Babies Tale

Parents eagerly anticipate their baby’s sleeping through the night, but an eight hour sleeping period probably not be something that your baby achieves until she is several months old. Someone will very likely advise you to give the baby cereal at the last late night feeding as a way to induce a longer sleeping period. Don’t do it. Your baby’s doctor will tell you when the baby is developed enough [immune system, swallowing mechanism, etc.] to handle solid foods.

A pacifier may help put your baby to sleep. The Leche League discourages the use of pacifiers on the grounds that they may diminish a baby’s need to suck and therefore make her a less efficient nurser.. Some parents disapprove of them, too, probably because they find distasteful the not uncommon sight of a toddler whose sucking needs have long since been outgrown walking around with a pacifier stuck in her mouth like a plug. In fact, some find the sucking that is one of a baby’s instinctual needs somewhat difficult to understand at all. They may feel that extra nutritional sucking indicates that something is lacking in the emotional development of their child, and that therefore they are “bad” parents.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Newborns need to suck; it is their most satisfying form of gratification. The benefits of a pacifier can be seen when a baby’s need to suck goes beyond her need to eat. Infants may awaken a short time after a feeding and indicate what seems to be hunger by trying to put their hands in their mouths or crying, when what they really need is to suck.. Thumb-sucking would be a good substitute if infants could find these natural flesh-and-blood pacifiers when they want them. Since a tiny baby rarely put thumb to mouth at will, a pacifier meets her need to suck and eliminates unnecessary feedings that inconvenience you and may upset the baby’s digestion.

Another possible benefit of pacifiers has been discovered in using them with premature babies. Those who were induced to accept pacifiers in the hospital were found to develop sucking muscles sooner than those who did not take them, and thus were able to be taken off intravenous feedings and fed by mouth sooner.

If you give your baby a pacifier in bed, do take it away when she is asleep, to avoid the baby’s becoming dependant upon it to stay asleep. And never tie it on a string around the baby’s neck. It could cause strangulation. After six months or so, the need foe extra sucking will disappear. If you dislike the pacifier you could probably arrange for it to disappear about the same time.

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