Baby pacifier

In general pacifiers have been traditionally comprised of a nipple, a mouth guard, and a handle. The designs for pacifiers have been developed to meet the needs of various infants using such variations as orthopedically designed nipples, pleasing designs to look at, temperature sensing devices and soothing sounds as baby suckles on the pacifier. However, few designs have successfully incorporated the needs of the caretaker as well as those of the infant.

Through the years a number of pacifier devices have been developed for use in providing a soothing member for use by a human infant. Parents give pacifiers to children ranging from new borns to four or five years old so that the child can enjoy the sucking effect that is associated with sucking on a mothers breast or a baby bottle. This tends to calm and pacify a baby, hence the term pacifier. Currently there exist a number of baby pacifiers, which include such things as melody generators, and which serve to play music when an infant sucks on a pacifier as an additional means of tranquilizing the infant, for example, into sleep. Pacifiers are used for a variety of purposes. Baby pacifiers soothe  an infant by providing an oral stimulation or distraction. They also aid in the infant’s digestive and waste elimination processes, by stimulating salivation and peristalsis of the bowel. It has also been reported that babies provided with pacifiers are subjected to less stress, as measured by heart rate and breathing during painful medical procedures, e.g., blood sample drawing. A baby pacifier generally includes a nipple-simulating element for the baby’s mouth, a shield, and a holding ring. These pacifiers, particularly as used by infants up to six months of age, are frequently dropped out of the baby’s mouth and must be retrieved and put back into the mouth by an adult. If the pacifier falls on the floor, frequent washings are necessary.

Pacifier designs tend to be relatively similar because the function of the pacifier plays a major role in the shape, namely a flat plate that presses up against and around the babies mouth area and an attached nipple that goes into the babies mouth. Some variation can be found in the size of the plastic plate and the size and shape of the nipple. Generally, all pacifiers have a nipple on which an infant can suck and/or bite, a mouth shield for preventing the infant from ingesting the pacifier, and a handle to give the infant or supervising adult a convenient structure for gripping and/or holding the pacifier. Baby pacifiers have a nipple which is resilient and which is designed to be grasp in the mouth of the baby. The nipple is open at one end, and has a bead adjacent the open end with a circular shield or guard disc attached to the nipple in the vicinity of the bead, the bead itself preventing withdrawal of the nipple from the shield. Typically, pacifiers are made of multiple components and/or formed as an integral unit. Pacifiers made of multiple components generally have a flexible nipple surrounded by a rigid mouth shield. The nipple of this type of pacifier typically passes through an aperture in the center of the mouth shield, creating a sharp corner, and sometimes a crevice, between the shield and the shaft of the nipple where saliva, dirt and the like can accumulate. For purposes of safety, baby pacifiers also generally include a rather enlarged base portion at the remote end of the resilient member which is of sufficient size to be too large for the infant to draw into its mouth. In most structures, the side of the planar or base member supports a handle of some sort configured to be readily grasped by an infant’s hand.

Baby pacifiers include a pliable nipple or teat which extends from one side of a guard or shield. The guard is usually made from relatively hard plastic, compared to the nipple, and is contoured to comfortably fit against the area adjacent a baby’s mouth. The diameter of the guard is of sufficient magnitude to prevent it from wholly entering the child’s mouth. Oftentimes a ring or handle extends from the side of the guard opposite from the nipple. Integrally formed pacifiers are typically made of a plastic selected to provide the nipple with the desired flexibility and the mouth shield and handle with the necessary rigidity. Generally, the selection of plastic is governed by the need to provide a relatively rigid mount shield and handle. The nipple, therefore, is usually more rigid than desired. Various types of locking elements have been used fitting within the open end of the nipple, to lock it to the shield. The shield also carries some kind of a grip, such as a ring or handle, which frequently serves as a way of locking the components of the device together. Sometimes the components are held together in a press fit, while in other cases, particularly where the components are made of plastic, they are bonded together by high frequency welding or heat-sealing.

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May 28, 2008 | Filed Under Baby nursery