Pacifiers and breastfeeding — what should I be aware of?

There Are Many Benefits to Offering Your Baby a Pacifier
A pacifier provides comfort, soothes your baby, and helps them relax. It strengthens the baby’s oral and jaw muscles while also training the coordination of the jaw, palate, tongue, and lips. This development is beneficial for your baby’s breathing, eating, and speech development.

So, there are many good reasons to offer your baby a pacifier. But when is it appropriate to introduce one, and how might it affect breastfeeding?

Supporting Breastfeeding with Round Pacifiers
The general recommendation is to introduce pacifiers to newborns only after breastfeeding is well established. However, more and more professionals now recommend offering a pacifier from the start—as long as it’s the right type of pacifier. The classic round pacifier with a natural rubber (latex) nipple is ideal for this purpose.

The reason is that when a newborn breastfeeds, they roll their tongue around the mother’s nipple and use their tongue to create a vacuum that helps the milk flow. When sucking on a round pacifier, the baby rolls their tongue in a similar way. Many maternity wards provide round pacifiers right after birth, and numerous pediatric chiropractors and postnatal clinics recommend giving a round latex pacifier from the start to promote breastfeeding.

What is nipple confusion?
Nipple confusion typically occurs if a newborn becomes accustomed to using a flat pacifier, such as an anatomical or symmetrical one, before mastering the correct sucking technique during breastfeeding. Flat pacifiers do not require the baby to roll their tongue around the pacifier but instead encourage the baby to press the pacifier with a flat tongue and pursed lips. If the baby applies this technique during breastfeeding, milk flow may decrease, the baby may struggle to get enough milk, and breastfeeding can become painful for the mother.

How to avoid nipple confusion?
Waiting to introduce a pacifier until breastfeeding is fully established can prevent nipple confusion, as the baby won’t have the chance to develop an incorrect sucking technique.

However, if you want your baby to benefit from the many advantages of pacifiers early on, you can safely introduce one at a very early stage by choosing a round pacifier that supports breastfeeding. This ensures that your baby uses the same technique for both the pacifier and breastfeeding.

Check out our selection of round pacifiers HERE