely all of us sin to have or have had more than one in the bedroom "just in case" (I got together with 12 pacifiers between those given away and those bought). Initially, the pacifier is not a bad idea and we cling to an endless of reasons such as "better that than the finger", "it relieves him a lot and he cannot sleep without it" or "better a pacifier than the 24 hour teat". Let's take the last point. I would like to explain to you in these paragraphs why the pacifier is only going to be a hindrance in our intention to feed our newborn baby with exclusive breastfeeding and thus show that interferes with the start of it.
Confuse the baby
The first thing we have to be clear about is that a pacifier is never going to resemble a tit, no matter how expensive it is or no matter how hard it is, since the purpose This is not to feed a baby but to alleviate the sucking instinct with which they are born. Putting a pacifier on the baby within a few hours of birth will cause a Confusion which will lead to a bad grip to the mother's breast.
Feeding decrease
A bad grip will lead to cracks in the nipple, a poorly emptied chest with the possibility of causing a mastitis and above all it will make baby suck less for not knowing how to properly grasp a good bite of the mother's breast (the correct grasp corresponds to a good piece of areola in the baby's mouth along with the entire nipple), with the consequent poor weight gain and the introduction of another «enemy» for exclusive breastfeeding, such as bottle feeding «helps».
Decreases the production of breast milk
Regarding milk production, it has been shown that the pacifier interferes and greatly in the amount that the chest will be able to manufacture. Remember that there are two main types of suction: nutritive suction and non-nutritive suction. Both are part of breastfeeding, so why do we use the pacifier in one of them if it is the breast that should be in charge of both? The role of nutritive suction is clear; alimentar to the baby. But the role of non-nutritive sucking is always overshadowed by pediatricians little updated or by an environment too Misinformed. Non-nutritive suction doesn't just work for the baby to practice the grip and the way of sucking; non-nutritive suction serves to feed the soul and to forge a link Magnificent with her teat since it is the one they usually use to relax or at night.
If even after learning that the pacifier can interfere with the initiation and success of breastfeeding you want to use it with your children, an option that is just as respectable as not using it, you must take into account a series of recommendations:
- You should not offer the pacifier until breastfeeding is established, being the ideal not to offer it until after 3 months because the growth crisis most famous is in that period and it is where most lactations come to an end.
- It is also important to only give the pacifier at specific moments and not to calm a cry that should be the work of the breast since it is likely that this cry has to do with wanting to eat or with the desire to be "alone" with the breast by sucking.
- The ideal would be to offer it only at night in the event that the baby could not have the mother's breast available during all those hours (for that reason co-sleeping is recommended for breastfeeding) since as a point in its favor it has been shown that it reduces the probability of Syndrome of sudden infant death, although the teat would still be the best option since it would be stimulating the production of milk while sleeping.
In short, pacifier, yes or no? As a mother who breastfeeds and who has been called a pacifier day in and day out I would not give it to infants who are exclusively breastfed, no matter how minimal the possibility that it interferes with breastfeeding. fracaso Of the same. And as it has been shown that this is the case, the decision remains in your hands.