Is pacifier good for the baby?

Pacifier, or “sut” in Danish is probably one of the most have for parents because it makes your baby stop crying especially in the middle of the nigh,  it gives you peace and quite for few minutes or hour. Luckily my son wasn’t that wild about it maybe just a month or two and his nursery did not encourage it either.

a baby with pacifier

The choice is up to the parents just remember so if you decide that pacifier is for remember a few things:

• wait until your baby is about month year old so she/he will not be confused with pacifier and your nipples because suckling is a baby’s reflex
• don’t let the pacifier be your baby sitter just give it when its necessary sometimes when they cry they need comfort to feel the warmth of their parents remember that they live inside the   mother ’s womb for nine months. Even though they can not talk or see you have to talk to them it soothes them to hear a familiar voice.
• When buying pacifiers choice only pacifiers without any phthalates (it is a chemical they add to soften the plastic if was suspected to be the cause of reproductive disruptions for humans and babies are susceptible I will write an article about this because most of toys, lotions contains Phthalates
• Chose pacifiers that can not obstruct the nose for me I was.
• Always see to it that is clean wash it with fresh water have seen mothers who used to clean it by putting them in their mouth and later give it back to their babies whenever it fell down. I guess our mouth is a rich source of bacteria please don’t do that. Buy a holder instead like my son on the picture.
• Change when you think the rubber is too soft it might lead to choking.

I observed that the Filipinamom’s in the Philippines doesn’t  rely  too much on pacifier like  their Danish counterparts. I think the reason is we the  Filipinamoms always want to be near our child we love to hold our babies every time they cry. That’s what my nurse /sunhedsplejersker told me that we are not afraid of touch I think that’s our nature. There is always a free set of arms to hold the babies the grandparents, aunts, friends and those privileged ones they have “yayas” or nannies to pacify the crying child. While in Denmark I observed in the day care institutions and in the streets babies even they are old enough always have something in their cute little mouth a “”. I can not give any reason but it like it’s some kind of tradition or a tool to make their lives easier.

But have you wonder what they do to wane their children from using pacifier?  It usually a big deal when the children is attached to their sut/pacifier but for me the best time is to wane them when they are between 2-3 years old when they start in the kindergarten. Watch this video from MYtvDenmark about the Pacifier tree where they hang their children’s pacifier in a tree and give a little present. In the Frederiksberg Garden there is a ceratain tree that parents go to when the time has come. It like some sort of passage for their children. The video also consist of how is the kids life in Denmark. Enjoy. You can watch more episodes visit http: //www.mydenmarktv.com/ and learn abouth life in Denmark through the eyes of foreigners.

Episode #36 – MyDenmarkTV.com from MyDenmarkTV on Vimeo.

How about you ? Do you have any tradition when the time to say stop using pacifier?