what are your views on pacifiers?

I have heard lots of people saying that if one has a child , never to make it a habit to pacify the child with the use of a pacifier. It will become a habit and they will not want to do anything else except suck on it. Kids are known to stop crying when given pacifiers , but it should be a temporary solution and not permanent in the long run.

My daughter had a pacifier and it was not that bad. It helped soothe her when she needed it and helped her sleep through the night. She used it until 2 1/2 and then I told her she had to give it to the Easter Bunny and she did and she was fine. Sometimes I see kids 4 or 5 years with that thing in their mouth during the day and it can look a little extreme but if you keep it just for sleeping purposes and try to stop by age 3 it is ok in my opinion. On the other hand, my son sucks his thumb and is now over 4 and I cant get him to stop. Would have been easier to take away the pacifier but that was not his preference!

First of all, I'm going to guess that your daughter is an only child? By all means, read all you want, be as informed as you want, but with pacifiers, follow your daughter's lead. If she wants one, she'll let you know, continuous crying that's neither hunger nor thirst, comfort that can only be satisfied orally, e.g thumb sucking, blanket sucking. If she doesn't need one, let her be, honestly. Out of four children, three have had them, one WOULDN'T, let alone didn't :) One of ours walked around with two in his mouth, one in each hand, and several secreted around his person lol