The word "pacifier" indicates with all clarity its main
function: to tranquilize small children for a short period of time. Nevertheless,
all artificial process that we introduce to modify children's behavior
has its advantages and disadvantages, being necessary to know them before
making the decision weather to use it or not.
In the process of normal development of a child, there exists a well defined
phase, that is denominated the oral phase, which is present since the
first months of age. During this phase children learn how to relate with
their surroundings, they feel pleasure through the mouth, they get to
know their body parts by taking them to their mouth, they want to taste
everything. As part of this process, they start sucking on their thumb,
which is perfectly normal and it disappears spontaneously as the child
matures.
The parents introduce their child to the pacifier during
this phase for various reasons: let's analyze some of them and let's see
if they really accomplish what we expect.
The first reason why parents use the pacifier is with the
objective of regulating the child's schedule. During the first weeks,
children who are breast fed, have no schedule, they eat very frequently
and they sleep a lot, and they cry more at night than during the day.
The production of maternal milk varies during the day as well as its composition,
this is why the child sometimes is satisfied with what he ate and sometimes
he remains hungry. This is a normal process and cannot be modified with
the pacifier during the first weeks. Also, the risk of swallowing the
vomit is greater in a small child with a pacifier than in one without
it. The advice in these case is very clear: we shouldn't use a pacifier
in children who are younger than a month old.
The second mistaken concept is that the pacifier diminishes
the colic in children. One of the main causes of colic is the production
of gas in the intestine. The pacifier makes the child swallow more gas,
this is why a child with colic does not get better with the use of the
pacifier.
Another argument that is frequently used is that the use
of the pacifier will get rid of the child's habit of sucking his thumb.
This statement is incorrect. On the contrary, by using the pacifier during
the day we create in the child the habit of always having something in
his mouth, and when we try to take the pacifier away from them the child
starts sucking on his thumb.
There are some factors, which are clearly established, about
the risk of using a pacifier:
-
The risk of contamination: It is very difficult to
keep the pacifier clean, especially when it's used during the whole
day. This increases the risk of getting diarrhea. On the other hand,
it is known that honey can get contaminated with certain bacteria,
which will increase this risk if it is used on the pacifier.
-
Deformities on the teeth: If the pacifier is used
on children who already have teeth, these can acquire some sort of
deformity, especially if the use of the pacifier is carried on for
a long period of time.
-
Ear infections: Children over 10 months of age who
still use the pacifier, it raises the risk of middle ear infections.
The pacifier increases salivation, eliminating bacteria, this favors
the presence of fungi and modifies the type of bacteria present in
the mouth. Constant sucking favors the transmitance of them into the
middle ear.
The only real indication for the use of the pacifier is
when we want to entertain the child who is over a month old, for a little
longer, in order to regulate his schedule. If a child is being breast
fed, and the mother has to go out, it's is better to use the pacifier
if the child starts crying than to use powdered milk.
In brief, there are very few indications and a lot of potential
problems for the use of the pacifier. If we decide to use it, it should
be after the child's first month of age, eliminating its use when the
child reaches his 10 months of age. And it should be used for very short
periods of time, before eating, and with very strict precautions with
respect to its cleaning.
