Everything you need to know about Newborns and Pacifiers

— 3 minute read

You just had your newborn baby and someone has offered you a pacifier to give to your baby. You may be wondering if it is OK to give a pacifier to your precious little one. Is it safe to give the newborn baby a pacifier?

The short answer is yes, you can give your newborn a pacifier if the baby is fed and calm and trying to go to sleep. We will examine this more closely.

Common Concerns

The most common concerns that we parents have when considering to give our newborn a pacifier are:

  • Nipple confusion
  • Teeth development
  • Speech development
  • Guilt

Newborn babies need to spend a lot of time at the breast. This helps the mother bond to the baby and it stimulates milk production.

Sucking is necessary to a baby as its only source of nutrition. Sucking is comforting to them. A Baby feels close and taken care of when they are being held at the breast.

It is important for a baby to be sucking at the breast.

When should we give them a pacifier?
Our recommendation is:

A pacifier can be used for newborns if they are fed and calm.

Let us put it in a different perspective:
When should I not give a pacifier to my newborn baby?

  • if he is crying
  • if he is wide awake

If your newborn is crying, you should first check:

  • Is the baby fed?
  • Did the baby poo?
  • Does it need to be burped?
  • Does it have a wet diaper?
  • Is the baby sweating or too cold?
  • Does it have gas?

And lastly, if everything else is okay:

  • Does the baby need some comfort?

And this is where the Momma's breast comes in. Remember we are talking about a newborn, his comfort should come from a Mom, not from a pacifier.
A crying newborn is awake and needs a connection to the mother. You should go ahead and give him the nipple for comfort.

When he is falling asleep, when the baby is calm, is when you should switch to the pacifier. The objective is for Mom to take a break while the baby is asleep.

Let us put it this way:

A pacifier should be an extension to the breast, not a replacement.

Don't forget that we are talking about a newborn. All this is different if the baby is older than 4-6 weeks.
If you need tips on how to introduce a pacifier, check this article.<link>