Experts and dentists recommend not letting kids satisfy their need to suck with their thumb, but with a pacifier, because the sucking of the thumb is harder to quit than getting rid of the pacifier. The need to suck cannot and should not be suppressed, because it is necessary for the ingestion and has also an calming down effect, because of the stimulation of nerve ends. Because babies get used to pacifiers very fast, parents should look after the “right one”.

There are many different kinds of suckers. Important is an jaw suitable shape, which means the pacifier should be rather flat. A round shape is not recommended, because they do not have the jaw suitable shape, which might cause defective positions of the childish jaw. Pacifiers not only have different shapes but also different kinds of rubber, which are most of the time silicon and latex. Silicon pacifiers should only be used if the child does not have any teeth so far, because silicon is easier to break with the teeth and therefore small parts can easily be swallowed. Latex pacifiers can be used from the beginning on and should definitely be used by children with teeth. However, there is a little risk of allergies, rather than at the use of silicon. Another disadvantage is the fact that latex pollutes faster than silicon because latex is larger pored and therefore germs can hold on better. So the pacifiers should be cleaned constantly and renewed every four weeks. A cleaning can occur by boiling or vaporization. It is not recommended to clean them in the dishwasher.

The sucker should be disused until fourth birthday, because a longer application cannot only lead to jaw damages but also to speech disorders.

Autor: Andrea Bracht
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