Or a soother.Or a dummy.Or The Plug.Or whatever it is they called that thing for little beings around the world.

I don’t know why that is, but I hate, hate, hate the sight of that thing. I detest it. I abhor it. No matter how cute the designs are, or how cool they look in their different shades and sizes, I do not care for it, and I am utterly disgusted by it. I really do have an unnatural hatred for it. 

Now, don’t get me wrong – it does not bother me at all that many parents give their babies a pacifier to soothe them or settle them to sleep. It is, after all their choice, it is their kids and I have got no issueswith that. I am, in no uncertain terms fit to judge or even be judging or questioning their decision on using the pacifier.   (Although I have to admit that I thought it can be quite unsightly to see a 3 or  a 4 year old sucking on that silly thing while out and about in town)

This is just me being personal about the physical thing itself and I just cannot explain it.I am mostly disgusted at the thought of having my kids using them, and worse, be dependent upon them.

With Spud, although we did buy a couple (why, I don’t know!), I made it a point not to ever introduce her the pacifier. So, when Silver Bullet once stuffed that damn thing in her mouth without first telling me that he was gonna do it that one time he was trying to soothe her – and promptly after, followed by the Nanny, I threw a fit! I got so angry with them that I made sure that pacifier never saw the light of the day again. As far as I was concerned, Spud did not need it as there were other ways to calm her down.  The pacifier was pretty much, history. On the hind sight, with Spud’s personality and our struggles with her to get her off the breast and to the bottle and then off the bottle and to the sippy cup, I was glad the pacifier was never in her repertoire.

With Squirt though, almost everyone I spoke to and every website I read recommended that we need to give him a pacifier as he has the reflux. For a reflux baby, apparently, non-nutritive sucking using pacifiers can relax the digestive tract and increased saliva that can help digest feeding quickly – something which a reflux baby would need. Putting him on the boob would mean feeding, and with his reflux, it just should not be done. With that in mind, I had to GRUDGINGLY agree to introduce the pacifier to him. 

I could feel myself cringe, and my goose bumps pop out all over my body the moment I put the pacifier in his mouth to calm him down between feedings

I was seething with hatred at the plastic plugging. The first few attempts with a Tommy Tippy pacifier were somewhat futile. When he rejected it at first, I swore I felt so relieved!  At the same time though, I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry.  Laugh because, I pretty much convinced myself that he will never, ever take it and I am truly happy for that – I think I even jumped for joy! Cry because it could be the very thing that would be able to calm him down when required, and that could be our savior. 

But when a friend gave us the Avent Soothie as a gift, he eventually, but grudgingly took it when he had one of those fits in the earlier days of his reflux. It was an ugly little number that thing.

I was torn. It was like I want him not to take it, but at the same time, I want him to take it …but just a little bit.

I then became quite the control freak with using the pacifier, using just about enough to calm him down and then withdrawing it, and never use it to put him to sleep. With my paranoia on Squirt becoming dependent on Mr. Soothie, I made sure that Silver Bullet and the Nanny are both on board to limit the use of the pacifier.

By now though, I am comforted by the fact that Squirt is not really too hot with Mr. Soothie. (I am grinning from ear to ear as I am typing that sentence). While it does help to soothe him for a bit, that is, usually, just it. For.a.bit. Mere seconds.

In fact, we had to be rather persistent for him to take it when he has a crying fit to minimize the gas in his stomach. When he finally calms down and a few non-nutritive sucks later, he would then spit Mr. Soothie out. In fact, most times, he gets a little annoyed if we keep shoving that thing in his mouth. I swear sometimes, he gave me a “are you kidding me” look in his state of calmness when I shove the pacifier back in, only for him to spit it back out.

Looking at how things go with the pacifier, I am a happy camper. I guess my worries are unfounded. Or maybe, I have just jinxed it.

Pacifiers..they make your babies look really ugly in photos!