LO wont take pacifier

[ahayden1230]

Hi Ladies! My LO is 5 weeks old and has only had the breast.  I am trying to get him to take a pacifier and he is resisting BIG time.  Does anyone have any advice or can relate?  Is it possible I will never be able to get him to take it?  I have been allowing him to use my breast but its starting to hurt at times and he somtimes seem to be just playing around latchign and relatching ......  I know when he is actually eating and just sucking for comfort. 

Thanks for the help!

[theresat858]

My baby won't take a pacifier. She just doesn't get to comfort suck...

[bantyrooster]

Try different paci's, but I have lots of friends bf and ff alike whose kiddos won't take them.

[Deleted]

My LO didn't take a paci for a long time and now it's just on occasion. It took trying several different brands but, like I said, he rarely uses it and I just found other ways to comfort him aside from letting him pacify on breast.

[sweetpeabee]

my LO doesn't like the pacifier either (in part because we don't like using it). She has found other ways to soothe herself like sucking on her fingers, swirling her hair, bouncing her foot, etc. I can't remember if it was the pediatrician or one of the LCs in the hospital that recommended this, but knowing that we didn't want to use a pacifier, someone suggested that we offer a clean finger to calm her down (pinkie is what they suggested) and that has always worked well for us.

[fish8412]

Try different pacifiers but he may never take to one. My LO took a pacifier from 4 weeks to around 3 months and then suddenly lost interest. I'm glad though because we were planning on weaning her from the pacifier at around 6 months.

[flcl]

My LO wouldn't take a pacifier either but I also didn't have a problem with him wanting to comfort suck. It doesn't work for everyone but it did for us. He really only did this for the first two months.

[beckyrosen]

Feb 6, 2015 19:43:25 GMT -5 sweetpeabee said:

I can't remember if it was the pediatrician or one of the LCs in the hospital that recommended this, but knowing that we didn't want to use a pacifier, someone suggested that we offer a clean finger to calm her down (pinkie is what they suggested) and that has always worked well for us.

This is what they recommended to us in the hospital too.

[tomorrowisanotherday]

Mine won't take one either, which is fine by me because I don't have to figure out how to take it away from him later!

[fish8412]

Feb 7, 2015 6:58:35 GMT -5 flcl said:

My LO wouldn't take a pacifier either but I also didn't have a problem with him wanting to comfort suck. It doesn't work for everyone but it did for us. He really only did this for the first two months.

Yeah my LO wanted to comfort suck which was also fine with me. It's good for your supply.

[saraml13]

Try different brands and keep offering. DS wasn't very interested at first, but has warmed up to them.

[casey]

Feb 7, 2015 6:58:35 GMT -5 flcl said:

My LO wouldn't take a pacifier either but I also didn't have a problem with him wanting to comfort suck. It doesn't work for everyone but it did for us. He really only did this for the first two months.

same here. Leah never wanted a paci, and I just used my breasts to comfort her.

[apsalartoll]

My LO will never take a pacifier from me unless I'm putting her in her car seat. DH can give her one sometimes and she'll take it. I've seen many people say their babies like Avent Soothies, but mine has a lot of trouble keeping that one in her mouth. We've had more luck with the MAM brand.

My mother says I would never take a pacifier, and I was EFF'd, so some babies just don't want one no matter what.

[whitney4126]

Feb 7, 2015 9:18:09 GMT -5 beckyrosen said:

Feb 6, 2015 19:43:25 GMT -5 sweetpeabee said:

I can't remember if it was the pediatrician or one of the LCs in the hospital that recommended this, but knowing that we didn't want to use a pacifier, someone suggested that we offer a clean finger to calm her down (pinkie is what they suggested) and that has always worked well for us.

This is what they recommended to us in the hospital too.

I just remembered when I read this that we went about a week when LO was a month old where the only way I could get her to fall asleep at night was to let her suck my pinky. Mine never was interested in a paci and I really didn't want to push one, except there were occasions when it would be nice. Now she just uses one right before she naps in the car and some at daycare. But she'd always rather have my nipple when it's available.

[judyblume14]

My LO is 5 months old and we've never been able to get her to use a paci. I think she did comfort nurse a bit in the first 3 months. Now she just sucks on her hands. Not a finger, not a thumb, but basically her whole fist!

Oddly enough, my MIL has gotten her to take a paci a few times. But I also think she might be forcing it a little bit. But I agree with a PP - at least I won't have to deal with breaking her of the habit when she's older.

On the other hand, I sucked my thumb til I was 10... I hate that I might have THAT to look forward to!

[rmg5020]

Mine doesn't either, but he will take my pinkie. In a crisis, I turn it upside down and he goes to town. It helps to comfort him when he needs it.

[mully626]

My DD1 was obsessed with her paci from day 1. DD2, not interested at all. She would occasionally take it when she was maybe 2-4 months old, but other than that, was just not interested. It was SO hard on me in the beginning because of the comfort nursing, so I feel ya on that. I remember early on getting in a little argument with DH about it because I just wanted her to take it and he was like "well, it'll be nice to not ever have to wean her of it!" even though DD1 was not difficult at all...and naturally my response to that was "It's not your nipple she's sucking on!!" haha.

That being said, we've moved past that and she's found other ways to soothe herself. She loves taggie and lovey blankets and white noise at night. She also surprisingly doesn't suck her fingers too often.