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I only have experience with 1 so far, but he was not a binkie baby. I tried and hoped for him to take one (because he liked to use me as a binkie), but it was a no go. He would use his wubbanub (soothie) for maybe 5 minutes a month? 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Exact same situation as you. Our first was a paci FIEND from the night he was born til we took it away at 2.5. Our second, nope. We tried and tried those first few weeks and man it was so much harder! Leading me to spend $40 on every paci I could find on our wedding anniversary trying to get him to take anything at all.

He’s 6mo now and he actually really likes the paci for bed and naps but isn’t dependent on it surprisingly. He doesn’t get it any other time besides maybe in the car occasionally. We just kept offering him different ones and then he took it during our rocking/swaying to sleep. Now he has a little lovey and his paci as part of his bed and nap routine.

Ours was un-interested until 4.5 months, fell in love on vacation, and now is obsessed still at 13 months.

DS1 never took a soother ever and hated the bottle.

DS2 is 6 months and I tried all different soothers from the beginning and he just has no interest. He is ok with the bottle. He has liked sucking on his hands and in the last few days has been sucking his thumb. I’d really rather a soother than the thumb since you can eventually take it away.

LO1 took to the paci easily and we just finally took it away right before she turned 4 She was never a paci fiend, but used it for sleep and in the car up until the end.

LO2 never took one. I tried a few kinds but She never picked it up and we actually a pretty could sleeper as a newborn so it was ok. And then I just kept thinking how if she didn’t use it that when we finally took away LO1s that we would be done w pacis for good! I had a few moments as she got older (and after her permanent 4 month sleep regression) that I thought about trying again but I figured it was nice to have one thing to not have to transition away from eventually.

Anyway, so not a success story but also if she never takes it it will be ok too!

With my first I tried every brand to try and get her to like it but she just never did. And she definitely used me as a pack instead. But then as she got older we never had to worry about breaking the habit so That was a plus I guess. She also hardly took bottles at all, something I didn’t fight too hard since I stayed home anyway.
My younger one I half heartedly tried, she didn’t care for them, and I gave up early. But she also refused bottles almost entirely despite trying early and often. We survived but that was hard.

Yes! We were kind of torn about whether to try to get her to like it or not, but we kept offering it throughout the first several months because she was hard to soothe. It was a gradual thing, but she loves it now at 10 months. I'd say she's been using it consistently to fall asleep since maybe 3-4 months. But she's no where near as dependent on it as our other two were-she uses it if it's there, but can get herself to sleep without it and does regularly in the car or in the middle of the night. And she doesn't wake up as soon as it falls out. I don't offer it during the day unless she's sick or really fussy for some other reason, so it's mostly just a sleeping thing.

Just want to offer the perspective that if she doesn’t take it, it’s not the end of the world!
My first loved his and used it till 3 (sleep only).
My 2nd just turned a year. We tried for a couple of months and it honestly caused more trouble than it was worth. He wasn’t that into it but we would plug him with it for sleep and then he would purposely spit it out but then be upset/wake himself up over it.
Finally decided that he was crying over the pacifier anyway so why not just completely get rid of it. We kept forcing it on him thinking that it would keep him calm but it really wasn’t doing anything so we just stopped. It’s actually been really really nice that he doesn’t use it. It’s one less thing to worry about when we’re out and about or when we’re going on a trip. We don’t have to have them stashed everywhere in case of emergency. I don’t have to wean him off of it now or when he gets older and is even more attached to it. He still slept through the night when he was 4-5mo (we sleep trained, which also was easier IMO because it was one less sleep crutch to worry about).

Bottom line - there are pros and cons to both scenarios but overall I’d say more pros to not taking one. So don’t stress too much if your efforts are fruitless. It doesn’t mean you’re doomed to bad sleep or constant fussiness.
It’s still early days, so def try if you want to but don’t be afraid to throw in the towel.

@BadgerMom: LO1 hated pacifiers and caught a good fight against the bottle. LO2 was more chill in general. He did eventually take the pacifier on occasion but he was never too attached to it. I would have forgotten that he ever used it except he has it in our family portrait on year. I don't have any tips. I tried everything to get LO1 to take one so I think it was just the individual preference.

@BadgerMom: we have been having this issue too with our 5 week old baby girl. She took a pacifier in the hospital no problem but barely ever since. You put it in her mouth and she either spits it out and looks offended or spits it out and starts gagging. I’ve tried different ones too thinking maybe the one was too big for her mouth? But nope, same case for all of them. Every once in a while we can get her to take one but not very often.

I am EBF and we give her a bottle at night of my milk. Sometimes she takes it right away and other times acts like it’s the pacifier and we have to fight her a little bit to finally take it. When that happens, I squeeze the nipple a bit so she gets the milk and realizes it is ok to take it! Haha picky little girl we have on our hands!

I understand that not taking the pacifier can be good but I do wish she would take it at night to calm down a little when I put her to bed. Good luck to you!!

@BadgerMom: that's great!! keep it up have you guys tried a Nuk yet?

@LabradorLover: so happy to see you commenting in the parenting threads

My son refused the pacifier several times at the beginning that we just assumed it wasn't for him. Then while staying with my in-laws over Christmas when he was 6 months old, he was waking up the whole house with his middle of the night cries and I felt terrible so I went to the grocery and bought pacifiers to try. That began a 2 year love affair with pacifiers. When my daughter came along, she wasn't a fan at first but eventually came around when she was a month or so old. We just weaned her a few months ago at age 2.

@BadgerMom: all 3 of my kids didn't love the pacifier but we "taught"them to like it and then eventually they became addicted to it and we had to wean them off starting around the 10 month mark