From the personalized to the posh, pacifiers are now the latest way to accessorize your little guy or gal. Leaving the basic Binky behind, these pacifiers are anything but boring. Whether you want to dress him up as a superbaby or outfit her like a princess, we found nine unusual pacifiers that guarantee a good laugh, or at the very least, some funny reactions!
We're happy to present this article from our partner site Yahoo! Shine:
Popping a binky in a baby's mouth is a quick way to stop them from fussing, but for boys, it may also short-circuit their emotional growth.
Read More: 10 Simple Ways to Boost Kids' Self-Esteem
Before a baby can talk, he or she relies on non-verbal cues, especially facial expressions, to communicate. Babies also mirror those cues, and in so doing, discover the emotions the cues are attached to. In a recent study published in the Journal of Basic and Applied Social Psychology researchers from the University of Wisconsin scientists evaluated over 100 kids and found that that six and seven-year-old boys who had heavily used pacifiers were worse at mimicking emotions expressed by faces on a video. They also interviewed more than 600 college students and discovered that college-age men whose parents reported they had relied on pacifiers scored lower on tests measuring empathy and the ability to evaluate the moods of others. For girls and young women, the researchers found there was no difference in emotional maturity based on pacifier use.
Here's a post from our partners at BabyCenter! Every week, we bring you the best parenting and lifestyle stories from the experts at BabyCenter, including this post from Andrea Updike about toddlers using pacifiers.
I have a confession to make. My 3-year-old uses a pacifier when he sleeps. Also? I have no intention of taking it away.
We’ve all seen the pictures of Suri Cruise with her pacifier/bottle/high heels and made our judgments. We all think we will do things a certain way before we have kids. And we all find our own system that works that is somewhere between total control and total anarchy. Today? I am standing up for sleep. And for our family, that means the paci stays.
Related: What's Up With Big Babies?
My son sleeps. He sleeps well. He sleeps with a paci. Last year, we decided to drop the paci. We ceremoniously said good-bye, and he even (quite bravely) threw it in the garbage all by himself. That night he went right to sleep without a second thought. I was victorious. I was proud. I even blogged about it.
I was arrogant.
Not two days later, he stopped napping. Like, as in completely. He went from three-hour naps to nonstop chatter. I turned to Google to find out if he was ready to drop the nap. Post after post appeared saying that children dropped naps about the same time they dropped pacifiers. I knew the paci would be back.
Thankfully, I am really good at eating my words.
I marched myself right out to the store and purchased not one, but two new pacifiers. We named them "bedtime pacis" and told Oscar that they had to live in his bed. He gladly accepted those terms and is back to nice, long afternoon naps!
Of course, I worried that I would ruin his teeth forever, but my pediatrician gave me the OK, saying that he isn’t really sucking on it in his sleep, so it doesn’t cause the issues that might take place if he had it during waking hours. And that was all I needed to hear about that.
My name is Andrea Updyke, and I am proud of my pacifier-using 3-year-old.
When did your child drop the paci?
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Source: Flickr User KitchenDesigner
You don't see many kindergartners wearing diapers or popping a bottle in their lunch bag. Some milestones like rolling, talking, and walking just sort of happen and others like giving up a lovey, forgoing a pacifier, and moving from crib to bed are more learned. Some parents help their offspring progress by limiting the time their tot is wheeled around in a stroller or eats in a high chair. We're curious what you think. Chime in with your opinion on everything from bottle feeding to snuggling with stuffed animals!
Parents have strong feelings about what their lil ones use to soothe themselves. From the moment their wee ones arrive, they make the decision to either offer the tots a pacifier or leave them to find a soothing technique of their own. While pacifier-users tout the ability to take the artificial nipples away when the time comes, there's something to be said for the convenience and constant proximity of a thumb.
For the 18 percent of LilSugar readers whose tykes are fascinated with their own appendages, the difficulty comes when it is time for the kids to stop sucking. Doctors and dentists agree that prolonged thumb sucking can lead to misaligned teeth, mouth malformation, and speech issues, and it is usually recommended that kids stop by the age of 5.
But how do you stop your child from doing something that you can't actually take away from her? What did you do to stop your child from sucking her thumb?
Bottle, breast, finger or pacifier babies love to suck. From the moment they enter the world, lil ones seem on a quest to find something to put in their mouths. While a thumb or finger is always available, 40 percent of LilSugar readers opt to give their babes the artificial nipple when attempting to soothe them.
When baby doesn't immediately calm down, many mamas look for another answer to hush their screaming child. Though singing and shushing work for some, repeatedly tapping the binky works for others. On a recent outing, I looked around to find several new moms standing over their children and tapping their pacifiers in hopes of quieting them down. Where this motion came from I can't tell you, but I can vouch for its effectiveness!
Pacifiers come in all shapes and sizes, so it's no wonder that we all have our own names for them too. One child's "binky" is another child's "dummy." Some creative kiddos even come up with their own original names for their coveted soothers — my pal's babe referred to her sucker as "my cc." What do you call your child's pacifier?
Can't seem to rid your wee one of his sucker? Join our Place to Vent group over in our LilSugar Community and share your stress with fellow moms who understand your plight.
Was Christian Audigier, founder of Ed Hardy, picking Jon Gosselin's brain about baby products when they were yachting in the South of France? We don't know exactly what the two were discussing earlier this Summer, but perhaps the dad of eight was giving some input on newborn products.
The company just announced the launch of Ed Hardy Baby Products, which will include baby bottles, bibs, and pacifiers featuring the tattoo designs. The BPA-free bottles and suckers will be manufactured in Germany using a silicone treatment to meet current safety standards and are expected to hit store shelves in October.
Are you interested in the latest eclectic offerings?
Breaking up with binky is hard to do. There are infinite ways to quit the pacifier, and everybody has an opinion. While some doctors urge parents to get rid of the suckers by a certain age for dental and language reasons, others are more lenient. Regardless of how you decide to wean your tot from the paci, there will be good days and bad. Here are some techniques mamas have used.
Source: Flickr User April Roberts
Trying to rid your child of his unnecessary sucker can be torturous for both mama and babe. When you decide it's time to bid the pacifier goodbye, stand strong and try this lil trick. Cut the silicone nipple vertically in half. Your tot's tongue won't like the feeling as much as the original, and is likely to give it up sooner than later.
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