by Claire Connolly

Created on: March 16, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

Before I ever had children, I was convinced that soothers (pacifiers) were inherently bad therefore I was shocked when after the birth of my first child, my health nurse advised me to give him a soother. It took me a few days to take this on board but as I was breastfeeding, I soon discovered that giving him a soother sometimes was the only way to get any rest. He didn't have it in his mouth constantly and the soothers were all gone before his first birthday. Parents can't always be there to comfort their babies so there can be a time when a soother is just the thing to ease the baby back into a restful sleep. Breastfed babies in particular are notoriously difficult to keep asleep on their own as they often use the breast as a form of comfort as well as food source.

In these cases or when a young child is teething then I see no harm in giving them a soother. It is when the need to use a soother becomes constant and the parent gives a soother automatically instead of trying to soothe the baby by other means that it becomes a problem. Sometimes all it takes is a quick cuddle or a few words to calm a baby and there are times when I have been surprised by the lack of effort it can take to ease a baby's tears by taking a few moments to see what is actually wrong with the baby. As babies use soothers as a comforter, I can't see the problem with allowing it as long as it doesn't continue beyond infancy.

There is nothing as bad as watching a school going child with a soother in their mouth. It's a bad habit to get into because the longer you leave it, the harder it is for them to let go of the habit. A four year old has absolutely no need for a soother as far as I can see. I think a toddler has gone beyond the need for a soother. Past this stage, it can get quite unhygienic as the child now has the ability to pick up a soother that they have dropped and put it back into their mouth before anyone has a chance to clean or sterilise it. A friend of mine had a younger sister who was still using a soother at the age of eight, it only led to ridicule and tears and a constant habit of needing to put objects in her mouth and suck them. Although this case is extreme, there are a lot of children that go through practical withdrawal symptoms when their parents leave it too long to break a lifelong habit. Do the kids a favour, let the soother go when they are still young enough to quickly forget about it.

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