ORIGINAL Pacifier

No, Medela Baby only uses food-safe inks that are completely harmless for babies, even if they would happen to scrape them off with their teeth.

There is scientific evidence that shows suckling on a pacifier helps to reduce babies’ feelings of discomfort during a painful procedure.² When your baby needs an immunization or a blood sample taken, try to offer the pacifier during the procedure.

When your baby starts teething, suckling can help relieve the stress of the pain your little one feels but doesn't understand. However, if your baby starts to bite holes into the pacifier, offer a teether to chew on instead. Teethers can be helpful to relieve some of the discomforts of gum pain.

Babies can experience pain when they have an ear infection. There has been some evidence that the use of a pacifier could increase the risk of ear infections – acute otitis media (AOM). Suckling on a pacifier may create a pressure difference which prevents fluid from draining through the tube that connects the middle ear to the back of the nose and throat. This could lead to a bacterial infection. If your baby has frequent ear infections, it’s therefore recommended to reduce or eliminate the use of a pacifier beyond six months of age to help avoid a possible recurrence of AOM.³

Recommendations about when to stop using the pacifier vary greatly. Many children stop using the pacifier on their own or when they start eating solid foods. Other children have very strong desires to suckle for a longer period of time. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that weaning from a pacifier should start at the latest by 36 months.⁴

Download our ebook ‘Parent guide for pacifiers’ to learn more about this journey and tips to help you go through weaning together.

• There are different ways to sterilize or clean your pacifier.

1) To sterilize the pacifier you can:

1. Boil the pacifier for 5 minutes in water. Allow it to cool thoroughly before giving it to your baby. If needed, squeeze out any water that may be left in the teat.
2. Steam sterilize the pacifier in the microwave. 
   • If you have a microwave sterilizer, follow the instructions included by the manufacturer. 
   • If a Medela Baby pacifier Steribox is included with your pacifier, please follow the instructions for use detailed here.
3. Use an electric steam sterilizer. Follow the instructions of your device to correctly sterilize the pacifier. 

2) To clean a pacifier: Wash the pacifier with warm water.

Additional tips for pacifier safety and hygiene:

• If the pacifier falls on the floor, avoid putting it in your mouth to clean it. You could transfer bacteria and viruses to your baby. 
• Before each use, pull firmly on the teat and inspect it for tears or holes. Always replace the pacifier at the first sign of wear or damage.
• Replace pacifiers that are in daily use every 1–2 months.
• Replace pacifiers immediately if your baby has had any infectious disease (e.g. a cold, stomach flu).
• The protection cap and Steribox help keep the pacifier clean when out and about.
   

Medela Baby ORIGINAL, DAY & NIGHT, and NEWBORN pacifiers have a valve to ensure optimal suckling comfort. Pacifier teats made of silicone remain soft and elastic to make sure gums and teeth do not sense excessive resistance. Any residual water in the teat after sterilizing or cleaning the pacifier can be removed easily just by squeezing the teat.

Our SOFT SILICONE pacifier teat is also soft and flexible. However, it doesn’t have or need a valve because it is formed in one single piece.

Requirements for pacifiers have been recommended by speech-language pathologists . The following features should be incorporated into a pacifier’s design to help support the natural movement of the mouth muscles. ⁵

• Thin neck teat – minimizes the space between the upper and lower jaw
• Flat teat – takes up less space in the mouth allowing for more tongue movement
• Flexible and elastic teat – allows for additional tongue movement
• Lightweight – minimizes the work of the facial muscles
• Ergonomically shaped shield – fits the contour of the face and prevent pressure points

At Medela Baby we want our products to make every gesture more gentle, intimate and assured. Baby skin is sensitive and we strive to make all our products gentle to the skin. Sensopearls™ are smooth little nubs on the inside of the shield of all our pacifiers. They are placed on the top and bottom of the shield to reduce – in addition to the air holes – the risk of redness and irritation on your little one’s delicate skin.

At Medela Baby we want our products to make every gesture more gentle, intimate and assured. Baby skin is sensitive and we strive to make all our products as gentle to your little one’s skin as possible. These holes together with our Sensopearls™ enhance airflow and avoid skin irritation increasing child safety.

Even in the unlikely event that your little one happens to get the whole pacifier into their mouth, the holes will allow air to flow. It is important not to block these air holes, for instance by attaching cords or ribbons as it might limit airflow.

The shape and features of a pacifier are very important to help support the oral development of your baby when it is used with purpose and responsibility. Speech-language pathologists recommend that pacifiers should have a symmetrical shape with a thin shaft and a flat teat, which takes up less space in the mouth allowing for more tongue movement.

All Medela baby pacifier teats are orthodontic as they have been developed using criteria defined by speech-language pathologists. They have a symmetrical teat and a thin neck.

• The thin neck teat allows lip contact and minimizes the space between a baby’s upper and lower jaw.
• A flat shaped teat that takes up less space and the flexible silicone allows for increased free movement of the tongue.

Symmetrical teat means the teat has the same shape on the upper and lower part.
A pacifier with a symmetrically formed teat is easily accepted, as it supports the natural physiological tongue, mouth and facial muscle movements and the natural palate growth during this period of development.

Yes. Our pacifiers are designed to fit the developmental growth stages of your baby. Your little one is growing the fastest in the first few years of life. The pacifier teat length and width of the different sizes fit the average growth measurements of the oral cavity during these developmental periods: newborn <2 months, 0-6 months, 6-18 months and 18+ months.

The pacifier should fulfill the purpose of calming your baby. When the teat size fits properly in the mouth, is not too big and not too small, this provides better support for the natural suckling movements.

The Medela baby shields were developed with an ergonomist and designed to fit children’s faces, preventing pressure points under the nose or on the chin and cheeks. Our angel-wing shape design does not interfere with babies’ breathing and facilitates smelling the comforting scent of the mother. Its light weight minimizes additional stress on the orofacial muscles.

The air holes and Sensopearls™ allow for movement of air around the face which helps reduce possibile redness or skin irritations.

Medela Baby pacifiers are made without BPA.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical component of polycarbonate (PC) plastics and is used in packaging and containers that come in contact with food products. It can also be used in the linings of canned foods and beverages and metal jar lids. Under certain circumstances, it can leach from the material.

This can occur when the container is used for heating food in the microwave, keeping food warm over long periods or when there are cracks, scratches, or damage to the material surface.

There are concerns about the influence of BPA on the hormone balance of infants and small children, which is why all Medela Baby pacifiers are made without BPA.

Medela Baby products do not contain BPS or plasticizers.
Bisphenol S (BPS) is similar to BPA. It is used in the production of plastic containers and can also be found in food and beverage can linings and various paper products. It appears to have the same health risks as BPA, with concerns about its influence on the hormone balance of infants and small children, which is why all Medela Baby pacifiers are free of BPS and BPA.

Plasticizers, also known as phthalates are used in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics to improve the flexibility and durability of the material. This chemical can also leach out of the product. Some plasticizers have caused concerns about the influence on hormones in children and adults. That is why we specifically use only phthalate-free PVC in our products.

No, the limited and responsible use of a pacifier should not cause problems with misaligned teeth. Pacifier use should be limited to less than six hours per day.⁶ Choose a pacifier shape that supports oral development, usually signalled by the word ‘orthodontic’.

Limiting the hours of daily use and early weaning from a pacifier can help prevent misaligned teeth⁶. Weaning a baby from a pacifier can begin as early as 6 months. Each child’s mouth and teeth develop differently. The use of pacifiers for children older than 24 months should be a decision made by each parent, based on consultation with a medical or dental health care provider. At the latest, weaning should start by 36 months⁷ as recommended by pediatric dentists.

All Medela Baby pacifiers are orthodontic and designed to help support the natural movement of mouth muscles⁸. Their shapes come with:

• thin neck teat – minimizes the space between the upper and lower jaw 
• flat teat – takes up less space in the mouth allowing for more tongue movement
• flexible and elastic teat – allows for additional tongue movement
• lightweight – minimizes the work of the facial muscles
• ergonomically shaped shield – to fit the contour of the face and prevent pressure points

• Before its first use, boil the pacifier in hot water for 5 minutes.  Allow it to cool thoroughly before giving it to your baby and squeeze out any residual water that may still be in the teat.
• We recommend to clean the pacifier by washing it with warm water before every use.
• To ensure safety and good hygiene, sterilize the pacifier if it is heavily soiled or you live in a country in which water may be unsafe.
• Parents often decide to sterilize the pacifier more frequently in the first 3 months of life of their baby.

We recommend to replace binkies that are in daily use every 1–2 months, to ensure a safe, hygienic condition of the pacifier and help prevent any bacterial contamination.

Before each use, pull firmly on the teat and inspect it for tears or holes. Always replace the pacifier at the first sign of wear or damage.

Replace pacifiers immediately after your little one has had any infectious disease (e.g. a cold, stomach flu).

Medela Baby packaging is recyclable, both the carton and the plastic blister and steribox are made of PP.

Our one-piece pacifier, the Soft Silicone is fully made of silicone, it is recyclable and can be handed over to recycling centers where available.

Our other pacifiers (Newborn, Original and Day & Night) are made of 2 materials (PP and silicone teat) that are ultrasonic welded and not detachable to ensure your baby safety. As they are not detachable, they are not recyclable.