Soothers yay or nay ?

jcf

We are thinking of giving our 6 week old a soother to help relax him when falling asleep, i didn't want to have to give him a soother cos i heard there was a study linking them to having low IQ's ... now this could be bs of course - but kind of makes sense, kids with soothers stuck in their gobs seem less interested in taking in the world around them.


Im thinking of using it only in situations where he cannot relax himself , or will this just become something he relies on ?

deelite

Two of my children had to go to speech therapy and the first question the therapists asked was "what age did you stop giving your child the soother?" None of them ever had a soother!!! I didn't give them one as they settled most nights, however if I could get one big enough for the six year old now I would.

angelfire9

I gave both my girls soothers
Eldest is now 10
Youngest is now 1
Both of them used them solely for sleeping neither were the type to go around with a soother hanging from their mouths all day
Aisling has her's attached to her coat when we go out and attached to her PJ's at night and she only grabs for it when she's knackered and there's no bottle around (if I'm driving and she wants to sleep she'll put it in or if she wakes in the cot she'll do the same)

I never heard a connection between soothers and IQ?
I would have thought your IQ was inherent and couldn't be affected by outside factors, i.e. your genetically predisposed to being clever or not so clever

I certainly wouldn't say it affected the eldest as she is 10 and in 5th class in school & is doing great academically (top of her class in English & Maths)
Bit early to say how Aisling will turn out but as she is part monkey :D and capable of escaping from her cot @ 1 year of age I don't think she has any IQ problems (too bloody clever for her own good at this stage IMHO) :rolleyes:

uck51js9zml2yt

We never gave our 15 month old a soother.
He sleeps fine.

Orion

jcf wrote: »

i heard there was a study linking them to having low IQ's ... now this could be bs of course -

That is bs. Soothers have no bearing on IQ in the slightest. They can be related to speech development difficulties as kids who have them in all the time start speaking around them but that is only a temporary thing and corrects itself in school.

Personally we never used soothers for our twins at all. We used cool gel rings when they were teething but that was all.

How Strange

The supposed link between IQ and soothers is nonsense. They may affect speech development initially but that corrects itself later on.

I gave my son a soother although in a way I'd have preferred if he settled himself. I'm breastfeeding so I'm going against the best advice for breastfeeding but it was either give him a soother or never move off the sofa for months.

I take it off him during the day now and the crèche do the same so he only gets it when he's going to bed.

Moonbeam

At 6 weeks I don't think that I would.

I was one of these people that was never going to use a soother and ended up giving it to my 1st to stop her sucking on everything in sight! I weened her off it at 6 months.
My 2nd girl is nearly 1 and still has it,she puts everything in her mouth,drools and only has 2 teeth and still has it.

Ayla

I think my girls are the only thumb-suckers I know. Both found their thumbs around week 2 & never looked back.

After much dismay (I hate the things) I gave our first girl a soother around week 8-10 when she wouldn't settle, but turns out she was so irritable b/c she had a kidney infection. After the nurses kept trying to shove the thing in her mouth she went off it completely, which I was happy with. She went off her thumb completely by around 18-24 months (when we could explain to her that it was "yucky").

I never gave a soother to our second, and at 26 months she only goes for her thumb when she's upset.

I was happy not to have to deal w/ soothers b/c it's another thing to try to keep ahold of & keep sterile. At least w/ thumbs the child can find it themself in the dark

xzanti

What's the problem with giving a baby a soother? When my Son was born the midwife GAVE us a soother for him.. he can take it or leave it but it's handy to have if he starts kicking off in a supermarket or somewhere..

We'll be taking it off him soon though, as he's just turned 1.

liliq

Personally I'm a big fan of soothers!
My little man wouldn't take one for a while, but I offered it to him a couple of times and the last couple of weeks he has been taking it. I think before he couldn't suck it properly because of his tongue tie.
I breast feed as well, and while that's convenient most of the time, if I'm standing on the Luas I just don't have the balance to feed at the same time! haha so the soother comes in handy then. I also think I'd be sitting under him literally all day if I didn't give it to him.
At the moment hes starting to teeth, so I think he's chewing it more than sucking it anyway!
Sucking it a comfort for babies so I don't really see a problem with it for the moment. I'll deal with getting him to give it up when the time comes! (I know I might end up wishing I never gave it to him...)

implausible

How Strange wrote: »

I gave my son a soother although in a way I'd have preferred if he settled himself. I'm breastfeeding so I'm going against the best advice for breastfeeding but it was either give him a soother or never move off the sofa for months.

I hear ya How Strange! I was very anti-soother before I had my wee man as I had this picture of a 4 year old running around with one in his mouth.

At about 5 weeks, he was waking in the night but wasn't hungry, so I started to give him a 'dodie' - cue consistent sleeping through the night from then on. Before he was one, I got him off him in daytime and now at 18 months, all he has it for is naps, bedtime and cranky emergencies in the car. When he wakes in the morning, I ask him for it and he hands it to me! (If only he handled every request so well!)

I think some babies are just 'sucky'. If he was using the whole time, I'd worry about his speech and teeth. I've never heard the IQ thing - sounds daft.

Roselm

This website includes a comprehensive list of pros and cons of soother use.

http://www.babycenter.ca/baby/dailycare/dummies&pacifiers/

pwurple

Babies are born wanting to suck. It's very comforting for them. Our little one gets a soother at bedtime. She doesn't have it during the day usually. She can sleep without it, and usually spits it out maybe 10 minutes after she is asleep anyway.

I think if you use it as a Dummy, to dumb them into silence, then that would be a problem. But otherwise it is just a bit of comfort.

People can be a bit militant about it. I remember a relative yanking the soother out of my 6 week old sleeping babies mouth when she was in her pram saying "Get that filthy thing off her, her teeth will be ruined". Good grief. I'll worry about that if she still has it when her adult teeth are coming in, at age 7.

Ignore anything that claims to give higher IQ unless it is your genes.

cbyrd

Sucking calms a baby be it on the boob soother or thumb.. All mine had it but they never really outside the cot.. the eldest boy who'll be 2 on friday gave it up just before his brother was born..when he wsa 21 month.. the baby has one for settling him if he goes off on a hissy fit (not very often thank god) I breastfed him for 10 weeks and sometimes he'd just use me as a soother so to get out from under him i gave him one.. :rolleyes:

You only appreciate the soother if it calms a screaming child.. it can be so useful and get you an extra hour sleep in the morning..but i hate to see kids of 3 and 4 out in shops with one hanging off their lip.. I've never had to do the whole giving the soother to santy or the fairy's to get rid of it so i'm lucky in that sense but it's completely up to you and if you think your child would benefit then go for it.. chances are he may not even want it..

January

My three year old still has a soother, she gets it when she's going to bed or really upset. Her speech is absolutely fine, she also has a perfect set of chompers on her.

My two year old is a thumb sucker... she doesn't suck constantly though.

My 12 week old has a soother, but she can take it or leave it. She sometimes looks for it going to sleep, but other times nods off without it.

It's always a very personal issue, I gave in three days in on my first because if she wasn't sucking on the bottle, she was sucking on my finger. On the second I tried to give her one but she wouldn't take it and found her thumb at about two weeks old. On number three I gave it to her when she was a week old because she was constantly breast feeding but she didn't take to it really until I gave up breastfeeding.

How Strange

I read on that link that first time parents are more likely to give a soother and boys are more likely than girls to take to it. That's summed us up!

Greystoner

Both of mine had soothers. The usage was dropped off as they got older and then used only for 'sleepy time' (ie naps and bedtime) and then 'only bedtime' and then only when asked for at bedtime and it kind of stopped itself in child ones case and with my youngest, she just has it last thing at bedtime and as soon as she falls asleep it falls out of her mouth, so she technically only has it for a few minutes a day.

I do believe that the SIDS foundation found a link that shows use of a soother can help prevent SIDS.

Long term use, of being 'plugged in' all the time could affect speech and shape of the teeth, but you never see an adult with a soother do you?! So they all give it up at sometime and it is more hygenic than a thumb (if sterilized of course!), and less sore.

I would definately be 'pro-soother'; anything to keep them feeling secure and calm, but limit use before it gets too much of a habit!