Pacifiers

Insight from our breastfeeding expert, Courtney Miller, RN, BSN, IBCLC.

Pacifiers inspire the same questions as bottles–what’s best for breastfeeding? Honestly, there are tons on the market these days, and it’s hard to decide!

When asked, I share with families that I prefer the Avent Soothie Pacifier due to its shape. Look at the photo below where you can compare the shape of the Avent Soothie to the Mam. You will see that the Avent one is straight whereas the MAM is thicker on the end. This thicker end pushes the tongue down rather than encouraging it to curl around like the Avent. The shape a tongue makes with the Avent is more similar to what the tongue does when a baby breastfeeds. This distinction is especially important when a baby has tongue tie or latching issues.

With bottles and pacifiers, I often get asked about nipple confusion. Be sure to go check out this topic in our Breastfeeding 101 class [module 1] about supplementing in the early days where I give more insight on nipple confusion/nipple preference.

Courtney's recommendation:
Avent Soothie