People tend to have strong opinions on pacifiers. Some suggest that use of pacifiers may cause nipple confusion, dental issues, or a decrease in duration of breastfeeding. Disclaimer: I did not breastfeed at all, so I was obviously not concerned about issues with breastfeeding.

However, new(ish) research shows that use of a pacifier can reduce a child’s risk for SIDS. I do not think I am alone in saying that SIDS scares me, especially when Bean was super teeny. I personally was open to using them with Bean, but if he did not like them, oh well. I bought two different kinds, but had also received a couple as samples, so I did not purchase a bunch of them since I had no idea what he would like.

0-6 months

I am obligated to mention the Avent soothie pacifier, which is what they gave him in the hospital. He used it without an issue, but when he was introduced to other pacifiers, these were no longer acceptable.  However, lots of kids like these, they are easy to find, and cheap. Not a bad option.

 

When we got home from the hospital, one of the first pacifiers that we tried was the MAM perfect start pacifier, which I received as a sample. He LOVED it. The first time I gave it to him, he slept for so long I started to get worried. More expensive than the Avent soothie, but not excessively so. Also, look at those designs – so adorable! The only other issue we had was that they were not easy to find in store. When my husband went to the store in the middle of the day for pacifiers because that is what you do when you have a newborn baby, he could not find them in the store. They are readily available on Amazon, though, so do yourself a favor and have a couple on hand!

As I mentioned above, when my husband made an emergency pacifier run, he was unable to find the MAM perfect start pacifiers, so he got regular MAM pacifiers (still for 0-6 months). I was having a moment where I thought that the perfect start pacifiers were the only ones we should use, so I was slightly upset, but it ended up being fine. Bean liked the regular MAM pacifiers just as much, and they are a little bit cheaper and easier to find.

I also registered for the Philips Avent Ultra Air Pacifier. I honestly cannot remember my thought process for choosing them, but Bean liked them just fine. I did like that these have the little handle things on them (not sure what they are called). It is easier to attach pacifier clips to pacifiers with the handle, and none of the other options above have a handle, so that was a feature I liked about these. The price seems kind of average overall. 

So, we made it through the first six months with the pacifiers above. We found that six pacifiers was our magic number. We had plenty of extra, but we also cycled through all of them on a regular basis, so I did not feel we had too many.

We had no issues with the pacifiers holding up over time. Of course, I still recommend checking them on a regular basis to ensure they are not showing any signs of wear, especially if the nipple and shield are two separate pieces. We ran these pacifiers through our sterilizer hundreds of times, and they may have faded some, but I never noticed any holes or cracking. We did throw them out at the end of six months, but I have absolutely no qualms about the pacifier purchases we made.

6 months – 1 year

When it came time for Dean to graduate to a bigger size of pacifier, I was admittedly somewhat unrealistic about what he would use. I had been reading all about how one-piece pacifiers were better as they got older, since they would bite/chew on the pacifiers and it would increase the risk of the two-piece pacifier coming apart.

I ordered three types of pacifiers, and unfortunately, he hated them all.

The first kind I purchased was the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature soother pacifier. I liked that they were one piece and inexpensive. Bean hated them. Spit it out immediately, looked at it like WTF is this, and would not keep it in his mouth for longer than 5 seconds. They have been sitting on a shelf unused since we bought them. Oh well, live and learn.

 

As I mentioned before, I really wanted to switch to one-piece pacifiers, so I decided to try two other brands, he had to like one of them, right? So, I ordered the Chicco PhysioForma 100% Soft Silicone One Piece Pacifier and the Boon Jewl Orthodontic Silicone Stage 3 Pacifiers. As you can probably guess, it did not go well. He liked chewing on them as a teething item but was not into them as pacifiers.

 

I’m not going to lie; I was annoyed at this point. I spent money on pacifiers that were sitting unused in our cabinet, meanwhile, Bean is using pacifiers that are technically too small. I gave up on my one-piece idea and was feeling a little desperate, so I purchased the next size up of the MAM pacifiers. They were a decent price and I was excited to see a glow in the dark option! Finally. He started taking the bigger pacifiers (he did have some adjustment due to the bigger size of the nipple), but he was able to use them after a few days with no issues. If you are wondering if glow in the dark pacifiers are helpful, they are freaking great. No fumbling around in the middle of the night for a pacifier, it glows but not brightly enough to be disruptive, and it continues glowing overnight for those fun middle of the night pacifier scavenger hunts.

I also purchased the Philips Avent Orthodontic Pacifier, 6-18 Months, which was the next size up from the Avent Ultra Air pacifiers I discussed above. Thankfully, these were also deemed acceptable and we were up to 4 useable pacifiers.

As I mentioned above, 6 is our magic number when it comes to pacifiers. I decided to order two more MAM pacifiers. It turns out that there are limited glow in the dark MAM pacifier designs, and since I didn’t want to order the same pacifier design, I bought the MAM Air Night Pacifiers, which do not really have a shield for ultimate breathability. I will say, Bean does not have extremely sensitive skin, so I have not noticed any benefits from how breathable the pacifiers are, but I liked the design and the glow in the dark feature. We finally had 6 pacifiers, and we did not have to think about them for a few months.

12 Months and Beyond

The pacifiers that we are currently using technically go through 18 months, but I had kind of an odd experience a few weeks ago that freaked me out. One of the MAM night pacifiers grew mold between the nipple and the shield. Thankfully I noticed before I gave it to Bean, but it reinforced my desire to switch to those stupid one-piece pacifiers again. I had been looking around, and decided to try the Cutie Pat Flat Pacifier. They have super cute designs and colors, and I had a coupon code that gave me $7 off, so the first pacifier was only $5. When it arrived, Bean was willing to give it a try. He is not a 100% convert yet, but we’ll keep using it.

On a whim, I also ordered the Nuk Sensitive Orthodontic pacifiers. They are a great price and have a curved shield, which I <think> the Bean prefers. Like the Cutie Pat, he will accept them but is still working on being completely used to them.

Since Bean is currently 12 months old, I have no idea when we will fully wean him off the pacifier. We have cut down to using for naps, bedtime, and sometimes when sick or extremely cranky. He such a good sleeper I do not want to change anything. I plan to follow his doctor’s recommendations to ensure he does not have any dental or orthodontic issues as a result of pacifier use.