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The baby is screaming, cannot calm down, or is in pain. This can be stressful and frustrating for parents. Especially if he can’t talk yet. Many parents use a pacifier to calm their toddler. “Babies cannot yet control their emotions well,” says Oskar Jenni, 56, professor of developmental pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital Zurich. The pacifier helps them regulate their emotions and behavior. Because: “Sucking has a calming effect and helps stabilize breathing as well as heart and brain functions.” So, a pacifier – or alternatively a nugge that the toddler can suck on – isn’t bad.
Jenni says that parents should definitely give the child a pacifier, but they should not insist if they do not want it. In addition to its advantages such as a protective effect against sudden infant death syndrome and a certain degree of prevention against food allergies, pacifiers can also cause delays in language development and incorrect positioning of teeth when used excessively.
This was also confirmed by Myriam Schnider (37), senior speech therapist at Children’s Hospital Zurich: “If children use the pacifier excessively and for too long, the position of their jaw and teeth may change.” In extreme cases, the child may develop an open-mouthed posture around the age of three to four, meaning he will breathe more through his mouth rather than his nose. “This makes children more susceptible to infections because when they breathe through their mouths, air enters their respiratory tract cold and unfiltered,” Schnider said. When you breathe through your nose, the air becomes warm and free of germs.
The smaller the better
Schnider says that when a pacifier is used too frequently, the changing positions of the jaw and teeth can also lead to errors in the pronunciation of some sounds. Between the ages of two and three, children’s swallowing process often changes. “If the child continues to suck excessively during this period, this swallowing development may be prevented.” It can take a long time to break such an incorrect swallowing pattern or to relearn sounds that have been formed incorrectly for years.
But on a regulated scale, pacifiers are OK, Schnider says. “A pacifier can make a big difference when it comes to falling asleep, calming down, or helping baby avoid pain.” When used specifically, the negative effects of a pacifier can be ignored. “But if the pacifier is used only out of habit, the child should be weaned.” He also recommends using a very small pacifier instead of a very large one. This means the risk of incorrect tooth or jaw positioning is reduced later on.
Oskar Jenni advises all parents to pay attention to their children’s needs first. It is not recommended to take an overly strict stance and completely ban the use of pacifiers. “Toddlers’ sucking reflex and therefore their need for a pacifier or nugget usually diminishes on its own during the second year of life.”
Source : Blick
I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.
