To bink or not to bink... that is the question

Almost every parents faces this issue... the pacifier, paci, binkie, bink, the mute button, etc.  Do you use it or not.

My husband and I fought this battle for awhile and at some point around the time peanut was about a month old or so I gave in and place the plastic piece of baby heaven into peanut's mouth.  Peanut of course loved it... I on the other hand felt deflated and like a failure.

You see so many articles saying that pacifiers can cause harm and are germ central but on the flip side you find other articles that say that it helps against SIDS, isn't as damaging as a thumb and all that other hoo hah.  My personal arguments were yes it is germ central, yes it helps prevent SIDS but do I really want to be waking up or walking up to the crib every time it falls out?  I also looked at based on family history... no one in my family or my husbands used a pacifier.  We used our thumbs, or index finger but not a pacifier.  Based on that information and also my husbands stern stand on the no bink side we quickly did without the bink. 

I was quite content (and proud) with our decision to wean him off quickly and early on until I recently went to the chiropractor.  My chiropractor is a veteran... as in he has four children and has offered some great parenting advice in the past.  Typically I go alone to the chiropractor but this time I thought I would bring along peanut.  Well this brought on for some interesting chit chat.  Peanut was being his usual self and started to suck his thumb which apparently alarmed the chiropractor... "What?!  You don't give him a pacifier!?   That thumb is going to do so much damage to his mouth!"  I of course asked him to elaborate on his accusation and he went forward to say how the thumb is not like a bink to where you can just act like you lost it and so it will be harder to wean them off and that it will cause damage to his oral hygiene.  I don't agree but I kept quiet.

He went on to mention that another parent that he knows did not want their child (their sixth child) to use a bink OR their hand so she continuously would try to distract her from putting anything in her mouth.  Well that set of a big red flag to me.  I mean I am no expert but I do know from previous knowledge about early childhood development that all children go through an "oral stage" where they experience new things by putting them in their mouth.  I also know that if any of the stages of development are disrupted by traumatic events or such that it will cause a lasting impression on the child in later years.  All of this was confirmed when the chiropractor continued to say that now the child will secretly put sand, dirt, tan bark, socks, and even rocks into her mouth when the parent is not looking. 

So my take away... whether it be a bink or a thumb - let it be... it's better than a rock.