Before discussing which pacifier may work best for your breastfed baby, it’s important to note that you do not need to have your baby use a pacifier at all. A breastfed baby can be pacified at the breast. After all, the pacifier is modeled after the human nipple. Unfortunately, all pacifiers promote an open-mouth posture that truly isn’t ideal. Nonetheless, many parents opt to use a pacifier for a variety of reasons, so let’s break down which pacifiers work best for a breastfed baby.
There are three main shapes of pacifiers:
Wide orthodontic pacifier or “butterfly” pacifier:
This pacifier has a flat shape all the way through; the main issue with this type of pacifier is that the baby can’t curl its tongue well around the very narrow end of the pacifier nipple.
Conical shaped pacifier (“Soothie” brand):
This pacifier has a long finger-shaped nipple. It is long and round and flares out at the base. This allows the baby to wrap its tongue around the base and flare lips open as one would do while at the breast. There are some varieties of the conical pacifier, the most commonly seen one with the large round rubber base and then there is one with a lighter plastic type base.
Orthodontic shaped pacifier:
This pacifier is narrow through the middle with a flat edge and a rounded top; tongue cannot be cupped around the base well and Baby may flatten the nipple itself while sucking which is not ideal. The conical-shaped pacifier is the one most commonly recommended for the breastfed baby because it best mimics the mouth-position used while breastfeeding. It allows for the tongue to curl around the bottom and has a wide-base where the lips can be flared outward. That being said, there are scenarios where a different pacifier may be indicated. For instance, babies with a high palate or babies who have been intubated, may need something different but please consult with your lactation consultant directly about which pacifier is recommended for your baby’s specific situation.
