6 advantages in using a pacifier
In addition to ensuring breastfeeding – and consequently the survival of the baby – sucking is something natural to the baby since he is in the mother’s womb, including many ultrasound shows, for example, babies sucking their thumb.
In addition, the suction movement also promotes the release of endorphin, which is directly related to the child’s sense of pleasure and well-being.
Breastfeeding in the mother’s breast is sufficient to satisfy the baby’s basic desire for suction and is also very important for the development of the jaw and other bones of the face, chewing muscles, dental occlusion, and adequate breathing of child.
However, it is a fact that the use of the pacifier, with the intention of “calming the baby”, has been passed down from generation to generation, and has become a cultural habit.
But when it comes to pacifiers, there are many doubts and contradictions. After all, should parents or not offer the pacifier to the baby? What health risks can it offer?
Ancient writings of the second and fourth centuries refer to the use of sugary objects or honey for suckling babies in order to calm them. Over the years these objects have been perfected up to the way we know the pacifiers today, but always with the same goal.
Are there advantages in using a pacifier?
There are advantages in using the pacifier:
1. Helps to anticipate the onset of oral feeding in preterm infants.
2. Helps reduce stress in infants during painful procedures (such as collecting blood, for example).
3. It can be used to stimulate suction in children with neurological diseases.
4. Some studies also show a possible protective effect of the pacifier against sudden death in infants.
5. Some studies have shown that it reduces the risk of sudden death because the pacifier helps to keep the tongue from ‘falling’ back during sleep – which causes asphyxiation, which leads to sudden death.
On the other hand, explains a doctor, studies show that breastfeeding reduces by 50% the risk of sudden death in babies. And because the pacifier reduces breastfeeding time, its use is also reported as a factor that increases sudden death.
The pediatrician explains that the time the child usually uses the pacifier depends on the environment in which she lives, the family relationship with the child and the pacifier. It is recommended that if the child is to be used (which most professionals discourage), that use should be up to one year old.
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