Ewan wouldn't take a pacifier before 7 or 8 weeks, and then after that it became his favorite thing. At first I didn't think that was bad, but now I am worried that it is interfering with his breastfeeding. Babies need to non-nutritively suck because it helps them feel comfortable and calms them down. Ewan usually falls asleep by continuing to suck after eating.
The problem is that he is occasionally preferring to suck on the pacifier over the breast. He will fuss and want the pacifier instead for his non-nutritive sucking. Also, he will sometimes try to suck on the nipple with the same motion as the pacifier, which doesn't work well. I though he was past the point of nipple confusion since he is 3 months old!
The good news is that he still remembers how to suck on the breast, so why is his addiction to the pacifier bad? Well, according to this article on the La Leche League website, babies can miss out on some of the fatty hindmilk if they let go of the breast too soon after a milk letdown. That "cream" part of the milk is essential for growth. If Ewan lets go of the breast in favor of the pacifier, he could be hurting his own nutrition.
The pacifier is essential for car travel because it helps keep him happy when he doesn't want to be in the carseat, but I am going to cut back on his pacifier usage in other situations and offer him the breast instead. Hopefully this will fix the problem.
