At what age can a baby use a pacifier? Can a baby sleep with a pacifier in his mouth?

The function of a pacifier is to soothe the baby's emotions and increase the baby's sense of security, but the pacifier cannot be used by the baby as soon as it is born. So at what age can the baby use a pacifier?

How old can babies use pacifiers?

Generally speaking, pacifiers are used after the age of 3 weeks or one month. As the name suggests, pacifiers are not used to fill children, but to give children spiritual comfort when they are not hungry, and to soothe them. They are especially used when children are crying and restless, or have poor sleep. Generally, after a child is 3 weeks or one month old, the mother does not have much time to accompany the baby, or she also needs a certain amount of rest. She can choose a pacifier to give the child a self-comfort process. During the teething period of May to June, the gums feel itchy, and the child needs something harder to suck and chew, and a pacifier can also play this role.

Can babies sleep with pacifiers?

After the baby falls asleep, it is recommended to take off the pacifier and not let the baby hold the pacifier all night. Because after the baby falls asleep at night, if the baby holds the pacifier all the time, it may block the baby's mouth and nose and cause suffocation. Moreover, sleeping with a pacifier in the mouth for a long time will also affect the development of teeth and mouth shape.

The dangers of babies sleeping with pacifiers

1. Affecting the beauty of the child's mouth: Sleeping with a pacifier and constant sucking will affect the development of the oral cavity, causing deformities in the upper and lower jaws, and affecting the shape of the mouth and the beauty of the face.

2. It may cause abdominal pain: If the baby sucks on a pacifier while sleeping, the child will always be sucking and swallow too much air, causing air distension in the stomach, which will increase the possibility of vomiting and sometimes cause abdominal pain.

What are the dangers of pacifiers?

1. Impact on bite: Dentists believe that long-term use of pacifiers will affect the development of the baby's upper and lower jaws, and will also cause the baby to form a high palate, leading to malocclusion of the upper and lower teeth and an unsightly lip appearance.

2. Intake of too much gas: Sucking on pacifiers causes children to ingest too much gas, which can easily cause abdominal distension and, in severe cases, intestinal cramps.

3. Affecting parent-child communication: It becomes a substitute for the mother to perfunctorily deal with the baby. The baby will look for the pacifier as soon as he cries, and the pacifier replaces the hugs and kisses of relatives, which reduces the interaction between parents and children and makes the mother no longer understand the baby.

4. Cause infectious diseases: Children repeatedly suck on pacifiers. If they are not cleaned promptly or thoroughly, the pacifiers can easily become contaminated. Because children's immunity is not yet fully developed, it is easy to cause some infectious diseases.