As much as I stand by not introducing pacifiers to my baby, I have absolutely no qualms about parents who do so as long as parents are aware of hygiene and safety practices that goes along with pacifier use.

First of all, before you buy pacifiers, head over to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (http://www.cpsc.gov) website and make sure it is not a recalled product. Go with a major brand with an established product safety record.

Ensure the pacifier is clean:

• Soak pacifiers in boiling water or sterilizers regularly.
• When a pacifier meets the floor, give it a good proper washing. I’ve seen mothers who pick pacifiers up from the floor, put it their mouth, clean it with their saliva and tougue and putting it back into their baby’s mouth. Gross ;P
• Bring extra pacifiers along if your baby tends to drop it everywhere.

To prevent pacifiers from becoming a choking hazard to your baby:

• Preferably, the construction of pacifiers should be made one-piece. Either way, everytime you put a pacifier into your baby’s mouth, try to give the pacifier’s nipple a firm pull to be sure it is securely attached to the base.
• The width of baby pacifiers should be at least 1.5 inches wide for baby less than 6 months old. Naturally,as your baby grows bigger, the width of pacifiers should eventually be bigger. There are pacifiers meant for every age group of a growing baby.
• Don’t tie pacifiers to your baby’s neck with a string. To a lesser extent, also avoid tying it to your baby’s clothes.

To avoid allergies, skin irritation or gum problems:

• For safety purpose, silicone pacifiers are tougher than latex counterparts. Hence it is less likely your baby’s biting could tear it. On the other hand, latex pacifiers are softer.
• Check the nipple carefully for unnoticeable tears or holes. A torn nipple will allows air to go through when baby sucks on it. You don’t want your baby’s tummy to be full of gas due to pacifier use.
• The shape of pacifiers – orthodontic vs regular rounded ones. Generally, orthodontic ones are better as they are shaped according to a baby’s growing palates and jaws.
• Choose pacifiers with vented holes in their plastic shields. It would trap less moisture around the baby’s mouth which could cause skin irritation and rashes.
• Do not use pacifiers with liquid or gel inside the nipple.
• As difficult as it may be, try your best to wean your baby off the pacifier when she’s about a year old. Long term pacifier use might cause speech and biting problems in toddlers. In my case, baby Clarisse has a habit of sucking and chewing her fingers. That could lead to the same problems too. Basically, parents have to prevent their toddlers from developing a habit of suckling onto anything, be it pacifiers or their fingers.