Baby won't take a pacifier....

Bean never EVER took to a pacifier. Not even her thumb.
What my mother told me to do was to buy a nipple that she was used to and put a tiny drop of hot glue on the inside of the nipple to seal the hole and then put nothing but warm water in the bottle and give that to her. The warm water kept the nipple warm and pliable , but the hot glue didnt allow it to escape .
Im not sure how practical it is .. but..
I tried it... she took it twice. but that was it.

she just never really took to sucking for comfort. Bottles and nipples in her mind , were for food only.

My oldest one didn't want a passy, but I kept on pluggin' away with it. My husband made fun of me for wanting him to take one....

My second one....took one for about a year, then it become a play thing to him.

Neither child wasn't fond of them...Some aren't.

Does she nurse?

If so, I'd advise actively keeping her away from one. Messes with nursing.

Sozlet's another who was never interested in pacifiers, ever.

Looked up the SIDS thing (I didn't know that!) and found this, also tied into whether Chiquita is nursing or not:



http://sids-network.org/experts/pacifiers.htm

No problem at all. If baby doesn't want a pacifier, don't force it on her. In my opinion it is better. The baby will learn to sooth herself without the use of a pacifier - also, a pacifier is just another bad habit baby will have to break eventually.

I have two young children. The first loved the pacifier and used it. I found NUK to work best for her - she loved them. My second refused the pacifier. We never used it - she preferred her thumb from day one. Each child is different and whatever works for your child is best.

This is the first I have heard of the lower incidence of SIDS, but even if that is true, if you have a healthy baby, I would not use the pacifier simply because of SIDS, there are so many other ways you can prevent SIDS.

My older son didn't want a pacifier.

My younger son adored his--we referred to it as The Plug.

Funny Noddy - we also referred to it as the PLUG. It "plugged" the crying.

I saw the news bit about pacifiers and SIDS yesterday, where it was also suggested that babies be placed flat on their backs, not on their side (to prevent SIDS). Maybe your baby will be just fine, DrewDad, without a pacifier. My kids loved them but it was sure difficult breaking that habit.

As an aside: I visited the (main) NUK factory once: the most important thing our guide told us, was that they don't produse condoms and pacifiers with the same maschines

Nice, Walter. That is comforting.

Just read the article. It also stated that babies shoud sleep in the same room as the parents, but warned about bed sharing and having baby sleep on a firm surfaces without any soft or loose bedding.

Why would anybody force their child to use a pacifier? If I child can pacify themselves without one, whats the issue? I have a sister-in-law that makes her son take his thumb out of his mouth so she can put a pacifier in instead?????

My oldest refused to take a pacifier until he started teething. And, the only reason he took one then was because it hurt to chew on his fingers.

On the other hand, my youngest takes a pacifier all the time. But, he will only suck on the Gerber Gentle Flex kind.

Just goes to show that each baby is different. There's nothing wrong with a baby that refuses a pacifier.

Our daughter is now almost 4 months old. We were pretty flexible with her and the pacifier. Although she was a very calm newborn, didn't cry very much - we did offer her a pacifier on the occasion she cried despite being fed, changed or held differently. Sometimes she took it, mostly she didn't. We offered it less and less to her. Since she was about 2 - 2 1/2 months-old, she started chewing on her hands. Now, all day she sucks on her hands, and anything else that she can put in her mouth, including my hand and daddy's nose. It seems to satisfy her need to suck, ease whatever itches the teeth developing under her gums are causing, and calm her. I think this was a good alternative to the pacifier as it serves the same purpose and is one less thing that I'll need to wean her off as she grows older.

You will still need to wean her, as she'll grow up sucking on her fingers/thumb. She'll need to be weaned from her hands just like a baby from a pacifier.

If you REALLY prefer her to take a pacifier, try different kinds. There are a bunch of shapes, hardnesses, sizes, etc. My oldest didn't really care what kind it was. But, my youngest ONLY takes the Gerber Gentle Flex kind (and, the most expensive of all).

And, it's natural for a baby to suck and chew on their hands. My youngest pulls his pacifier out JUST to suck on his fingers. But, sucking on their hands means that their hands need to be washed often since they handle all kinds of things that have germs and easily get dirty; plus their nails need to be kept trim so they don't cut themselves.

Not necessarily on sucking on fingers/ thumb. My daughter did neither (no pacifier, no thumb-sucking). I mean, she was interested in her hands as a tiny baby (and her toes, and everything else within reach), but never sucked her thumb for comfort, never needed to be weaned of it.

Now why didn't I realize that earlier - naturally she'll need to be weaned off her hand-sucking! *smacking forehead*

I think it's great that a chidren can pacify themselves. As far as the weening part goes, it happens when it happens. the less comforting they need the sooner it will happen.