pacifier advice needed please

[KnockedUpMell]

My DS is 6w now and EBF. I never intended to use pacifier initially but this weekend we tried taking him out in the car and he screamed his head off and we needed to pull over 3 times in the space of 20 mins to comfort him. I then decided to get a pacifier for emergency use, when we are not able to comfort him. This includes times when he is overtired and wants to comfort suck but refuses the breast (it upsets him even more when I put him on the breast and he just wants to comfort suck). My mum is a strong advocate of pacifier use, and I just wanted to hear some other opinions on using the pacifier for bedtime / naptimes. At the moment he will sleep well is he's in bed with us, on his tummy, but if he's on his back or in his hammock, he is restless and wakes frequently. I am happy to co-sleep but am not happy about him sleeping on his tummy (we caved in since we were not getting any sleep, and that was the only way he would sleep). Please tell me why I should / should not use the pacifier for bedtimes as well as for emergencies / times when the boob just will not do.

If breastfeeding is established so you aren't worried about latch then I don't think there is any reason not to use a pacifier if it works for your little one. I didn't want to use one either but DD certainly did. Like you we found it useful at times when comforting her with the breast just wasn't possible like in the car. It may or may not help with night time sleep.

Issues with them include keeping them clean and getting your little one to give them up when they are older. Using them beyond a or so can cause issues with speech development (though only if you allow your baby to suck one all the time, not if used sparingly at nap time I imagine). Getting rid of them really isn't always a problem. My DD stopped using hers pretty much overnight at 6m and hasn't used one since.