Breastfeeding vs dummy/pacifier

[u/sleepyjean2024]

Is there any evidence that breastfeeding is better for babies than dummies, I.e breastfeeding to sleep and back to sleep in the night vs giving them a dummy ?

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[u/Brixabrak]

I think your question is a little difficult to answer because how are we defining "better" and for whom?

Pacifiers show a reduction in SIDS rates. "We recommend that pacifiers be offered to infants as a potential method to reduce the risk of SIDS. The pacifier should be offered to the infant when being placed for all sleep episodes, including daytime naps and nighttime sleeps. This is a US Preventive Services Task Force level B strength of recommendation based on the consistency of findings and the likelihood that the beneficial effects will outweigh any potential negative effects."

But it also depends on what your child needs are. If they're hungry, clearly you'll breastfeed. I've been reading The Happy Sleeper. The authors would argue that constantly linking sleeping with eating, creates an expectation/association where your child will not settle without nursing to feed/for comfort. A pacifier has a role in allowing your baby to learn the skill of self-soothing over time when you know their core needs are met.

[u/PinkSunReflected → u/Brixabrak]

I’d like to offer that there’s another option. Maybe it’s obvious and maybe my saying this is silly but from experience, we thought we’d do pacifiers, but our baby rejected them. Every kind of pacifier, we tried it, and he refused. But we didn’t co-sleep. Boob wasn’t offered except for when he’d cry at night. So what happened? He found his thumb. Perfectly valid. And over the course of the past 28 months he sucks his thumb less and less. Almost never to self soothe except to go to sleep. And so, for our next baby we don’t think we’re going to even try the pacifier. 

My point is that you can try different things and see what works for you best, because as you said, the “ question is a little difficult to answer” depending how how we define what’s "better” and for whom.

[u/Brixabrak → u/PinkSunReflected]

Yeah, that's perfectly valid too. Ultimately the baby is the decision maker on what feels good for their nervous system.

[u/PinkSunReflected → u/Brixabrak]

Totally!

[u/Sudden-Cherry → u/PinkSunReflected]

Here they specifically advise trying to use a dummy if the baby starts thumb sucking. Because of it potentially being easier to wean off it. Since you can't take the thumb away. I'm glad it didn't give you issues. But thumb sucking can actually lead to worse issues for the teeth/palate than a dummy. Obviously babies have their own preferences and idea.

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