Babies, especially those less than six months old, need the help of pacifiers. They need special comfort and care whenever they feel bloated, hungry, tired, irritable, or trying to adjust to new and unfamiliar environments. If food, a gentle shake, a pat on the back, a gentle mother's embrace, and soft music or singing are not enough to calm him down, he will start sucking his fingers and parents should consider giving your baby a pacifier.

Toddlers tend to be choosy about the size and shape of their pacifiers, so start by giving your child several different shapes and sizes of pacifiers and watching his reaction until he is satisfied with one. For the child who has been too dependent on sucking the finger, the mother can spread milk or juice on the pacifier to induce the child to like pacifying the pacifier, thereby giving up sucking the finger.

Most children voluntarily kick the pacifier habit by 6 to 9 months. This is because babies are learning skills like sitting and crawling, and their interest is focused on the pleasure of reaching out to grab something. These growing skills and controls have become so satisfying that pacifying the pacifier becomes less important to them.

If your child likes naps and pacifiers at night and is having difficulty getting him to give up the habit, wait until the child is older, up to 2 years of age. If you can't get rid of the habit of sucking the pacifier at the age of 2, you can use "forced" methods - in a change of environment, such as travel, back to grandma's home, pacifier "suddenly" disappear. While the first few days of the pacifier's sudden disappearance may cause some discomfort for the child, the transition is relatively easy and parents need not worry.