Are pacifiers bad for 3 year olds?

0 votes
asked Mar 15, 2020 in Toddler/Preschooler by luveyouto (310 points)
Are pacifiers bad for 3 year olds?

1 Answer

0 votes
answered Mar 15, 2020 by trici (460 points)
It's recommended that kids stop using pacifiers when they reach 12 to 18 months of age.

But it's not really bad for 3 year old kids to have and use pacifiers but extended pacifier use can interfere with the 3 year olds speech.

So the pacifier use in the 3 year old kid may make it difficult for the 3 year old to begin to speak properly.

I would recommend trying to wean the 3 year old off the pacifier because there's not much benefit for the 3 year old to have the pacifier anymore at least during the day.

Pacifiers are good for babies but when they get past 2 years old there's not much need for them and they can sometimes do more harm than good.

But if your 3 year old still insists on the pacifier then I would not push the issue of removing the pacifier until they are nearing 5 years old and still using the pacifier.

If it keeps the 3 year old calm or helps the 3 year old sleep better at night then there's no harm in letting the 3 year old use the pacifier.

108,713 questions

117,666 answers

1,358 comments

7,058,495 users

...