Expert answer: The BabyCenter Editorial Team

"There's no hard and fast rule for this, but the longer your baby uses a pacifier, the more hooked on it he'll become," says Howard Reinstein, a pediatrician in Encino, California, and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Some pediatricians and speech experts say 12 months is a good time to wean your baby from the pacifier because this marks the beginning of a dramatic speech development phase. If your baby has a pacifier stuck in his mouth all day, he'll be less likely to babble and practice talking.

Another reason to wean your baby from the pacifier sooner rather than later is that the pacifier can affect the way his teeth look, causing his upper teeth to tip forward toward the lip. The good news is these changes are usually temporary (teeth usually return to normal after a few pacifier-free months). Also, there's no evidence that pacifiers cause any permanent damage to teeth.

When the time comes to wean your child from the pacifier, do it gradually. Many parents find it easiest to start by limiting daytime use and then work their way up to phasing it out of the nighttime routine. Starting a new bedtime ritual can help too.

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