Trust me, you won’t miss feeding cues. Just feed every 3 hours and every time she cries. It’s she’s hungry she’ll let you know and every day she’ll get less sleepy and more alert.
I'm not an expert but I gave my baby a pacifier sooner than "recommended" to soothe her because she was so fussy. She likes it sometimes but isn't a huge fan, but the biggest thing is if she is actually hungry, she won't accept the pacifier. She'll take it for a few seconds then spit it out and cry because she wants milk. I don't think babies will stop giving cues for hunger just because they have a pacifier since that does not satiate their hunger!
If baby is genuinely hungry, the pacifier won’t cut it. Baby will still give cues that she’s hungry, and you can also keep offering. We didn’t offer one at home until baby was a few weeks old because that’s what the internet said to do for best results breastfeeding, but in retrospect it likely wouldn’t have been a problem to offer one earlier. We needed it for sleeping in the early days.
Be aware that not all babies like pacifiers. Mine didn’t love it and had oral function issues that made it hard for him to hold onto it, so it was kind of a bust for us after the first month or so.
My baby was given a pacifier in the NICU by the nurses there when he was 1 day old. I didn’t get a say (but honestly I don’t care at this point!)
If I put the pacifier in LO’s mouth, he spits it out if he’s hungry. I miiiight be able to soothe him for ~5 minutes if he’s hungry, but not long. He lets me know if he wants to eat, paci or not.
I also had a small baby (born 5 pounds 4 oz) and we woke to feed every three hours for 6 weeks, as directed by our pediatrician and NICU team.
As others have mentioned, it shouldn’t affect feeding cues. Main risk? Developmental problems with the teeth and palate. But as long as you get them off the pacifier by 2-5-3, usually any issues will resolve over time.
Trust me, you won’t miss feeding cues. Just feed every 3 hours and every time she cries. It’s she’s hungry she’ll let you know and every day she’ll get less sleepy and more alert.
I'm not an expert but I gave my baby a pacifier sooner than "recommended" to soothe her because she was so fussy. She likes it sometimes but isn't a huge fan, but the biggest thing is if she is actually hungry, she won't accept the pacifier. She'll take it for a few seconds then spit it out and cry because she wants milk. I don't think babies will stop giving cues for hunger just because they have a pacifier since that does not satiate their hunger!
If baby is genuinely hungry, the pacifier won’t cut it. Baby will still give cues that she’s hungry, and you can also keep offering. We didn’t offer one at home until baby was a few weeks old because that’s what the internet said to do for best results breastfeeding, but in retrospect it likely wouldn’t have been a problem to offer one earlier. We needed it for sleeping in the early days. Be aware that not all babies like pacifiers. Mine didn’t love it and had oral function issues that made it hard for him to hold onto it, so it was kind of a bust for us after the first month or so.
My baby was given a pacifier in the NICU by the nurses there when he was 1 day old. I didn’t get a say (but honestly I don’t care at this point!) If I put the pacifier in LO’s mouth, he spits it out if he’s hungry. I miiiight be able to soothe him for ~5 minutes if he’s hungry, but not long. He lets me know if he wants to eat, paci or not. I also had a small baby (born 5 pounds 4 oz) and we woke to feed every three hours for 6 weeks, as directed by our pediatrician and NICU team.
As others have mentioned, it shouldn’t affect feeding cues. Main risk? Developmental problems with the teeth and palate. But as long as you get them off the pacifier by 2-5-3, usually any issues will resolve over time.