Can pacifier-use interfere with breastfeeding?

Question

I don't really want my newborn to use the pacifier because I'm afraid it will interfere with breastfeeding. The first week I'd nurse her for an hour to an hour and a half - basically until she was done with me. The pediatrician said to only nurse 15 min. max per breast because the baby was using me as a pacifier. We do have a pacifier that she absolutely loves.

Pacifier-usage seems to me like it could cause nipple confusion? Should I forego usage of the pacifier unless in desperate times ;)

Answer 1

I believe you got a wrong advice regarding breastfeeding (As far as I know pediatricians get little to no training so their advice regarding breastfeeding should be taken with a grain of salt). The most nourishing milk is hind milk which takes a while to get too.

You certainly should not limit the baby's time on the breast and you should let him nurse on one breast as long as he likes and then offer second. And there is nothing wrong with using your breast as a pacifier either. It stimulates your milk production. Pacifiers are convenient but they are not necessary and should not replace breast.

Answer 2

Here are two sites with the results of research on nipple confusion.

The American Journal of Pediatrics concluded: "Breastfeeding duration in the first 3 months' postpartum was unaffected by pacifier use."

The European Journal of Pediatrics reported the following conclusion, "In our study population fluid supplements offered by bottle with or without the use of pacifiers during the first 5 days of life were not associated with a lower frequency or shorter duration of breastfeeding during the first 6 months of life."

More indepth reading of the research seems to indicate that nipple confusion is related to difficulty nursing or sucking in general.

As a speech language pathologist who works with infants having feeding difficulties, I believe that the infant is not confused. Rather, they are following the easiest option. Newborns have sucked, but never breathed before. Swallowing requires a complex pattern of suck swallow breathe. A pacifier allows sucking with minimal swallowing.

Weakness is another factor. The nipples of pacifiers, bottles, and mom's all require different motor skills to draw out liquid. The breast requires effort by the child. This effort builds strength and skills for later speech and feeding development.

If a child is struggling with breastfeeding, it is understandable that a nipple that produces no flow (pacifier) or one that controls the flow into the mouth (slow flow nipple) or quickly without effort (fast flow nipples) is preferred. These nipples do not cause the confusion, but rather reveal a difference or problem that is already present.

Some of these problems will likely show up later in slower development of feeding and speech skills.

Answer 3

Our experience with nipple confusion (most probably caused by very early bottle feeding during the first days):

As our baby did not really drink at the breast on its first day, it was given a bottle in the hospital. This may have been the beginning of many problems (of course we'll never be sure), as in the following time

• the baby was not able to quickly get the necessary amount of milk at the breast, in fact it did not know how to suck correctly
• so it stayed at the breast for a long time resulting in bloody nipples
• we tried nipple shields to help him
• we feared it would not get enough and therefore in parallel pumped and freezed milk and fead it with the bottle
• all attempts of nurses in the hospital and "our" midwife were not successful to teach the baby drinking efficiently

Luckily, the pediatrician had the excellent idea to send us to a speech therapist (specialised in young babies) which stated that the baby just did not know how to suck correctly and efficiently and helped it learning it by stimulation of the muscles in and around the mouth by a kind of "massage" which we also could do at home (I think, it is called the Castillo-Morales method).
She also gave us special bottles which have a nipple much more similar (in its function) to the breast than the "normal" baby bottles. At the moment I don't remember the name of the product, it was something with "play...." and they had a plastic bag for the milk instead of a rigid plastic bottle where the feeding parent could create pressure and therefore help the baby drinking at the beginning.

So finally, after 6..8 weeks with really big problems and very much stress for everyone the baby started to learn being breastfed...

We used pacifiers (I think, already in the hospital), but at least from our experience the bottle feeding might have a much bigger impact on nipple confusion than a pacifier.

Answer 4

Our daughter was given a pacifier in the hospital shortly after she was born - she was taken to the NICU because of abnormal breathing and was separated from me for a few hours. We were encouraged to bottle feed her in addition to the breast from the beginning so when it was necessary, it would already be familiar. At first there seemed to be no problem - she had one bottle a day from dad and breastfed the rest of the time. At 6 weeks, I went back to work and after a few weeks she refused the breast. Through a great deal of effort (and being laid off and therefore home full time) she returned to breast feeding full time and now will again take either breast or bottle. I do not think she has had any of these issues due to the pacifier, but it is one of those things that is hard to know. I know I wish I had had the opportunity to breast feed her shortly after birth have wondered if it was part of our difficulties in breastfeeding.

Answer 5

On the opposite tack to @Beofett - we did allow our children to have pacifiers (we didn't want to but they definitely helped) and we introduced a bottle of formula milk after the first week as the last meal before bed - which allowed me to have some bonding time with my children, as well as letting my wife get some much needed sleep.

No confusion at all, and we let them wean themselves off the pacifier at around 2 years old.

I think it helped keep life relaxed.

Answer 6

Pacifier use too early, or, indeed, any artificial nipple use too early can definitely lead to nipple confusion. The various advice we had gotten both from out classes, and the lactation consultants, was to wait at least 3-4 weeks before giving any form of artificial nipple to the baby.

Unfortunately, in our case, our son had jaundice, and therefore the doctors wanted to make sure that he got as much nurishment as possible during the first two days. Since breastmilk usually takes a couple of days to come in, this meant we had to feed him formula with a dropper and a bulb. Even that caused serious nipple confusion for him, and resulted in major problems when we tried breastfeeding.