I was wondering - when did you start giving your baby a paci and when did they learn to use it themselves?

Moriah was born much smaller than my older ones and even though i use the smallest size, she sounds like she is choking on the paci. She does find her thumb on her own though.

How can I teach her to use a paci? Should I wait until she is 1 month old (I read that somwhere - to avoid nipple confusion)?
She nurses for long stretches and sometimes I am not sure if it is instead of using a paci or because she is hungry.

Any advice/suggestions/input?

My first instinct is to say don't use the paci!! But since you have older kids you might know how to get her off the paci eventually (I am about to face that hurdle and kicking myself all the way).

Catherine wouldn't take the paci at first but she did find her thumb so I let that suffice. Later on I tried the paci again (at a few months old (?) ) and she did take it. But then she decided she didn't like it so I tried another one and she's been with it ever since. At first of course she couldn't get it into her own mouth but now she pops it in whenever she can reach one, so I try to keep them out of reach.

Catherine also nursed for long stretches and I think she was using me as a paci. Live & learn...

Nursing for long stretches of time when they are newborn is normal...Nikita took 30-45 min to feed (both sides combined) when he was born...of course, as he got older, the time got shorter and shorter as he got more efficient-now we are down to 5 min if he is really hungry LOL

Paci... they advise here in US to wait until 1 month old to avoid nipple confusion. I followed that advice (though every time they brought him to my room from the nursery in the hospital, there was a pacifier in the bassinet-go figure!) for about 2-3 weeks and then just gave it to him.. We didn't have any nipple confusion at all. I think you can give the paci to her whenever, honestly. If she takes it, great... I love the idea of pacifiers and think they are a big help.. (ask me in a few months when we try to take it away hehehe)