Soothie Pacifiers
Every baby is unique as are the needs of each newborn. So when you bring home that bundle of joy, you can expect that she may not line up 100% with what the baby books say she needs and wants. The unique nature of your child will become evident even in the first days she is living in your home and it will continue to be a part of your life throughout her infancy. Fortunately there are a lot of alternative ways to doing things to turn to if your baby doesn’t do things the way every other baby does.
When you are getting used to providing for the baby's needs, you no doubt bought a standard "off the shelf" pacifier to use during those times your infant needs to suck on something but that need comes up between feedings. Unfortunately, many children reject standard pacifiers either because they don't like them or they make the child gag. For these children, many parents turn to a soothie pacifier.
The soothie design was primarily created to help premature babies or very young infants learn to use a pacifier. The plastic is soft and pliant and the tip is small to accommodate a smaller jaw. The tip of a soothie pacifier is usually hollow to allow mom of dad to slip their pinky finger into the pacifier to help the baby learn to adapt to using a pacifier when she needs to satisfy that nursing instinct between meals.
Because soothie pacifiers are a customized application of pacifier design to fit the needs of very small or young babies, they look different from the standard issue pacifier that most of the moms may be using at playgroup. It is important not to let your pride enter in when it comes to providing your child with what she needs in a pacifier. If your youngster is having trouble getting used to the pacifier, before you give up and let her suck her thumb, it might be a good step to try out the soothie design to see if your child's difficulty are not with the idea of a pacifier but with the size or some other aspect of using a traditional pacifier.
The most important thing is to give your baby what she needs during that first year of life. Don’t become frustrated just because the child rejects one or two or more traditional pacifiers. It is worth finding out if the soothie approach will be the right fit to your child's unique needs. This may be the first time you have be creative in finding the right answer for the specialized needs of your particular baby. But as most parents will testify, it won't be the last time as you guide that child through life.
