How to Use a Pacifier

Understand why your baby might be crying and fix the items that may be quickly taken care of (besides using the pacifier). Make a mental checklist in your mind of reasons why your baby might be crying that using a pacifier won't help fix.

• The reasons are pretty endless. Perhaps it's the baby who feels it's time for a new diaper and doesn't want to feel that way, or perhaps it's hungry and it's coming due-time for a fresh baby bottle of formula, the baby could be sick or the room is not right temperature-wise.
• Realize that these aren't the only reasons, but are two of the more common ones.

Find the pacifier. Although your system is different than anyone else's system, some of the more common places the pacifier could be kept could include on a shelf on the changing table underneath the changing station, on top of a dresser, or even in a cup-holder to the nearest baby stroller. The possibilities are endless and you know your house and organization style best.

Grab the pacifier by the holder mechanism and hold it there until you've matched yourself up with the baby.

Grab the knob to the pacifier's face mask, where the holder mechanism and mask meet.

Rub the pacifier gently along the child's lips. They will eventually open their mouth just a little bit, enough for you to insert the pacifier into their mouth.

• If they are wailing at the top of their lungs, you may skip this step - nothing will help them clench down to start using the pacifier until something else is solved.

Push the pacifier into the child's mouth until the pacifier's face shield meets their face.