A newborn's need to suck: where does it come from and how can it be soothed?

Often from the very first days of life, and sometimes even before, in their mother's womb, babies seek to soothe their need to suck by sucking. A natural, archaic reflex, the need to suck has two facets - nutritive and non-nutritive - which play an important role in the infant's well-being. Breast, Pacifier, thumb or doudou, the need to suck and the disorders that sometimes accompany it, discover in this new article, all our Élhée advice to guide you.

 

CONTENTS:

• Babies' need to suck: an innate reflex
• The thousand and one benefits of breastfeeding
• Breast, Pacifier or pacifier, thumb or doudou: soothing the need to suck
• Our tips for managing your baby's need to suck
• Pacifier physiologique: how to choose a pacifier for your baby?
• Sucking problems: how to recognize them?

Babies' need to suck: an innate reflex

At the ultrasound scan, it's sometimes a big surprise: baby is sucking his thumb! This prenatal reflex is refined throughout pregnancy, reaching its peak at birth. In fact, it's thanks to this reflex that your baby is able to take his first feed.

This is the nutritive sucking that baby uses to feed himself, during which he concentrates, sucking his mother's milk for long periods and swallowing between each suck.

At the same time, non-nutritive sucking at the breast, with a bottle, comforter or pacifier, is faster and involves long pauses. Here, it's not a question of hunger, but of comfort.

Recognizing the need to suck

So how do you tell the difference between hunger and the need for comfort? If it's past feeding time (even just a little), or if it's approaching and baby is hungry, there's a good chance he'll start crying. You may also recognize mouth movements and attempts to suckle his cuddly toy, his fingers or his whole fist, without succeeding in calming him down.

The need for comfort can be marked by a rather agitated child, who has trouble falling asleep, gets upset or turns his head in all directions. If they do, they automatically calm down very quickly.

Do the test yourself! In case of doubt, if it's not yet feeding time and baby's diapers are clean, give him your little finger to suck. If he doesn't calm down, you can prepare his milk meal.

The thousand and one benefits of breastfeeding

An innate reflex (or archaic reflex) associated with the grasping, cardinal point and Moro reflexes, automatic walking, cross-lengthening and head-holding, the sucking reflex plays many roles in your baby's life.

• Feeding: first and foremost, suckling enables your child to drink his or her milk, whether breast or bottle-fed.
• Regulate milk production: by sucking at your breast, baby stimulates and modulates your milk production according to his needs and appetite.
• Soothing: sucking provides a sense of calm and reassurance, comforting or soothing your little one according to his or her needs.
• Managing stress and pain: suckling releases endorphins. A hormone for relaxation and sleep, it also has an analgesic effect, particularly useful during medical examinations, for example.
• Interact : every time baby is put to the breast, if he stops suckling, you change breast. This is the first form of exchange for him, often accompanied by glances and little sounds (so cute!).
• Growing up : sucking plays a significant reassuring role in a child's psycho-affective development.
• Developing the palate:perinatal osteopathy teaches us that the pressure exerted by the tongue on the palate (during feeds and at rest), helps to establish it through the movement of the cranial bones that make it up.
• Develop the jaw muscles: suckling makes all the muscles of the face work, to the point of, in part, shaping its shape.
• Finally, sucking forces baby to breathe through his nose: the best way for him (and for everyone) to oxygenate his brain.

Breast, Pacifier or pacifier, thumb or doudou: soothing the need to suck

As the weeks and months go by, the sucking reflex evolves into a need, as your child understands that it comforts him. It's often at this time that he adopts his cuddly toy, his thumb or a Pacifier to accompany him.

For parents, the great relief of having found a remedy for their babies' crying and discomfort quickly gives way to questions about its advantages and disadvantages. 

The thumb, impossible to misplace

A real asset, especially appreciated at night. When your little one wakes up, he doesn't need anyone to help him get back to sleep, as he can easily find his thumb. However, when the time comes to stop sucking, it's a different story. While the thumb's main advantage is that it's impossible to lose, it's also its main disadvantage.

Specialists also blame it for greater orthodontic deformation, especially in children who suck their thumbs for long periods.

The breast, difficult to refuse

Breastfed babies tend to mix nutritious feeds with comfort feeds. While these moments are often filled with sweetness and magic, it's not always easy to tell the difference between the two, let alone refuse the breast or take baby off the breast because you feel he's not leading effectively.

For this reason, many mothers choose to give their child a Pacifier, or pacifier or soother.

Pacifier, easier to stop

Unlike the thumb, the Pacifier is easier (and, above all, physically possible) to give up, even when you know how much babies love their pacifiers. Interchangeable for the sake of hygiene and practicality, it's also more likely to be lost on a walk or mislaid at night. That's why, as parents, we often have a veritable collection of them.

More flexible than the thumb and more streamlined (known as an anatomic or physiological teat), the Pacifier also has a reduced impact on babies' oral development. 

The cuddly toy and its emotions

Finally, the cuddly toy, a transitional object par excellence, accompanies children during moments of separation from their parents. It can take the place of the pacifier, more or less temporarily (what stuffed rabbit hasn't had its ears sucked?), but it can also transform the pacifier into a comforter, with babies using the nipple to rub their noses and soothe themselves.

Our tips for managing your baby's need to suck

Doctors and pediatricians recommend reserving the use of pacifiers for sleeping times (at night and during naps). But most children also seek them out when they're tired, sick or hurt. In short, when the need for comfort is at its greatest. There are also babies who need to suckle "all the time", and babies who only fall asleep at the breast. However, certain habits should be avoided: 

• give Pacifier instead of (or during) meals, 
• dip the Pacifier in jam, honey or sugar to make it more appetizing, 
• leave the pacifier available without limit.

However, in the first weeks and even during the first months, don't feel guilty about giving your baby the breast, the Pacifier or the little finger. If, outside mealtimes, he asks for a feed, it's because he needs it to soothe himself, calm down, reassure himself or fall asleep. Gradually, as he grows, he'll come to regulate his feedings like a grown-up.

Pacifier and breastfeeding: a duo to be avoided?

Opinions differ on this point. While some doctors recommend not using a pacifier alongside breastfeeding to avoid any risk of confusion, various studies show that, in healthy full-term babies, theintroduction of a pacifier has no particular impact.

However, the general recommendation in the USA, and also in Denmark, is that Pacifier should only be offered once breastfeeding is well established.

Pacifier physiologique: how to choose a pacifier for your baby?

Because once adopted, a Pacifier is difficult to change, here are a few tips to help you choose the right one.

• For comfort and ergonomics, choose a pacifier adapted to your child's age, and change it at each stage (from birth to 2 months, from 2 months to 6 months, 6 months and over...).
• Opt for an extra-flexible physiologicalPacifier designed to adapt to the palate and respect the correct positioning of teeth when they start to grow.
• The Pacifier should always allow baby to close his mouth.
• Also check the composition of the teat and nipple to ensure that the healthiest materials are used. These include medical silicone and natural rubber. 
• Finally, the shape of the shield is also important to avoid pressure on the mouth and to let the skin breathe, as it is often wet with drool in this area.
• Of course, it's also a good idea to choose your baby's Pacifier based on its unique design!

Did you know? Just as it's no longer advisable to sterilize baby bottles every time they're used, it's no longer advisable to sterilize pacifiers either. Wash them, yes, rinse them too, but for your child's immune system to develop, good hygiene is enough. At the same time, don't forget to put the Pacifier in the sun, freeze it or put it in the dishwasher, to avoid damaged nipples!

Sucking problems: how to recognize them?

The sucking reflex enables your baby to feed from your breast or bottle. However, certain disorders can complicate his life, and yours too. Here's how to recognize them.

Feedings are longer, more complicated, sometimes anarchic and, above all, unsatisfactory for both you and your child. Symptoms such as bottle or breast refusal, milk leaks, false routes, GERD or increased restlessness at mealtimes can be a warning sign.

When breast-feeding, you may experience breast pain, cracks or significant engorgement.

Consulting your paediatrician can help you identify the cause of this sucking disorder (mechanical, functional or sensory) and find its origin in a tongue-tie that's too short, a narrow jaw or your baby's prematurity.

When should I stop using my thumb or pacifier?

Ideally, health professionals recommend that pacifiers should be discontinued between the ages of two and three, to preserve children's healthy oral development. Generally speaking, the start of nursery school coincides with a gradual loss of interest in pacifiers. However, if you feel your child is struggling with this important stage, don't hesitate to praise him/her, to tell him/her that grown-ups don't have pacifiers, and to install a small pacifier box in the house for safekeeping.

In conclusion

• The sucking reflex is present from birth. Over the months, it develops into a sucking need used by baby to soothe and reassure himself.
• Sucking allows your child to feed, to stimulate lactation if breast-fed, to calm down or to fall asleep.
• To choose the right Pacifier for your baby, consider its size, shape and materials.
• Sucking problems, when they exist, can manifest themselves as refusal of the breast or bottle, crying, false routes or the appearance of GERD in the baby.
• There's no age limit to stop sucking your thumb or pacifier. Every parent should support their child in this process, and avoid going beyond the age of 3.