What are the benefits of using a pacifier or sucker for the baby? And do you also know its disadvantages? We will discover everything you need to know about its habitual use.
Although the use of a pacifier or a lollipop is as traditional as it is basic for most moms and dads, the truth is that we are faced with a common utensil or element about which there is in fact some debate between the experts themselves and the parents. Moreover, its use is definitely very widespread and many parents tend to resort to it when they consider it necessary; when considering it as an element as basic as the crib or the car.
On the other hand, the use of the pacifier is deeply rooted in developed societies. In fact, “many health professionals and society in general think that they are harmless and even beneficial and necessary for the development of the infant.”
But despite the customs that many parents continue to maintain generation after generation, the reality is that not all babies tend to accept the use of the pacifier, and many of them do not even need it. Furthermore, its widespread use is a common source of controversy among medical professionals themselves, as there are those who advise or even discourage it based on personal experiences, and not based on clearly scientific evidence or evidence.
Be that as it may, the truth is that although today the controversy and debate continue regarding the advantages and disadvantages that the use of the pacifier could cause in the baby, the truth is that there are scientific studies that have confirmed its benefits.
Why can the use of a pacifier be useful for the baby?
Helps you calm down
We must bear in mind that babies are born with an intense need for sucking, which is -in fact- fundamental and appropriate to their own nature, since suckling feeds them on the one hand, while on the other it also helps them calm down.
So the use of the pacifier helps the baby to calm down by providing an element with which it calms his anxiety and his desire to suck.
May prevent sudden infant death
On the other hand, according to different relatively frequent scientific studies, the habitual use of the pacifier reduces the risk of sudden infant death, by improving the heart rate and sleep.
Sudden infant death (also known medically as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS), consists of the sudden and unexpected death of an apparently healthy child under one year of age, which apparently occurs during sleep and remains unexplained. After the autopsy, the examination at the place of death and the review of the medical history.
In other words, it is the sudden death of a child under 1 year of age, caused by many factors, among which are: problems with the baby’s ability to wake up, and the inability of the baby’s body to detect accumulation of carbon dioxide in the blood.
It is useful for babies traveling by plane
According to some studies, the use of the pacifier during an airplane flight helps to alleviate the common discomforts that the baby may suffer, since by not being able to yawn or swallow saliva consciously, it is common for them to feel discomfort associated with changes in pressure in the ears.
However, it seems that the use of a pacifier or a pacifier can help alleviate these symptoms, and above all, alleviate the discomfort.
But not all are advantages in the use of the pacifier…
As can also happen with any other element or utensil, the use of a pacifier also has its disadvantages. The most important is related to the possibility that it can affect the normal development of breastfeeding, since babies tend to be extremely sensitive to the differences between the breast, the bottle and the pacifier.
This means that if the pacifier is inserted when breastfeeding is not fully established, it can negatively affect its proper development, especially when the pacifier is inserted during the first days of the newborn’s life. In any case, its introduction is recommended from the month of life, which is in fact the age at which the risk of sudden infant death syndrome begins.
In the words of the experts themselves, the truth is that the breast is an essential natural option that feeds the baby and calms it, therefore the use of the pacifier is not recommended in nursing babies until the production of breast milk and the position itself have been perfectly settled (usually during the first month of life).
There can also be a certain dependence on the pacifier or suck, which means that if the baby needs and depends on the pacifier to be able to fall asleep, when it falls off, he will wake up. The result is obvious: the baby will end up waking up several times throughout the night.
Finally, we must take into account the dental problems that the use of the pacifier can cause. Of course, the use of the sucker does not cause dental problems or risks during the first years of life, only when its use is prolonged.
