What age can a Baby use a Pacifier on their own?
Say goodbye to constantly looking for the pacifier and putting it back in your baby’s mouth when the newborn pacifier keeps falling out! Do yourself a favor and order a pacifier wristband today!
By Kelsey Martin
What age can a baby use a pacifier on their own?
One of the most annoying things about using an infant pacifier is that the infant pacifier keeps falling out. It’s so frustrating to get started doing a task or jump in the car only to hear your baby crying 4 seconds later because they have lost their pacifier.
Some days I wanted to scream in frustration, “when can this baby do this on their own?!” Before I dive into that question, I want to talk about when you should start using a newborn pacifier and what pacifiers are best for baby to use on their own.
When should you introduce a pacifier?
The experts at Mayo Clinic recommend introducing a pacifier when your baby is 3-4 weeks old. They recommend this because they don’t want breastfed babies to have nipple confusion. However, the article goes on to say that, “a review of unrestricted pacifier use in healthy, full-term infants found that it had no impact on the continuation of breastfeeding” so if your someone who likes to stick with expert research, you can’t go wrong if you want to introduce a pacifier from day 1 or day 21.
As a first-time mom, my son struggled with breastfeeding until we introduced the pacifier. He was able to practice the sucking motion and had a much easier time when I put him to the breast after that. Due to this experience, we have started our other two kids with pacifiers from a few hours old and have had great success!
How do you get a pacifier to stay in your baby’s mouth?
1. Make sure you have the right kind of pacifier. Try a few different kids, just make sure they are all only one piece.
2. Practice the sucking reflex with your baby. When your baby is sleeping and you can see the pacifier slipping you can gently pull on it. This should kick in their sucking reflex and they will pull it back in tighter.
3. Use a pacifier accessory: clips, wubbanubs or a pacifier wristband
What age can a baby use a pacifier on their own?
Current research is saying babies can’t use a newborn pacifier on their own until about 8 months old. Each child is different so this is approximate. You have to keep crawling into consideration when you think about when a baby can use a pacifier on their own. If it falls right in front of them an 8 month old might be able to pick it up and get it back into their mouth, but if it is not attached to a pacifier accessory and rolls away, it may be a few more months before your baby can use it on their own.
What if I told you your baby could start using a pacifier on their own at about 4 months?!
The Ingy Bingy Band is the very first pacifier wristband that attaches to any pacifier, turning any pacifier on the market into a wristband. After prompting your baby a few times, they should be able to use the pacifier wristband on their own from as early as 4 months! This pacifier bracelet saves you time and frustration! You won’t be constantly looking for it and putting it back in your baby’s mouth when the newborn pacifier keeps falling out! Do yourself a favor and order one today!