PACIFIERS/SOOTHERS
Definitely one of our staples needs during our newborn session! We always ask parents to bring one to the session to help calm the baby and send them off to dreamland. This is especially important during any of the more difficult poses as their little necks just don’t have the support and staying asleep will ensure we get through the pose safely.
Of course, we can understand a new parent’s hesitation in using one. But they don’t get addicted after a one-time use for 2-3 hours so the choice is still theirs if they want to have the paci as part of their newborn life.
A lot of parents also tell us their babies don’t take it. One of the tricks we have up our sleeve is to stroke the pacifier against the roof of their mouths which will stimulate their sucking reflexes (same idea as in breastfeeding).
This one is our go-to brand – in the newborn size of course (we stock brand new ones in the studio in case they’re forgotten).
We love this one as it’s easy to hold, and easy to clean and you can stick your baby finger underneath it to help direct the paci into the baby’s mouth and start that sucking!
Using the soother as part of your newborn’s everyday routine is a very personal choice and we don’t think there’s really any right or wrong. For us personally, we chose to introduce it to all 3 of our kids. And each experience was slightly different.
Ellie our oldest, loved the pacifier and was honestly a lifesaver for us – it got her to sleep so many nights and naps (which was the only time we let her use it – for sleeping). She eventually dropped the habit on her own at 3 months old when she found her thumb 🙂
Caleb was completely different, he loved his soother so much too and still kept at it past 3 months. We knew it had to go through when at 3 months old, mommy was waking up every hour to put that damn thing back in her mouth! We decided enough was enough and cut him cold turkey, he screamed for 4-5 days overnight and then become the perfect sleeper he never was! He also eventually became a thumb sucker like big sis!
Abel took to the pacifier at about 2 weeks as it was part of the sleep nurturing program we had subscribed to (more on that in a future post!) and like Ellie, dropped it naturally at about 3-4 months when he found his “bummie” (his baby talk attempt at saying “blankie” which has stuck :)) Surprisingly he’s the only little Chan who does not suck his thumb although he certainly makes those sucking sounds while holding his bummie. LOL.
