Pacifiers can be a tricky thing, babies either love them or they hate them! If your baby resists taking the pacifier, try offering it when she relaxes, towards the end of a feed. But if that fails, try reverse psychology—a simple trick to get a baby to take a pacifier.

I asked my patient Denise if her son, Aidan, liked pacifiers. She laughed and emptied a little sack onto the kitchen table. Six different pacifiers scattered across the tabletop, looking like a collection of lunar rocks. “He’s rejected every single one!” she said with a tone of resignation.

A Sneaky Way to Get Your Baby to Take a Pacifier

I suggested that Denise try a different approach to help her baby get the benefits of pacifiers. Rather than pushing the pacifier in every time he popped it out, she should pull on it a little every time he gave it a little suck!

Toward the end of a nursing—when Aidan relaxed and his sucking slowed—Denise tried this trick; removing her breast and immediately sliding in the paci (like a classic “bait-and-switch”). When it was snugly in his mouth, she would wait for him to suck on it…then she would pull it back a smidge, like testing if a fish is on the line. He responded by sucking harder.

For the next 10 minutes, Denise played this little game of “reverse psychology” with Aidan to teach him how to keep the pacifier in his mouth. She repeated this exercise a few times a day and within 3 days, Aiden took the pacifier easily.

Some babies are little sucking machines! (This is a genetic trait that runs in families.)

But even if your baby is lukewarm about sucking a pacifier—or gets confused and pushes it out instead of sucking it in—you can probably persuade her to like it by practicing the simple technique I used with Aidan. (This works best before a baby turns 6 weeks old.)

This bit of reverse psychology is based on our natural feeling that “what’s in my mouth belongs to me.” Eventually, trying to remove the nipple will become like prying a toy from a two-year-old; the harder you pull, the more she’ll resist.

About Dr. Harvey Karp

Dr. Harvey Karp, one of America’s most trusted pediatricians, is the founder of Happiest Baby and the inventor of the groundbreaking SNOO Smart Sleeper. After years of treating patients in Los Angeles, Dr. Karp vaulted to global prominence with the release of the bestselling Happiest Baby on the Block and Happiest Toddler on the Block. His celebrated books and videos have since become standard pediatric practice, translated into more than 20 languages and have helped millions of parents. Dr. Karp’s landmark methods, including the 5 S’s for soothing babies, guide parents to understand and nurture their children and relieve stressful issues, like new-parent exhaustion, infant crying, and toddler tantrums.

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Disclaimer: The information on our site is NOT medical advice for any specific person or condition. It is only meant as general information. If you have any medical questions and concerns about your child or yourself, please contact your health provider.