If used sensibly and for a baby who has intense sucking needs – in addition to, not as a substitute for, human nurturing – pacifiers are an acceptable aid. If you have one of these babies and experience times when the human pacifier wears out, use the silicon sub, but don’t abuse it. There will be times when being a baby is socially unacceptable, for example, during a sermon in church or in a quiet theater. If baby is finished feeding and won’t accept finger sucking, a pacifier may keep the peace.
Pacifiers bother adults more than they harm babies. I confess that while examining a baby and needing an unobstructed view of baby’s face, I wish “that thing” were not there. Besides, pacifiers obstruct those adorable smiles. But in defense of the much-maligned pacifier, I soon relax my unfair judgment of the rubber comforter as baby sucks contentedly during the entire exam.