Baby Gags On Pacifier – 10 Effective Tips To Reduce The Act

It is quite common for newborns to experience baby gagging, and in fact, it can be seen as a protective mechanism that prevents them from swallowing unfamiliar objects. Babies perceive everything as strange in their early days, so it’s natural for them to gag on various items they encounter, including food, feeding bottles, and even baby gags on pacifiers.

As a parent, witnessing your baby gag for the first time can be worrisome and confusing. You might find yourself wondering how they will be able to eat if they keep gagging. It’s completely normal to feel uncertain about what to do and what not to do in such situations.

The gagging reflex in babies, including when they gag on a pacifier, is primarily triggered by their heightened gag reflexes, which serve to protect them from ingesting potentially harmful substances. However, as babies grow, their gag reflex gradually reduces and becomes less easily provoked. It becomes less intense and may be localized primarily around the mouth area.

It’s important to note that while baby gagging can be unsettling to witness, it is usually a normal part of their development. As their gag reflex matures, they become more skilled at managing and controlling their swallowing and chewing movements. If you have concerns about your baby’s gagging or feeding patterns, it’s always a good idea to consult with your pediatrician or a healthcare professional who can provide guidance and reassurance.

Why Do Babies Gag On Pacifiers?

1. A very sensitive gag reflex in their mouths

There are many theories as regards why babies gag on pacifiers. One factor, however, stands tall; that babies gag on pacifiers because they have a very sensitive gag reflex in their mouths.

This reflex signals that a pacifier is a toy like a car, a soldier action figure, and so on. To prevent the baby from swallowing this, the reflex sets the baby up for gagging.

2. The size of the pacifier’s nipple

In addition, babies observed to not have a fast reflex with toys might be seen to gag at some point; this might be because the size of the pacifier’s nipple is too big. Different pacifiers vary with the size and age of the infant. 

Therefore, your infant might be having a problem adjusting to his/her pacifier’s nipple being a bit bigger than it could contain.

3. Teething process

Furthermore, another possible cause for your baby gagging on a pacifier is the teething process. 

Babies are observed to have more gag reflexes around their mouths as they grow older- accompanied by the teething process. The pacifier touches the gum and gives the illusion that the object in the mouth is a portion of solid food.

The body is not yet ready for that and might set up a weird response to cope with the situation. Hence, the gag reflex on the pacifier.

10 Effective Tips To Reduce Baby Gags On Pacifiers

1. Try a smaller nipple: 

The size of the nipple determines how much of a pacifier fits into a baby’s mouth. If your baby happens to gag a lot when given the pacifier, it might just be a sign that the pacifier is bigger than it should be.

Pacifiers are made and categorized in size and age ranges. Hence, it’s advisable to shop for adequate sizes; this saves your infant the trouble of having their reflex misidentifying the size of the pacifier’s nipple for a dangerous substance- Try smaller nipple sizes.

2. Rub their gums to desensitize the gag reflex: 

If the problem is not with the size of the nipple, it might just be that your infant’s mouth is hypersensitive to an external object.

To reduce gags on pacifiers in children with hypersensitivity, rub their gum with the pacifier about 4 or 5 times a day; this is to make the mouth less sensitive to pacifiers and get accustomed to the feel, texture, and taste. 

This way, the body recognizes the pacifier as it recognizes breast milk, formula, and so on.

3. Try different sizes: 

You might be having a problem identifying whether a pacifier is too big or too small for your baby. 

You can get various sizes as they are available- this gives you a better understanding of whether they are just reacting like that to the pacifier or because of the size. This should reduce your worry about your baby’s gags on the pacifier.

4. Introducing pacifier with breastfeeding 

The infant’s body sees all substances as strange. They’d gag at breast milk at first and get used to it. This same introduction can work for the pacifier.

To reduce gags on pacifiers, try giving them the pacifier after breastfeeding- it gives them a sense of the relation between the breast and the pacifier.

Babies always want to suck on something. They can’t suck on your breast for a long time, and you get exhausted.

Introducing them to a pacifier without gags is a good shot. Hence, to reduce baby gags on pacifiers, introduce them to the infants alongside breastfeeding till they no longer gag on them. 

5. Try reverse psychology on the baby: 

This is a funny approach that might be interesting. The human instinct has a way of playing out on its own. Babies have a mind of their own. We wonder how beautiful that is. This is how reverse psychology works.

You introduce your baby to a pacifier. When you see that they tend to want to hold on to the pacifier, you yank it out of their mouth.

Feels weird? Yes. You want them to take it, but you’re taking it out of their mouth when they do. The implication is that when you do this many times, the baby develops a resistance towards you taking it away; it gets stronger every time.

It gets to the point that their body recognizes it and wants to take it. It’s subconscious. It’s a man who wants to assert that he owns something. That’s how reverse psychology works.

6. Reduce the pacifier time

Reducing how long they use the pacifier might be of help to your baby. It’s a common observation that babies love to suck; they always want to put things in their mouth which might distract them from sucking what might be beneficial to them. 

7. Know whether your baby likes it or not

It is crucial to consider that your baby might not just like the sight of a pacifier and its taste.

8. Keep it clean

Keeping a clean pacifier might save your baby irritations that might arise from a dirty pacifier.

9. Not to delay a meal: 

Do not use a pacifier to delay their meal. It makes them develop resentment towards pacifiers and might react negatively when in contact with it.

Do Babies Only Gag On Pacifiers?

Baby gags on almost everything. 

It’s their coping mechanism to make sure hazardous objects or substances are not ingested. Unlike you, babies do not have the initiative to scoop unwanted objects out of their mouths. What they can do is gag them.

Babies in their early days count everything as strange and would not take them in; this is why kids don’t eat solid food for a while. Infants gag on food, breastfeed, pacifiers, toys, and more.

Is It Okay For A Baby To Gag On Pacifiers?

There’s no problem with your baby gagging on a pacifier. 

There are possible reasons that might warrant the occurrence of this action. Nevertheless, none of them pose a huge medical threat to your baby. These reasons include hypersensitivity, the size of the pacifier, the age of the child, the material of the pacifier, and so on.

What Does It Mean When An Infant Gags?

The presence of a strange object between the mouth and the stomach.

Like I said earlier, infants would probably gag on everything. What it means is that they are pushing objects or substances out of their mouth; this is characterized by the pushing of the tongue backward and the expression of a bad face- it shows displeasure of the body system to whatever it is that it is rejecting.

This might be food, milk, toys, etc. An infant gag is a rebellion of the body to whatever is trying to enter the throat that it does not recognize.

How Do I Know If It’s Gagging And Not Choking?

It might be confusing trying to understand when it is that your baby is choking or when they are gagging.

Choking shows the presence of a strange object in the throat and digestive tract. Choking is a result of a failed gag reflex.

Gagging is characterized by pushing the back of the tongue, bad expression, and a lot of spit. 

While choking is the presence of a substance blocking the throat or inside the throat, gagging is a coping mechanism against events like choking.

Is It Okay To Force A Pacifier On My Baby?

Whether or not to force a pacifier on your baby is relative. The purpose of your forcing needs to be a valid one.

For example, it’s okay to persuade your baby to be on a pacifier if you notice they tend to suck on their thumbs a lot. Sucking on the thumb may be threatening to their health. Babies love to suck. The closest object to suck and reachable to them is mostly their thumb.

However, this thumb might be dirty and infectious.

Babies tend to put a lot in their mouths; that’s the need for a gag reflex. Because babies are unable to distinguish between what to or not put in their mouths, the body creates a coping mechanism to send them out.

If you’re considering putting them away from thumb-sucking, it’s okay

Nonetheless, it might not be okay to force the pacifier on your baby even though they keep rejecting it. It’s crucial to understand why they are rejected. Find out why they feel that way when they are given the pacifier. 

Why Do Babies Reject Pacifiers?

There are many reasons why babies reject pacifiers. 

1. One possible reason is that they don’t like it.

2. The pacifier is not solving the hunger problem

3. The material used in making the pacifier.

4. The size of the pacifier.

How Do I Respond To A Gagging Baby?

Being a parent can be frightening. Your first time seeing your baby gagging might send you into a panic attack. However, if you are a new mother trying to ensure you don’t panic or you already saw it and want to know what you can do, here it is.

• Adjust them and make sure they are sitting up straight.

• If there’s something in the mouth, help scoop it out.

• Pat their back and clean the spit around their mouth.

When Do You Need To Worry About The Gags?

If it takes longer than it’s supposed to.

Gags are a short response to objects between the mouth and esophagus. If your infant gags, they are expected to have spit around their mouth and be done in a short time.

But, if these spots tend to be more than normal and it takes longer, it might be a result of an underlying medical condition; see your pediatrician. 

When Is It Okay To Introduce A Pacifier To A Baby?

There’s no right actual best time to introduce Pacifiers to your baby. 

Babies subjected to breastfeeding are not advised to be introduced to pacifiers until breastfeeding is established. For babies on bottle feeding, there’s no right time to introduce them to a pacifier as they already have a feel of the feeding nipple; this is close in appearance to the pacifier.

Why Is A Pacifier Good For A Baby?

1. Better option compared to the thumb 

The thumb (or other fingers) is the easiest for babies to suck; they always want to suck. However, sucking on the thumbs might have a long-term effect. Babies tend to suck on their thumb for a long time because of its easy availability.

In addition, sucking on the thumb may expose the baby to germs. Babies at a younger age use their hands to survey everywhere and everything. This subjects their hands to be the dirtiest place on earth. Dipping this in their mouth might have a detrimental effect on their health.

2. Reduction in the risk of SID

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a dangerous health risk for babies that results from heavy sleep. To keep babies from such heavy sleep, giving them pacifiers to suck while sleeping reduces their ability to drop asleep and have tiny activities going on while having a naptime.

3. Can be monitored

Parenting is about guiding your child on how to do and when to do it. Every habit in a baby has the potential to be an annoyingly bad habit. Like I said earlier, babies always want to suck; it’s their first instinct.

Making them get used to sucking pacifiers over their thumb makes it easy to monitor when to cut them off it. It is easy to hide a pacifier when you don’t want them sucking it. It is not easy to hide their thumbs. Pacifiers make it easier to monitor their sucking habits.

Dangers Of A Pacifier

1. Battle with breastfeeding time 

A baby might demand a pacifier more than breastfeeding. Since they have no clear sense of knowing what to do when hungry, they might be stuck on sucking pacifiers.

This is why babies who are breastfeeding are not advised to try pacifiers until breastfeeding is well established.

2. If tied around the neck, might be harmful 

You can’t tell where your child would walk to or where they’d drop whatever they hold. To ensure that the pacifier is not lost and is well kept; mothers tie them with a rope to the neck of the babies. These ropes might be harmful to your kid.

3. Rashes 

Often, babies with pacifiers suffer what we call pacifier rashes.

4. Speech delay 

Spending so much time sucking might deter babies from making attempts to say words.

Mayo Clinic talks more about the pros and cons of pacifiers here.

How To Keep A Pacifier Safe For Your Child

• Look for the right material. Go for silicone.

• Keep it clean

• Do not use it to delay a meal

• Do not tie it around the neck

• Make sure the nipple is well intact

• Make sure the nipple is not torn or dipped in a dirty place.