I know people who refuse to let their kids use pacifiers. Of course, these are the same people who won't let their kids be vaccinated. Both positions are completely wrong-headed. Pacifiers have been linked to a significantly decreased SIDS risk, so if you ask me they are a Very Good Thing. But what if your kid has no interest in them?

My first daughter just wouldn't take a pacifier no matter what we did. She would spit the thing right out of her mouth. So we eventually gave up, after determining for sure that she really meant it. Our second daughter wouldn't take them either until only yesterday, when she suddenly developed an intense interest in them. Go figure.

Now the question is this- how do I get the pacifier to stay in her mouth? These days, they tell you you're not supposed to use a string because there's some kind of strangulation risk. But without the string, it just falls out of the kid's mouth, lands on the floor or somewhere worse than that, and then it has to be thoroughly cleaned before you can use it again. So right now I'm literally holding it in place for her while she uses it, but that can't be the only option because that won't help with the SIDS risks. The safety benefits of the pacifier obviously only apply when the baby is sleeping. I'm just hoping she figures out on her own how to keep the thing in her mouth where it belongs!