When my twins were born, they were full-term, but small. The hospital gave them Soothie brand pacifiers because they are easier for preemies and small newborns to suck on. Pediatricians also recommend them because they are one piece, which means that they will not fall apart and become a choking hazard. The biggest downfall is that they fall out easily and are pretty difficult for a baby to locate and put in on their own since all they have is a little tab to hold onto. I hadn’t seen any clips made for the Soothie – although they do make them – to keep it from falling on the floor and was getting quite frustrated with chasing those little green pacifiers all over the place and having to wash them off all the time.
I had, however, heard of a product called Wubbanubs. They are small stuffed animals that are actually sewn to the tab portion of the Soothie pacifier. I looked them up on the Internet and found that they are a bit pricey (around $12) but the hope of not having to hold the pacifiers in their mouths all the time seemed worth it to me. Also, I figured if they used them for even six months, it wasn’t that much money. I purchased the yellow duck and a purple frog. I was very pleased when they arrived because they were adorable and seemed like, at the very least, they would keep the pacifiers from rolling around if they fell.
The website (www.wubbanub.com) claims that Wubbanubs will help your baby sleep better because it will keep the pacifier from falling out of his mouth. A mother apparently invented the Wubbanub when she couldn’t get any sleep because she continually had to put her baby’s pacifier back into his mouth so that he would stay asleep. I am not sure how it worked so well for her, because even when our babies were tiny infants who couldn’t roll, they could turn their heads and the weight of the stuffed animal would cause the pacifier to stay behind and not in their mouths. It did seem to help in the car seats because they didn’t turn their heads as much when they were all bundled up – and once they were able to move their hands towards their mouths they could shove the pacifiers back in on their own.
Another disadvantage to the Wubbanub is that they are kind of heavy for a baby to keep in her mouth once she is sitting up. It’s kind of cute watching my babies try to keep them in their mouths as they crawl around – they can do it, though. And if they do fall out, they are so much easier to find than just a pacifier.
I was also concerned at first because the washing instructions say that you should not machine wash them, but I put mine in a pillowcase and washed them on the gentle cycle and even put them in the dry on the low setting. They came out fine. This is a good thing because both my girls had reflux and used to spit up on their Wubbanubs all the time.
The biggest advantage to the Wubbanub that I could see was that it was very easy for my babies to pick up and put in on their own as soon as they were able to pick up anything. It’s also easy for them to find in the middle of the night because it’s quite a bit larger than just a pacifier. Also, since nothing is clipped to their jammies, they are able to roll around and be comfortable. The animals are soft and my girls seem to like cuddling them even if they are not sucking on the pacifier itself. My little girls are now nine months old and they still love their Wubbanubs. We get comments all the time about how cute the pacifiers are and many other parents ask where they can get one. They are most easily available online – Amazon.com and Ebay both have a large selection. There are all sorts of animals available, ducks, frogs, ponies, and even a penguin.
All in all, I have been happy with our Wubbanubs. They didn’t really help our girls to sleep much better in the early months, but certainly, once they were able to grip things with their tiny fingers, the Wubbanubs were much easier for them to manipulate than a pacifier by itself. I am pretty sure that part of the reason we are not summoned by cries in the middle of the night that often is that they are able to locate their pacifiers on their own. If your baby likes the Soothie brand of pacifiers, you should consider purchasing a Wubbanub; it won’t work miracles, but it’s definitely a nice product.
