Why I Gave Pacifiers to My Babies

This post has been sponsored by MAM Baby. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’m sure I’m not the only mom who has ever stood at her baby’s crib and wondered, “Is she breathing?” Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is scary and as the leading cause of death among infants 1 month to one year old, it’s not something to take lightly. However, there are ways to reduce the risk. Today, I wanted to share with you my anxiety about SIDS and the steps I have taken to reduce that stress and ensure my twins are as safe as possible when they sleep.
Please note: this is my story. Motherhood isn’t easy and no mother is perfect, but whether you breastfeed or formula feed, co-sleep or put your baby in a crib, cloth diaper or use disposables, as long as you’re doing the best you can, then you’re an amazing mom and you’re doing a great job!

With the twins, I couldn’t afford any of those expensive cardiovascular monitoring socks—the ones that monitor your baby’s vital signs and alert you if there is an issue. However, those commercial monitors (those not used in hospitals or prescribed for use) do not reduce SIDS deaths and they are notorious for false alarms. I did NOT need false alarms times two!  So, instead of some false security, I made sure to read up on safe sleep habits and follow the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) recommendations to reduce the risk of SIDS.

I’m a pretty big rule follower, so when it comes to safe sleep for the babies, I do things by the book. The twins are put to sleep on their backs, in their own cribs, on a firm mattress with only a flat sheet, while wearing only a onesie (to avoid overheating – we’re in Los Angeles), with nothing in the crib except for a pacifier.

After we brought the babies home from the hospital, my night nanny had to ask me if I had pacifiers for them. I had completely forgotten about the pacifiers. There are so many little things to think about when bringing home a baby, let alone two babies! I had purchased a few different pacifiers because I had read that babies can be picky, but the only ones that my newborn twins would take were the MAM Baby Perfect Pacifiers.

Did you know that pacifier use can reduce the risk of SIDS? Doctors can’t agree on why it does, but this study discusses the different possible reasons which include “lower arousal threshold”, meaning the baby is easier to wake if there is an issue, the possibility that a “pacifier enhances the infant’s ability to breath through the mouth if the nasal airway becomes obstructed”, or that sucking on a pacifier requires forward positioning of the tongue and “decreases the risk of obstructive apnea and asphyxiation”.

Doctors don’t know if pacifier use and a lower risk of SIDS is cause and effect or a correlation, but the study shows that pacifier use reduces the risk of SIDS which is still unexplained and unpredictable. So, after learning about all this while I was pregnant, I had decided that if my twins would take pacifiers, I would allow them.

I’m not worried about pacifier use messing up the twins’ teeth. Studies show that as long as you discontinue pacifier use before the age of three, it’s unlikely to affect their teeth. 

I love the glow-in-the-dark aspect of the MAM Perfect Pacifiers which help me locate a fallen pacifier that is lurking somewhere in a dark crib or … on the floor! I mean, we’ve all been there—crawling around on the floor using the cell phone flashlight to find a pacifier so we can pop it back in and go back to bed. With the glow-in-the-dark feature, it’s easy to find!

I’m sorry I’m not sharing any photos of my babies using the pacifiers while they sleep, but even when they nap during the day, it is very, very dark in their room, and I’m not willing to risk my 30-45 minute break time to get a photo. Mama’s gotta eat and scroll through Instagram!

The MAM Baby Perfect Pacifier is available on Amazon which saves my life almost daily when all of a sudden decide I need something, but I’m willing to wait two days (thank you, Prime!) to get it because, in reality, having it shipped to my house will probably get it to me faster than me being able to shower, get ready, and go to a store. 

Did you use a pacifier with your baby? How did you eventually wean them from it? Let me know in a comment because I’m going to need all the advice for weaning TWO babies in a few years!

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