Not all babies need or like to have pacifiers but for some, a pacifier can be a source of comfort. In any case, if you do choose to get a pacifier for your baby, there are a couple of safety tips that you need to consider.
Don't Accessorize
Most pacifiers that have been directly released by companies have been made with an eye on safety features. The worst mistake that any parent could do would be to accessorize pacifiers or buy ones that have been modified or accessorized.
Pacifiers with unnecessary decorations and accessories would include those with dangling chains, jewels and decorative sticks protruding from the handle. Pacifiers of this kind being sold by merchants have already been recalled but some parents might still attempt to do the decorating themselves. Decorations on a pacifier could become detached and mayExamples of these decorated pacifiers are those with decorative stick on jewels or dangling attachments on the pacifier guard or handle. become choking hazards.
Don't Attach on Baby
Some parents find it inconvenient that pacifiers get lost or fall off so easily and are thus tempted to attach them on their babies with either a pin or string. Resist the urge to do this. Your baby could find a way to open a regular pin and get injured or worse, he might just ingest a detached pin. A string or ribbon on the other hand could become entangled and could strangle your baby.
Check the Pieces
Pacifiers can have multiple pieces. In such cases, make sure that you've checked all its assembled pieces together and that they're properly and firmly attached. You should test the nipple in particular by tugging at it. A teething baby might suck too aggressively and detach the nipple, thus making it a choking hazard. Watch out for recalled models especially among multiple piece pacifiers.
Do Not Make Your Own
Just as it is not safe to attach decorations to your pacifier, it is also not safe to modify anything into a pacifier. Do not attempt to reconfigure old nipples or pacifier parts into another pacifier. Your creation might not hold together well enough, and you may thus end up with a bunch of choking hazards. Store sold pacifiers have been carefully designed and tested to withstand repeated sucking and biting and should therefore be the only items that can be safely used.
Steer Clear of Liquid-Filled Pacifiers
Although it happens rarely with liquid-filled pacifiers, still, your baby could bite through the nipple and get all the liquid out. You should also avoid coating pacifiers with sugar, honey or anything sweet. This would encourage your baby to gnaw harder on a pacifier and may bite through it or develop an attachment for it.
Buy Standard Size
Standard-sized pacifiers usually have a stopper or shield that is more than one inch across an average baby's mouth. This is to prevent your baby from ingesting the whole pacifier and choking on it. The shield however should have small holes on each side to allow moisture out and air onto your baby's skin.
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Raising kids with a mental illness
By: ~!Question Queen Pinto Bean!~ | 18-07-2008
Why are SO many people telling me I should NEVER have kids, just because of my mental disability? I'll be 25 next month. I have my college degree. Look @ what I've accomplished. Family members, acquaintances, social workers, etc. tell me, "You better NOT get pregnant, or else I'll have your baby put up for welfare & I'll arrange for that BEFORE you can even give birth because you're crazy!"
Why was it OK for my twin sister to have 3 kids, & no one said anything? Why is it OK for everyone to have kids but me? Why is it OK for a 14-yr. old to get pregnant & still be allowed to keep her child?
My birth mom had 9 kids, & she was on drugs & locked us up in clothes drawers as newborns when we cried, so we were put in foster care. The former foster family is even telling me I BETTER not get pregnant! The foster mom is the one who threatened to get my kids taken into welfare. My twin isn't taking proper care of her kids. In fact, she GAVE her kids away to the state because her mentally slow friend told her to.
They think I'm gonna follow my mom & twin's footsteps, which I'm NOT! I LOVE kids! I don't want anyone to get hurt. Right now, I'm single & (NOT pregnant), but I want to get married & have kids someday.
This is very bothersome to me, & I can't get it off of my mind. & the foster mom used to tell me, "I should've left y'all NASTY, FILTHY, DIRTY BABIES WHERE I "FOUND" YOU!" She & the ENTIRE foster family were abusive, & they're STILL intrusive in my life.
& even my biological mom is telling me I shouldn't get pregnant, but she didn't take good care of us! She has the NERVE out this WORLD!
I had 2 strokes @ age 5, & I suffer OCD, anxiety, depression, & Tourette's, but I see other people with WORSE illnesses, like schizophrenia (my mom) & bipolar (my other sister) raising kids! & also others with slight mental retardation, raising kids.
I don't drink, I don't do drugs, I don't get into trouble with the law, & besides, I'm WILLING to take parenting & pregnancy classes BEFORE I even get pregnant!
I have a 4 month old, and i have him every night ...
By: flik | 18-07-2008
I have a 4 month old, and i have him every night, and on weekends. His mom has a boyfriend, and im just worried he is gonna think he is his dad and not me.
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Where to buy affordable jarred organic baby food (and to receive coupons for the purchase of) in zip codes 11215, 11217, 11238, 11225 and 11226 in Brooklyn New York.
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ON june 24th i started taking birth control a week later on the night of july 3rd and the morning of july 4th i had unprotected sex with my boyfriend i was suspose to start my period on july 10th but my friend said that since im on birth control she said that i would start my period when i took my white pills which i am into my forth day of my white pills and i still havnt started my period it is now july 18 could i be pregnant
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Looking for information on Baby girl last name Robin born at Northside General Hospital, Rochester NY
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