A lot of parents aren’t sure whether or not they should use a pacifier with their baby’s sleep. Is it good for them? Does it lead to sleep issues down the road? 

As a Baby & Toddler Sleep Consultant, I do recommend a pacifier for newborns when they’re sleeping. There are 2 reasons why pacifiers are so important for your newborn’s sleep.

Decreases the Risk of SIDS

That’s right! The most important reason why your newborn should be sleeping with a pacifier is because it can help decrease the risk of SIDS. 

When my daughter was a baby, I remember constantly keeping an eye at her at night. Like a lot of parents, I was worried about SIDS and wanted to do everything I could to decrease that risk. This is why I gave her the pacifier every time I put her down to sleep. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics Safe Sleep Guidelines say that you should consider offering a pacifier to your baby at both bedtime and nap time to decrease the risk of SIDS. Their guidelines go through the first year of life, although more than 90% of all SIDS deaths occur before the age of 6 months. 

The reason why the pacifier can reduce the risk of SIDS is because of the way it changes the positioning of your baby’s tongue. By having your baby suck on the pacifier as they fall asleep, it requires your forward positioning of your little one’s tongue. And this decreases the risk of oropharyngeal obstruction!

So now that you know why the pacifier can help keep your baby safe, let’s talk about the other benefit of the pacifier when it comes to your newborn’s sleep.

Pacifiers Calm a Fussy Newborn

Have you every tried to get your newborn to sleep but they don’t want to? They’re fussing and doing everything they can to stay awake and fight going to sleep.

First of all mama, I want you to know you’re doing a great job. All babies cry. And it’s a good thing, because how else would they communicate with us that they’re hungry, cold or tired?

But when you’re trying everything under the sun to get your newborn to sleep and nothing is working, you’re probably feeling at your wits end. 

Many newborns have a very high suck need. And they relax and calm when they are sucking on something. 

This is why the pacifier is very helpful for a lot of parents when trying to calm their fussy newborn and get them ready for sleep.

A lot of the times just using a pacifier may help to calm your newborn and prepare them for sleep.

However, sometimes using the pacifier alone may not completely calm your baby. When I work with parents of newborn’s with my newborn sleep plans, we generally use the pacifier in conjunction with other techniques to calm and relax their baby to get them ready for sleep. 

Baby Sleep Help

Don’t worry about your baby getting hooked on the pacifier with their sleep. Whenever you feel like the time is right to remove it, you can teach them independent sleep skills at that time. When that day comes, you can check out my blog on How to Get Rid of the Pacifier at Night for some tips on how to remove it. 

If you struggle getting your newborn to sleep or need help teaching your older baby how to fall asleep without it, I’m here to help!  Just visit livelovesleep.com to set up your free sleep evaluation today!

To healthy sleep,

Kaley Medina

Founder of Live Love Sleep

Certified Baby & Toddler Sleep Consultant

(832) 640-5492

https://livelovesleep.com/