A Hard Habit to Break

Part Three

Pacify the Pacifier Habit

By April E. Clark

Some call it a "pacee," a "binky, a "ninny" and even a "dummy." No matter its moniker, the pacifier means comfort to babies and peacefulness for parents. And like all creatures of comfort, babies can have a hard time breaking the rubber nipple habit.

"The pacifier has no major health benefits, but it often plays an important role in making a child and a family more comfortable," says Dr. Ross Black, a family physician and clinical professor of family medicine at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. "Clearly some children like to use pacifiers because they need them for comfort. It's more of a social thing."

As a family physician, Dr. Black has seen many parents come through his office door who were anxious about the topic of their child's pacifier use. He explains that it is natural for babies, especially during their first six months, to have the suck reflex that pacifiers so conveniently satisfy. "In terms of feeding issues, neurologically, young babies still want to suck," says Dr. Black, an active member of the American Academy of Family Physicians. "For example, a 4- to 6-month-old who can't eat solid foods will naturally need to suck. This basic neurology need can be easily satisfied, as many different pacifiers have been developed in different sizes for different ages."

A recent study by the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta confirms this natural tendency for babies to go gaga over pacifiers. According to the study, 75 to 85 percent of American children use pacifiers, most in their first few weeks. Medical College of Georgia researchers also found that the later in life a child is given a pacifier, the more it is used.

"When we first became parents, we said we weren't going to give our boys pacifiers," says Megan Espich, an Indiana mother of a 16-month-old and a 4-year-old. "With Cameron, our first child, it wasn't much of an issue. But with our second son, Nolan, he really needed a pacifier to calm down, pretty much as soon as he was born."

Want to see more?

• A Hard Habit to Break Part Two: From Diaper Donned to Toilet Trained
• A Hard Habit to Break Part One: Bring on the Cup
• Pacifiers: Love 'Em or Lose 'Em?
• Talk about it!