May 27, 2025
Pacifier Safety with Lindsay DeOliveira: Podcast Episode #292
Kristin and Lindsay DeOliveira chat about how she came to start Soothe Beginnings after she struggled to find the perfect pacifier for her daughter. They also discussed her focus on safety and evidence-based design. Lindsay is also a baby registry consultant with Gold Coast Doulas.
Hello, hello! This is Kristin with Ask the Doulas, and I am thrilled to chat with my friend Lindsay DeOliveira. Lindsay is the CEO and founder of Soothe Beginnings, and we actually met at The Sweet Sleep Academy Retreat in North Carolina. It’s great to reconnect!
Lindsay is the leading pacifier innovator. In this new movement, she’s the founder of Soothe Beginnings, which is reshaping infant care with a focus on safety and evidence-based design. Fresh off a TV show win for entrepreneurs, Lindsay is a trailblazer for better and safer soothing solutions for babies.
Welcome, Lindsay!
Thank you so much for having me! I’m really excited to chat with you again!
Yes! And I was so impressed by your conference. I really wanted to learn more. When I say that you’re leading the movement, you honestly are. You as a mom and entrepreneur have solved so many problems with pacifiers that our clients face, not only with feeding issues, but also our sleep consultants at Gold Coast Doulas and what our postpartum doulas are seeing in the home. So I am thrilled to talk about pacifier safety and the innovative ideas that you have with this launch of Soothe Beginnings.
Thank you so much! It’s been such a whirlwind. When my daughter was born, we very, very quickly discovered she was a colicky baby with reflux. And I myself was suffering from postpartum depression. We were so struggling to find a pacifier, and we really – for mental health, but for my child’s discomfort, we really needed to find any and every way possible to soothe her. And nobody was sleeping. You can’t live like that. It’s not healthy for development. It’s not healthy for mental health. So we were really desperate.
So going through trying to find a pacifier – we went through so many pacifiers. It was an expensive, wasteful, frustrating process of trying to find one that she would take. And I was so overwhelmed by what was on the market. I was like, there just has to be an easier way to do this. That was my initial thought in creating this modern pacifier, being easier for parents. But going through the entire process of working with safety consultants, going through the safety regulations in our country for pacifiers, I really uncovered the true issue and the lack of safety consideration for pacifiers and how inadequate the safety guidelines actually are and how unaware parents are, myself included, of what we’re actually purchasing and putting in our babies’ mouths.
Yes. And I felt like I was up to date as a baby registry consultant and as a doula working in homes when it comes to safety issues, but I learned so much from you. And it’s not just the amount of time and how to properly clean a pacifier, the amount of time before you need to replace a pacifier and so on. There’s so many issues, obviously, in the safety area, especially with the trendy gadgets attached to the pacifiers lately. That is so unsafe!
Yes, oh my gosh. So I was that mom that was like, okay, safe sleep and was so into making sure my child was safe above all. It did not click to me that the pacifiers with stuffed animals attached are not safe for sleep. You’d think, okay, I’m purchasing this. It’s a pacifier. It’s meant for sleep. Like, I didn’t think twice. I’m like, oh, my gosh, it’s a stuffed animal. These are actually a suffocation hazard. And if that isn’t actually bad enough, the weight of it – this is what I learned after the fact – the weight of the stuffed animal pulls down on that pacifier so heavily that it’s really affecting oral development.
Exactly, yes. So many concerns beyond even safe sleep or even for parents who are driving in their car and their infant has that pacifier, and then all of a sudden, there’s an issue with breathing. So it’s not just with sleep but certainly, you know, constant supervision if those are a choice for parents.
One of the scary things – and I do see a lot of this on social media. I very much come from an angle of meeting parents where they’re at. Every baby has different needs, and to not judge what other parents feel like they need to do for their child. And education is power. It truly is. Because we’re all doing our very best with the knowledge we have, and that’s the place I come from. I’m not sitting here saying, oh, if you’re using this pacifier, you’re a terrible parent. Absolutely not. There are so many factors that go into it. And if you’re unaware, you’re just unaware, right? And one of the things I see a lot of is, oh, well, baby is being supervised. It can be an unsafe activity I see on social media, and they’re like, well, mom’s watching them. Dad’s watching them. Suffocation is a silent problem, and that is scary.
Very scary.
Exactly to your point, if you’re driving your car, you’re not going to hear your child suffocating in the back seat. You don’t know that they’re asleep versus something more serious going on. I hate to talk so morbidly, but it is a scary situation. Our children’s safety is such a big deal, and with unsafe products – I mean, come on. You know that parents are using these pacifiers for sleep, so why is this available on the market?
Yeah, I just – a gadget, it’s trendy, and they think that it will be a distraction potentially for baby or a toddler. There are just so many reasons. But I feel like pacifiers get a bad rep for one thing, especially in the breastfeeding community. So what are some of the positives that you see with pacifier use outside of extending feeding time, getting more rest, and keeping baby happy, say in public, for example? If you’re shopping, you can put a pacifier in.
Yeah, so a lot of parents turn to pacifiers. Oh, my gosh, I just need sleep and peace of mind and the crying to stop, right? Pacifiers are actually incredible, and I think we’re just at the tip of the iceberg on the science behind them, honestly. We don’t know the causation, but there is a correlation between – in multiple stories – pacifiers have a correlation in the reduction of the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. The SIDS Institute and the AAP both recommend the use of pacifiers. So that in itself was one of my ding-ding-ding moments; I would like to give my child a pacifier. And so many parents either feel like guilty parents giving their child a pacifier or they feel like a lazy parent or something of that nature. And so many parents are sitting here saying, well, I don’t want to have to deal with pacifier weaning. So I understand where it’s coming from, and going through breastfeeding, they don’t want what they’ve heard of as nipple confusion. So there are a lot of those elements.
But they really have so much power and benefit. Babies start practicing sucking in the womb before they’re even born. Babies are born to suck, and the practice of nonnutritive suck – they’re sucking a non-food source. Aside from the SIDS risk reduction, that helps them feed more efficiently. It’s that breathe-suck-swallow coordination that, as they practice that, it’s actually training them how to feed properly and efficiently and also working those muscles that they need to use for feeding in a proper way, building those up. NICU babies – I don’t know if you know this. I would imagine you do, but to me this was mind-blowing. NICU babies are given pacifiers, and they get out of the hospital faster because it helps their digestion. It helps their efficiency in feeding. They can go to feeding sooner. It has so many health benefits, especially for these NICU babies. Their weight gain, and going home faster. It’s absolutely incredible to see that.
I experienced that as a first time mom before I was a doula. My daughter was in the NICU for only four days for glucose issues, and I was resisting the pacifier. Of course, you know, I had to pump and then eventually supplement and IV fluids, all of the things. So I was trying to resist the pacifier, but it was necessary. The nurses explained all of the benefits. But everything that I read and learned was like, if you want to breastfeed – and family members are telling you, you need to make breastfeeding work and all of the things – but I did learn that and then learned even more later as a doula. But it is something that many people aren’t aware of.
Yes, it’s incredible. There are some doctors – and I don’t think enough studies on this in particular have been done. I don’t know if they can truly because of what the control would look like. But there are doctors who say using pacifiers helps with the brain development and brain organization because these are exponentially important times for brain development in those early months. It’s incredible how much brain development goes on. Think about a baby’s stress level. If they have those high cortisol levels, especially for extended periods of time, think about what that’s doing to their brain development.
Yeah, it would definitely help to have the sucking and then again, anything to help that transition and reduce cortisol levels and stress for babies.
Yeah. They did some really interesting studies and found the use of pacifiers helps with pain relief for babies. So if you need to go have a procedure done, an emergency procedure or anything like that, the ERs and doctors recommend giving your child a pacifier for pain relief.
And that makes sense. For breastfeeding moms, certainly after immunizations, for example, you can feed your baby, or if not, use a pacifier. So it makes sense that it would be recommended for other things outside of just the typical shots baby needs.
Yes, it’s absolutely incredible, the help that they are. Not every baby takes a pacifier, and that was one of the things I discovered. You go to Target, for example – not a single nipple there is the true breastfeeding latch nipple. So yes, a breastfeeding mom is going to struggle harder to find a pacifier with the proper latch. And not every baby takes a pacifier to begin with, even if they’re a bottle fed baby. My niece was like that. She was a bottle fed baby. Never took a single pacifier. Whereas my daughter was a pacifier hog. Those were her BFFs. So it’s so interesting how every baby is going to be unique. Every baby is different with their own preferences in what works for them, and that is more than okay.
Exactly. So how is Soothe Beginnings different than other pacifiers on the market? You mentioned the shape of the pacifier, the nipple shape and so on.
Yes. Pacifiers haven’t really been reinvented in a hot minute, right? I went from the angle of, hey, let’s make this easier on parents. So you get a pacifier starter kit from Soothe Beginnings with a cap and shield, and it comes with three interchangeable nipples. Each one is evidence-based. You have the proper latch for a breastfeeding baby, and then you have the two other nipples, the top rated nipples backed by research and science for quality nonnutritive suck. So one is that more cylindrical shape; one is that more orthodontic, kind of flatter with a little bit of a bulb towards the end, and then that third one for nursing is much wider and looks a little bit more anatomically correct. The nipples themselves are food grade silicone. You really want to stay away from latex pacifiers, and I know those are on the rise. They’re being marketed as natural rubber and ecofriendly. But ecofriendly can be done without an allergen. Latex is one of those allergens that obviously can cause anaphylactic shock, but the more you’re exposed to it, it actually increases the likelihood to become allergic or sensitive to it.
Yes, and I knew it was one of the higher sensitivities, but until I saw your presentation, I didn’t know that it could create future sensitivities by that early exposure.
It’s wild. And you think about your brand new baby. We’re nervous to give them peanut butter. A brand new baby, a newborn baby, their immune system isn’t fully developed yet. And the implications of that are wild. There was a study done in Denmark where they actually specifically studied pacifiers, the latex pacifiers, and they found the correlation between the allergy and babies that used the pacifier.
But anyway, food grade silicone nipples; evidence based shapes. Now, the cap and shield – this is where things get interesting. Everything is ecofriendly, nontoxic, food grade. The cap and shield are recycled paper with a plant based resin.
I love it so much! As a B-Corp business, everything you’re doing is spot on! I love all the ecofriendly aspects.
It’s beautiful. It’s what parents want. And it’s engravable, so you can totally customize your baby’s pacifier. But every aspect is dishwasher safe.
Saves time, and our doulas, we talk about sanitizing all of the things for babies. That is one of the biggest pains is trying to clean out pacifiers, educate families on when you need to replace them. Some of the pacifiers that babies or toddlers love are hard to find, and they won’t take just any replacement.
Yeah, and that was the thing. I remember being a new mom. You’re sleep deprived. You don’t need something else added to your plate. So we’re automating nipple subscription. That way, you don’t have to think about it. The nipple replacements just arrive, and you can swap them out. It’s just one more thing to make it easy to keep your child healthy and safe. And silicone is recyclable, which is a very cool thing to find out. I was like, okay, we’re doing this ecofriendly, nontoxic, plastic free. So many parents are moving away as more evidence is coming out. They’re moving away from plastic. So we’re offering that plastic free, ease of use.
And as a mom, this is where finding out the safety standards set out by the CPSC were inadequate. I felt the need as a parent first to go above and beyond the existing standards. So whether it’s assembled or not, no piece poses a choking hazard. And you’ll see, if you look at the product, how much larger the cap is, the nipple is. That way, no piece is a choking hazard. And adding a vent hole to the cap, so you can’t suction it to your face. And every single batch is being made in the United States. So we don’t have to worry about material swaps that can happen overseas, because that happens with quality. Every single batch is being tested.
What a relief for parents. You’ve really thought of everything!
I tried! You know, I look at my daughter running around, and she’s been part of this process, going through the warehouse with me in her stroller. That has been the biggest reminder of why I’m doing this. This is what I wish I could have given my child. This is what I wish I felt safe enough to have. And you know, I only wish somebody took a safety stance sooner in that every batch needs to be tested. I mean, these pacifiers are going in your child’s mouth for hours and hours and hours a day. We need to make sure they’re nontoxic.
Right, absolutely. Well, it’s all about education, and certainly, all of your promotions that you’re doing and being on a TV show and getting the word out and with your launch, more and more families will be educated on not only pacifier safety, but also about the different options.
One of the interesting things parents can do, whether it’s pacifier safety, toy safety, you name it – you can go to saferproducts.gov and you can look up any product and see what incidents have been reported. This is also part of the awareness I’m trying to raise. If you have an issue with a product – so if you have an issue where a pacifier comes apart and it now got lodged in your child’s throat – obviously, first and foremost, that’s a shock and trauma and scary. You need to make sure your kid’s okay. That’s a lot to process for a parent. If at some point you can think of it, please report on saferproducts.gov. That is what the CPSC is looking at for incidents. That’s where regulations are getting set from is causing enough noise on saferproducts.gov.
So it’s not just complaining to the company or negative Facebook reviews, whatever it might be, Google reviews – but actually going to the source so change can be made.
Exactly. Yeah, that website is very eye-opening. You can do such a deep dive over there. But that’s where we want to report things. That’s where the CPSC is looking.
And when should families replace a pacifier if they’re not using your amazing subscription service where they automatically get replaced?
You do want to replace pacifier nipples or pacifiers every four to six weeks. And you want to do that for safety and hygiene reasons. Bacteria can build up. Depending on the type of pacifier you have – if it’s one of those closed ones, you can’t clean them out. I was replacing them on a weekly basis because water, spit was getting in. It became very unsanitary very quickly. You also want to be looking out – if your child has teeth, you want to be making sure if they start biting into it or anything like that, you’ve got to replace that immediately.
So before you give your child their pacifier, inspect it for damage. Inspect it for anything unsanitary. But make sure you’re replacing them every four to six weeks to keep it that way.
And then how long do your subscriptions run for our listeners who plan to sign up with you? Do they cut off at a certain point, or is it whenever toddler is weaned from the pacifier?
Every child is going to be different. The subscription is going to be on a monthly basis, and at any point, you can cut it. Because some babies are off the pacifier by six months old. Every situation is going to look different, so you just end it when you need to. One of the things we are looking to do within this next year – so part of this whole interchangeability idea and keeping it easier for parents – the pacifier system is what’s rolling out first. Eventually, we’re going to be launching teething nipples and weaning nipples so you can easily and safely deal with the stress of your baby teething and needing to gnaw on something.
Hopefully not your breast, if you’re still breastfeeding. I remember those days. It was horrible!
It sounds terrible! And safely and gently getting your child off the pacifier without cutting the pacifier, which is a safety hazard – things of that nature. So the line itself will be expanding to cover these pain points in a safe way.
And I love the weaning option, as well.
Oh, I wish I had that!
Yeah, it can be a pain, especially for kids who really love the pacifier and it becomes a sense of security for them. The weaning can be pretty traumatic for parents to go through.
Oh, yeah. The night we took away my daughter’s pacifier – yeah, I had to have a drink because I was like, oh, gosh.
Yeah, it’s almost like the sleep shaping and going through a sleep plan and managing the changes with baby or a toddler and going through weaning, whether it’s breastfeeding or nipple weaning from a pacifier, will definitely cause a little bit of stress on the parents, who just want their baby or toddler to be happy.
I know! And I love the synergy between it. And what I’ve realized being in the baby space: so many things are interconnected. And I thoroughly believe in a holistic approach to anything you’re doing with your baby. Because if we’re starting to work on getting rid of our child’s pacifier – well, you know what, you need to make sure that bedtime routine is solid, and you need to make sure that your sleep habits are in place and what your child’s bedtime cues are, things of that nature. It’s so interconnected. So I put together a guide that your fabulous sleep consultants were super helpful with in giving input and it was cohesive. It’s a weaning guide off the pacifier for parents, but also how it relates to sleep and bedtime. Knowing that the additional support is there from your team, should parents need it, because it’s something I wish I had done was bring on a sleep consultant like you guys who have that incredible holistic approach. It would have been made the process a lot less stressful.
Exactly. And certainly, we love your guide. It will be available in our blog when the episode is released. So our listeners and doula clients will be able to have access to all of that amazing information.
I love that! I love spreading the information and awareness. Again, knowledge is power, and then applying it to how your family and your child’s needs – it’s incredible.
Absolutely. So what other tips do you have for our listeners, Lindsay?
My tips: truly, as a parent, give yourself grace. Nobody is a perfect parent. We are all doing our best, and we are all doing what we need to do. And as much as you can educate yourself on safety above all – so whether you’re looking at toys for your child, if you’re trying to figure out sleep for your child, a pacifier for your child – definitely see what you can find on safety because that’s going to help you know what choices are right for you.
Absolutely. And how can our listeners connect with you personally or with Soothe Beginnings?
You can go to our website. I am all over TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, @soothebeginnings. And my TikTok, I have a lot of fun bringing education there and really, when something comes to me, I’m right there with the camera and we’re ready to spread the word.
I love it. You are amazing! And how can our listeners order from you, other than going to the website? Do you have a retail plan?
Yes! Super exciting! Our pacifiers will be available on Amazon. Now, the personalized ones will not be on Amazon, and the thought behind that is, if you’re like me, crying at 2:00 in the morning and you need a pacifier that works and you need it delivered tomorrow, you’re not worried about it getting personalized. So through Amazon, you can nab these. We are featured on Villie.com, and through our website, as well.
That’s so exciting! And yes, the convenience of Amazon, especially for those who have the prime shipping, you can get it quickly and then customize later because, yes, those late night orders – I find that for our doula and sleep consulting inquiries, they often come at about 2:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m., middle of the night. I’m sleep deprived; help me!
It’s like the bat signal going out!
It’s so exciting. I can’t wait to follow your progress. Thank you so much for educating us and for solving problems. As moms, we get things done!
We do. We dive in hardcore and go for all the education and training and change we can get our hands on.
Exactly. Well, thank you, Lindsay! We will keep talking with you as you’re coming up. When the weaning pacifiers are introduced, we can do another episode.
I would love that. That would be fantastic!
IMPORTANT LINKS
Birth and postpartum support from Gold Coast Doulas