The cons

Of course, pacifiers have pitfalls as well. Consider the drawbacks:

• Your baby might become dependent on the pacifier. If your baby uses a pacifier to sleep, you might face middle-of-the-night crying spells when the pacifier falls out of your baby's mouth.
• Pacifier use might increase the risk of middle ear infections. However, rates of middle ear infections are generally lowest from birth to age 6 months — when the risk of SIDS is the highest and your baby might be most interested in a pacifier.
• Prolonged pacifier use might lead to dental problems. Normal pacifier use during the first few years of life generally doesn't cause long-term dental problems. However, prolonged pacifier use might cause a child's teeth to be misaligned.
• Pacifier use might disrupt breast-feeding. If you're breast-feeding, you might wait to offer a pacifier until your baby is 3 to 4 weeks old and you've settled into a nursing routine. However, a review of unrestricted pacifier use in healthy, full-term infants found that it had no impact on the continuation of breast-feeding.