Comments on: Pulling the Plug

By: KB

KB — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:25:38 +0000

I agree Katrina, it’s important to point out that not all babies will experience that confusion.
Liz- I don’t think that what Katrina said sounded anything like “no babies experience it” and that she was trying to be a know-it-all. She was merely pointing out the fact that not ALL babies experience it. Don’t know if that was worth calling her out on.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:06:18 +0000

Liz, as I said above - I’m afraid we’re scaring the new moms and/or moms-to-be. Nipple confusing doesn’t ALWAYS happen. That’s a fact. It’s something to be mindful of, certainly, just as you’d be mindful of many things involving newborns. I’m merely pointing out the fact that nipple confusion can be the exception and not the rule.

By: liz

liz — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:50:49 +0000

Katrina, I would be careful about giving the advice that just because your baby didn’t experience nipple confusion dosn’t mean that other babies won’t or that you can tell apart the ones that will. It is something to be aware of and mindful of when deciding to give a baby a pacifier and bottle especially in the begining when breastfeeding is being established.

By: colleen

colleen — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:32:11 +0000

I was a human pacifier for the first few months of breastfeeding my two kids. I think the babies suck because of the human interaction as well as for hunger. Every parent makes their own decisions for their family’s needs. Nothing is “easier” as far as breast/bottle feeding or pacifiers/thumbs. It is only what works for your family. Count yourselves lucky if the worst thing in the world is weaning from a pacifier.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:16:45 +0000

Tobi - point well taken! I try to keep that in mind when I see small children acting up, I don’t judge the parents based on not knowing their situation (more often than not, I can sympathize!). It honestly hadn’t occured to me that a child with a paci might have a medical/developmental condition.

By: Tobi

Tobi — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:10:59 +0000

I want to follow up on Katrina’s comment about how if they are old enough to ask for it, they are too old for it. I would encourage you to think about this from another perspective.
There are a lot of children who have a variety of special needs - medical, developmental, cognitive, etc. That’s the case with our daughter, although you probably wouldn’t know it from a casual interaction with her. She is now a few months shy of 3 and still uses a pacifier sometimes. Yes, she asks for it. Her unique needs are such that we actually encourage her to ask for her paci to help soothe herself or chill out a bit. I am thrilled when she asks for it, because it means that she has identified a need and knows how to communicate it - a triumph every time it happens. So, it’s not laziness, or pathetic, or embarrassing. It’s just the reality of where this child is in the range of development, and in the scheme of all of her challenges, extended use of the pacifier is pretty minor.

Of course, this is not the case with every 3 year old you see running around with a nuk in her mouth. But there is often more than meets the eye in every family. And so when I see an older kid with his blankie or nuk or still in diapers or whatever, I try to give the parents the benefit of the doubt — maybe it’s better for that child than the alternative.

That said, with my son’s extended use of his bobo? Sheer laziness on my part!

By: Katrina

Katrina — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:52:52 +0000

Kandace, I can understand that to a point. But I’m worried about scaring new moms/moms-to-be about the “dangers” of pacifiers, etc. I think its important to point out that its NOT always the case. My son never experience nipple confusion and took to nursing like a champ, all the while being bottle fed by everyone. He’d take a bottle from anyone who would feed him, and never once seemed “confused”. What I’m trying to say is pacifiers don’t always cause nipple confusion and just do whatever you think is best!

By: Kandace

Kandace — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:40:00 +0000

Katrina, I think Carrie may be talking about “nipple confusion” which can happen during the early days of a newborn, when breastfeeding is still being established. Same reason it’s recommended that exclusively breastfed babies shouldn’t be given a bottle (of pumped milk) until breastfeeding is well established. Not all babies have problems with nipple confusion. Just something to be aware of with newborns and breastfeeding/pacifiers.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:23:43 +0000

As for interfering with BF’ing - What?!?! Not true, my son nursed every 2 hours for many months and had a nuk constantly. Some infants just need that sucking motion AND they do also help prevent SIDS!!

By: Katrina

Katrina — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:21:49 +0000

I cringe (and I admit, sometimes shake my head) when I see older toddlers with a nuk. If you’re old enough to ask for it, you’re too old for it! I took my son’s away at about 15 months. For him it was out of sight, out of mind - if he didn’t see it on the counter, in his crib, etc, he didn’t know to point to it. It was painless. I think some parents are too lazy to just take it away, yes it’s easy to pop it in their mouths to keep them quiet, but past 2 years old is pathetic. I would be embarrassed if my child still had a plug at that age.