By Veronica Nett
FAIRMONT — New studies have shown a multitude of benefits for children who use pacifiers.
It reduces the chance of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, helps to fill a baby’s sucking need and offers a source of comfort. While the benefits of pacifier use are notable, for some parents, the drama of trying to break the habit can overshadow the good.
Each child is different in their attachment to a pacifier. Some take them immediately, and others show no interest in them. When it comes time to break the habit, some parents will find it an easy experience, and for others, it will be a battle of wills, Debbie Hearn, owner and director of Bright Beginnings, said.
There is no simple solution to breaking the habit from her experience as a mother and as a day-care provider for children 6 months to 11 years old. Hearn offered a variety of tips that have worked for her and other parents.
“Sucking is a nurturing response for a children. It’s a security thing for them. If they are wanting and needing that sucking, it’s important to them to have it. I suggest not taking the binky away until parents are sure it’s the right time and know what they’re doing,” she said.
Hearn suggests a good time to start weaning children off their pacifiers is when they are about 2 years old.
“Slowly limit their time (with the pacifier) and limit the area,” she suggested. “Only allow them to have it when they are extremely upset, napping, during car rides to and from, and during other stressful times.”
She also said, to help with the transition, give the child something else to comfort them, such as a blanket or anything else that would help provide a feeling of security.
Mandy Boyce, mother of two girls, said her youngest daughter never took a pacifier, but her oldest one did.
“People were telling me, ‘Don’t let her ever have a binky because you’ll never be able to break her of it,’” she said.
For about a month, Boyce said she started to limit her daughter’s time with pacifier.
“It was kind of one of those things where she was a year old and I didn’t want her to be one of those kids who are 2, 3 or 5 still carrying around a binky,” she said. “Plus, I figured if I’m going to get rid of the bottle, then we should get rid of this, too.”
Boyce said she limited her daughter’s pacifier use to when she went to sleep. Then one day, “opps we lost it,” she said.
Boyce admitted that there were some tough days, but she said her daughter also liked to have a blanket, and as long as she had that added comfort, they were OK.
Hearn also suggested for when it becomes time to completely get rid of the binky, do something that allows the child to feel like the decision was their choice.
For her son, Hearn said she arranged for him give all his pacifiers to Santa Claus.
Jennifer Wyne, a mother of a 4-year-old daughter, used the same tactic.
When her daughter was about 2 years old, Wyne said, “we told her that this year Santa Claus wanted to leave her presents. But in exchange for her presents, he wanted all of her binkies because big girls didn’t use binkies.”
“So the night before Christmas, we gathered up all the pacifiers in the house with her because we wanted to make sure she felt this was her decision. We put them under the tree and the next day she got all her presents.”
The night they gathered up the pacifiers, Wyne said her daughter asked for a pacifier. But Wyne reminded her that she had given them to Santa, and that was the end of it.
“She hasn’t asked for one since,” she said.
E-mail Veronica Nett at vnett@timeswv.com.
