Something Different

[stashbin]

We see stroller topics all of the time on the dis, but what about pacifiers? The reason I am saying this is because I just saw a kid with a pacifier and he looked 6 years old. Isn't this bad for their teeth?

I am not judging the parent because the kid could have had special issues, but I am curious how many parents allow their kids to suck a pacifier passed the recommended dental age and why?

No real reason...just being nosey and bored I guess...

 

[rchristiansen]

Can't really comment on letting DD use it too long - but since you're bored: I have this dental piece I have to wear at night to prevent TMJ symptoms. I think it has now become MY pacifier, because I feel weird without it at night. Is 33 years too old? Ha ha!

PS - I wouldn't walk around WDW wearing it though

 

[Ar1el]

My DS was I think 3 when he stopped the pacifier thing. Well maybe he was 2. Geez I can not remember and he is only 4. Anyhow, he HAD to stop bc one night at my friend's sons football game he was running and fell on the concrete, chipped fis front teeth a little but knocked them very loose. If he would have kept the pacifier he would have pushed his front teeth out. For 3 weeks, he could not bite into anything. Everything had to be cut up. I let him go for as long as I did bc it was his comfort.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Most kids are off them by six but every parent does things differently. We took DGS's at 2. DS never took one. A little boy at our church still had his at 5. I suspect he still has it at home now at six but he no longer brings it to church.

 

[PrincessMom4]

Each to their own, but I have done the research and I have found that the longer they have the more damage to their teeth and overall oral health. We cut off soothers at 3 and our last child never even missed it. Just means more mom and dad time. Kids also to some degree need to self soothe.

 

[rainydayplay]

I teach 7th & 8th grade, and had a 14 year old that was sucking on one during class the other day. Not normal, but it was a fad several years ago for teens to have pacifiers -- when I was a teen, I knew a girl a couple years older than me that kept one. I think that's where the things like Baby Bottle Pops and Ring Pops have come from.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

Not only can it do damage to their teeth (makes them shift forward) it can also effect their speech. My DD had to go to speech therapy because she would talk with that passy in her mouth, and talking and holding it in with her tongue caused her to talk funny. She could not make the "S" sound without sticking her tongue out. It's hard to explain.

Her teeth also had shifted, but they went back on their own. She also outgrew that speech problem, but it was noticeable because my MIL was having a fit for me to get her to speech therapy about it. I will say that the therapy really did help.

Anyway, had I known, I would taken it away sooner. She was a little over two when I took it away.

 

[elilala]

I don't have a kid, but my mom just stopped buying me binkies when I turned three. She let me use the ones that I already had, but she wouldn't get me new ones when they got worn out

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

My daughter was breastfed and never used a pacifier. So im not sure, but i would think that at age 6 it is doing more harm to the childs oral health.

 

[Cinderellabride]

I teach 7th & 8th grade, and had a 14 year old that was sucking on one during class the other day. Not normal, but it was a fad several years ago for teens to have pacifiers -- when I was a teen, I knew a girl a couple years older than me that kept one. I think that's where the things like Baby Bottle Pops and Ring Pops have come from.

I remember that fad when i was in high school. I bought one with some friends one time (not that I used it), and my cousin (who is in law enforcement) had a conversation with my mom about who I was hanging out with because people who are using ecstacy (sp?) often suck on pacifiers. Just something to be aware of since you teach 7th and 8th grade. Not saying that's definitely what's going on, just be aware.

 

[dislal]

When my kids were 9 months old we took the pacifiers off of them and they had no problems adjusting, we now have them hanging on the christmas tree,(each kid only had one) they love to pull them out every year and hang their own up.

We also took the bottles off of them at 18 months old and didn't have any problem either.

I followed my Aunts advice "when mommy is ready baby will follow" and I think it is SO true.

 

[mamaLori05]

we took dd's away when she was around 1.5 yrs old. She "bought" a build a bear with it and we stuffed the nookie (pacifier) inside the bears tummy. We took ds's away at 11 months, but he wasn't as attached to it as dd was. I really think anything passed their 2nd birthday is too old to still be using a pacifier. I even thought my dd at 1.5 was too old for it.

 

[mamaLori05]

When my kids were 9 months old we took the pacifiers off of them and they had no problems adjusting, we now have them hanging on the christmas tree,(each kid only had one) they love to pull them out every year and hang their own up.

We also took the bottles off of them at 18 months old and didn't have any problem either.

I followed my Aunts advice "when mommy is ready baby will follow" and I think it is SO true.

I agree! Soooo true!

 

[Disneychix]

At age 3 DS just had his binky at night. He wasn't allowed to take it out of his bed. When we took him to the dentist right after his 3rd b-day she said we'd already made it through half the battle (only at night) and if we pressed the issue at this point of totally taking it away he would move to his thumb, and you cannot take away a thumb!

The dentist said if he still had it at 4yrs we would revisit the issue and figure out how to get rid of it totally.

 

[VAfamily1998]

I remember that fad when i was in high school. I bought one with some friends one time (not that I used it), and my cousin (who is in law enforcement) had a conversation with my mom about who I was hanging out with because people who are using ecstacy (sp?) often suck on pacifiers. Just something to be aware of since you teach 7th and 8th grade. Not saying that's definitely what's going on, just be aware.

I've heard this too.

When I was in college, I lived in a rather "sketchy" area of Long Beach, CA.
I was talking to one of the women who worked in the apartment complext office/lived in the complex. She was a single mom with a 14 year old daughter and they had just moved in about a month before I did. She told me her daughter had suddenly started using a pacifier. She was talking to a friend of hers who told her to keep her eye on her daughter for any signs of hanging out with gangs. Her daughter may have been given the nickname of "baby girl" or something like that and that was why she was suddenly using a pacifier.
It was that kind of neighborhood ...so I think that was entirely possible...

 

[Alice's Mommy]

My kids never did the pacifier thing but my DD is 5 and she's a thumb sucker. In the last two years we've noticed that the thumb sucking has declined significantly but if she's feeling sick, overly tired, or has just had a tantrum that thumb suddenly slips into her mouth. She's pretty good at listening when I remind her not to suck her thumb, but every night I find her thumb in her mouth while she's sleeping. And it's in there so tight that I have to struggle with her a little to get it out. I don't think she's even aware it's in there. I notice that there is a pretty significant overbite and I see hefty orthodontic bills in my future.

 

[Mom of 3 Princesses]

My daughter was breastfed and never used a pacifier. So im not sure, but i would think that at age 6 it is doing more harm to the childs oral health.

PH was breastfed as well, never had a bottle and refused a paci, we asked (demanded) that she not be offered one by the nurses for her check ups in while still in hospital.

PA was off a paci by 6 months.. thank goodness.

PT had it till she was about 2.. BAD BAD BAD mom I was!! Now, I am still reeling from dental bills, braces and speech therapy UHHH.

 

[Just*the*ten*of*us]

Our first was the only real paci lover we had....he kept his until about 3 or 4 I think. He was my first and I naively thought, oh well he wont suck a paci forever..... After that, most of the kids didnt want anything to do with them. 3 of them took the soothie brand which I swore by, for getting them off the pac sooner. It almost seemed like it got too small for their mouths and by 6 months, they were refusing them. I also have a 30 y/o friend who still sucks her thumb, and actually has orthodontic problems because of it. Thankfully my son never did.

 

[Maridawn jones]

My friend is 15 and she uses pacifiers her teeth are honestly amazing looking I know she is older but she just never grew out of them her dad always tried but she always had them she doesn't use them all the time but she has really bad anxiety and she would be feeling upset one moment and then when she had a pacifier she was feeling like anyone else they help her with stress and they are a comfort for her when she is sad. I don't care much about it but as long as their helping her with her anxiety and stress and sadness I'm glad. I guess I was just wanting some feed back in what others think.

 

[KenHutch]

When Gwen was about 11 months old she lost her pacifier. About the same time I got her a Beauty and the Beast sippy cup. We still have that cup somewhere in the house.