Would you use a Pacifier for your Baby?
Mummy blogs…
I decided to start a series – Why Did I? on this blog to chronicle reasons why I made certain decisions in my parenting journey.
Nicole is now five and I am beginning to forget what was my original frame of mind when I made certain decisions. By the time Nathan and Nadine came along, it was a case of, “What did we do the last time?”.
You can be sure, I stopped consulting those Parenting Books for #2 & #3! There was simply no time! So they inherited the goodness (& badness) of what we did with #1!
I figured if I don’t document this somewhere, it would eventually just disappear. Years down the road, I’ll end up like an old nag when I tell my kids what to do with their kids, cos Mummy-used-to-do-it-although-I-don’t-know-why!!
So first on this series – the age-old debate on Pacifier Usage!
Just the other day, I saw an old picture of Nicole and the pacifier. (and at TWO years old!!!)
I remember when I was pregnant, I told myself – NO pacifier for my kids. It would affect their teeth growth, it would give them a false sense of security, it would confuse them – pacifier vs breast teats vs bottle teats …
Yet, there she was, chewing on her PIE (that’s what she called it) so nonchalantly. Clearly, we gave her the go ahead! And we found pictures of Nathan and Nadine with it too. (Justification: Nathan stopped at 6 months, Nadine stopped at 3 months) So why?
Reasons in chronological order:
1. We bought two pacifiers just in case the baby needed it.
2. Nicole kept crying. and crying and crying and crying and crying and crying and crying and crying and crying and crying and crying.
3. It was not time for milk. Her bottom was clean. It was not a hot day. We were playing music at the background. AND we didn’t want to carry her anymore.
4. We shoved it in her mouth, and initially she spitted it out. (Who wouldn’t? Try shoving a foreign object into someone’s mouth!) Greatest deception – 1st-time parents’ natural response: “Look at that, she’s so clever! She doesn’t like the pacifier!”
5. Nicole kept crying. and crying and crying and crying and crying and crying and crying and crying and crying and crying and crying
6. We shoved and we shoved and we shoved the pacifier in. She stopped crying.
7. When #2 and #3 came along, we bought SIX pacifiers knowing that the baby needs it. 🙂
And that’s why I gave my kids the pacifier.
