6 Best Pacifiers in 2024, Recommended by Experts and Tested by Parents
Both doctors and dentists give the greenlight to use a pacifier to soothe your newborn.
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Parents may have mixed feelings about pacifiers, but the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says that a pacifier can be beneficial for babies learning to self soothe. There are also studies that suggest using a pacifier when putting a newborn down to sleep might reduce the risk of SIDS. The AAP suggests offering a pacifier for naps and at bedtime until your baby is 6 months old, when the risk of SIDS goes down.
The AAP recommends pacifiers that are all one piece so there's no choking hazard. The organization is also against clipping a pacifier to a crib, stroller or your baby's clothing because the attachment could pose a strangulation hazard. Pacifiers should be checked regularly to make sure they're not deteriorating, especially if your baby is teething and munching the pacifier instead of a teething toy.
That is, if your baby takes to a pacifier to begin with. Some don't, but these are our favorite baby-approved picks from the Good Housekeeping Institute Parenting and Toy Lab if you're looking to give a pacifier a try.
- Best Overall: Philips AVENT Soothie Heart 2-Pack
- Best Value: Dr. Brown's HappyPaci
- Best for Teeth: Chicco PhysioForma 4-Pack
- Most Widely Available: NUK Comfy Orthodontic 3-Pack
- Best with a Toy: WubbaNub Giraffe
- Cutest: Itzy Ritzy Sweetie Soother 2-Pack
This winner of one of our recent Parenting Awards has a new shape, meant to follow the curves of your baby's face. You can also still buy the classic round Philips AVENT Soothie as well.
Made of soft silicone, the Soothie is a popular go-to for newborns since it's offered in many hospital maternity wards. Our consumer testers gave the Soothie Heart particularly high marks, with one who said, "I wish I’d had these for my firstborn!" and another saying that it's now the only paci her baby will take.
- Material: Silicone
- Sizes: 0–3 months, 3–18 months
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Dr. Brown's HappyPaci 3 Pack
These affordable newborn pacifiers have a bulb shaped like the brand's bottle nipple, so if your baby uses the Dr. Brown's bottle, they might take to the HappyPaci too.
Though you shouldn't clip the pacifier to your baby's clothing, you can clip it to a Dr. Brown's Lovey Pacifier Holder, available in seven stuffed animals and dinosaurs, and that makes it easier to keep track of it. It also helps your infant hold onto it.
- Material: Silicone
- Sizes: 0–6 months only
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These are orthodontic silicone pacifiers, which garner more approval from pediatric dentists. "The general consensus, and my opinion, is that orthodontic pacifiers lead to less bite issues compared to conventional pacifiers," said Josh Peyser, DMD, a pediatric dentist with Sweet Tooth in North Charleston, SC. "That's due to the different shape (flatter and more square), which allows more natural movement of the tongue."
These come in toddler sizes to age 2. "I like that these came with a sterilizing and carrying case to help keep them clean," a consumer tester told us, and that's part of what makes these a little more expensive than others.
- Material: Silicone
- Sizes: 0–6 months, 6–16 months, 16-24 months
The longtime trusted brand NUK is also an affordable choice available at Walmart, Target and elsewhere, including drugstores, in case you need to pick one up while on vacation or when out and about. These too, are orthodontic for your baby's developing mouth.
NUK also has a new pacifier for teething babies: The Comfy Duet Soother is a two-in-one pacifier and teether.
- Material: Silicone
- Sizes: 0–6 months, 6–18 months
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WubbaNub Detachable Pacifier
This one's only for babies younger than 6 months and without teeth, and only when they're awake — but if those conditions are met, this pacifier can entertain and soothe at the same time. "The animal is very cute and ensures we don’t lose it. It's very light so I don't worry about my baby carrying extra weight when it’s in his mouth," a tester said.
A previous tester complaint was that it was a process to sanitize the WubbaNub pacifier, but this new detachable version fixes that by having the pacifier and toy more easily separate. (You squeeze the animal's head to get the pacifier clip to extend so you can unhook the paci.) As of the making of this list there were not so many animal variations with the detachable version but more are rolling out. Meanwhile the original WubbaNub comes as a giraffe, a duck, a monkey and other creatures.
- Material: Silicone
- Sizes: 0–6 months only
The colors make these adorable as does the fancy handle which comes in braided, bowed or twisted varieties. There are more than a dozen different two-packs available including chic olive green and black and ultra-girly pink and rose.
Rather than pulling a paci out of your baby's mouth for pictures, you might want to leave one of these in — it's that cute. Keep these clean while you're out and about by stashing them in a clear Itzy Ritzy Pacifier Pod.
- Material: Silicone
- Sizes: 0+
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How we test baby pacifiers
At the Good Housekeeping Institute Parenting and Pets Lab, we look at baby pacifiers when we vet products for our annual Parenting Awards. Pacifiers are sent to consumers nationwide and they fill out a survey about their experience, including thoughts about other pacifiers that they have tried. Our Lab pros who are parents also regularly review pacifiers for us.
For this list, we considered pacifiers that comply with CPSC Pacifier Regulations. To avoid choking hazards, we chose pacifiers that are made of all one piece and pacifiers that have large guards or shields so that a baby can't get the entire pacifier in their mouth.
As a final step, we poured through online reviews to be sure we had a complete view of how the pacifers work with thousands of families over time.
What to consider when shopping for the best pacifier
For newborns, sucking is a natural reflex and a pacifier can help satisfy it, and it can help soothe. When choosing one, think about:
✔️ Age grading: Pacifiers are marked for a certain age range; when buying, be sure you match the pacifier up with your baby's age and stage.
✔️ Material: All of the pacifiers on our list are silicone, which is easy to sanitize and relatively inexpensive. We do notice search for "natural" pacifiers, which could mean something like the HEVEA rubber pacifier, but reviewers wrote that those can be harder to clean and that, not surprisingly, they smell like rubber, which bothers some parents.
✔️ Orthodontic: Dentists prefer you look for pacifiers marked "orthodontic" for proper oral development. But we're going to be real for a moment: If a non-orthodontic pacifier ends up being the one that makes your infant happy, that's likely going to be the one you'll go with.
How do you get a pacifier to stay in a newborn's mouth?
All of the pacifiers on our list feature a hole you can slide your finger into to help your baby latch on. Of course, no one wants to be their baby's Personal Paci Holder, but you can try it when you first put the paci in to give your baby an assist.
Or try the opposite approach: Pull the pacifier out just a bit. That encourages your baby to suck even harder to get the pacifier back, hopefully then holding on.
The AAP offers this pacifier advice: "For breastfed babies, sucking on a pacifier inherently requires a different technique, and one that may take a few tries. For breastfed and bottlefed babies alike, a nipple that does not provide milk may not be quickly welcomed. As you offer your baby a pacifier, try lightly stroking just to the side of his mouth and then gently holding the pacifier in his mouth for a moment as he starts sucking to keep it from popping back out."
If your baby falls asleep with the pacifier, there's a good chance that it will fall out. Hopefully it won't wake your baby as it drops if they've already soothed themself into a deep sleep.
Do dentists say pacifiers are okay for a baby's teeth?
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) okays pacifiers for newborns and young babies. Its policy statement reads, "The AAPD supports parents in the decision to introduce a pacifier based on their infant’s needs and parental preference as pacifiers may be beneficial during the first few months of life in helping premature infants develop the sucking reflex, offering comfort and soothing, providing an analgesic effect during minor invasive procedures, decreasing the incidence of SIDS and preventing a persistent finger-sucking habit."
Dr. Peyser agreed. "In my opinion, pacifier use is preferred to thumb/finger use during the early years because you can always take the pacifier away," Dr. Peyser said. "I often reassure parents, especially of babies under age 2, that it is typical for a baby to want something to help soothe whether it be a pacifier, blanket or stuffed animal. As they get older, we begin counseling parents on ways to get child away from the habit assuming they haven’t curbed it naturally on their own."
How to sanitize a baby's pacifer
Let's not make this too complicated: The Cleveland Clinic says you can just rinse a pacifier in warm, soapy water in your sink and it will be cleaned. Though it's crazy that someone actually had to say this, The Cleveland Clinic quotes pediatrician Jason Sherman, DO, asking parents to not suck on a pacifier themselves as a way to "clean" off germs.
Check the brand directions first, but most silicone pacifiers can be sterilized. You drop one in to boiling water for five minutes, keeping an eye on it to be sure the water doesn't all evaporate, leaving you with a melted pacifier. Some bottle warmers can also function as steam sterilizers and we also have a list of the best bottle brushes and sterilizers which can also be used for pacifiers.
When to wean a baby off a pacifer
No matter which pacifier you choose, the dentist we spoke with, Dr. Peyser, recommended you start weaning your baby off a pacifier by 18 months so that they are done by age 2. In our experience, the earlier you wean your baby the easier it will be. If you can have them off of the pacifier at 6 months, that can save you some trouble later.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
For more than 100 years, the Good Housekeeping Institute has tested consumer products for safety and efficacy. Our team of scientists, data analysts, engineers and journalists test major purchases like the best family cars, kitchen appliances like toaster ovens and important items for your youngest family member like the best car seat stroller combos and nursery gliders.
This story was first reported by Senior Parenting & Relationships Editor Marisa LaScala. She helps judge the Parenting Awards and Toy Awards and writes many of our gift guides, including a recent list of the best gifts for parents. She's a mom who loves dad jokes.
Contributing Writer Jessica Hartshorn updated this story. She's covered the baby-gear industry for more than 20 years, including for Parents magazine and American Baby magazine. She's a mom of two (both of whom took a pacifier!) and passionate about inexpensive products that can make parenting easier.
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
Jessica (she/her) is a freelance writer with several decades of experience writing lifestyle content and evaluating home and parenting products. A mom of two teens and two cats, her previous work can be seen in American Baby and Parents.
