By: Oscar Lang
The well-being of our youngest generation is delicate, and it starts early. The choices that parents make—even the most minute ones—will ripple into an improved life for their children. A key choice that a parent has to make for their baby is a pacifier. Pacifiers are no different than other baby products when it comes to the needed priority. Safety must come first for all choices in a baby’s life, but it’s even more important for something that is in a baby’s mouth for hours on end. Soothe Beginnings was created by Lindsay deOliveira for mothers with a unique emphasis on safety and sustainability. Using 100% food-grade silicone and Richlite, Soothe Beginnings offers interchangeable, engraved, and eco-friendly pacifier nipples that bring assurances of your child’s comfort.
Latex, which is marketed as “natural rubber,” creates a multitude of potential issues among infants. While cheaper to produce, latex contains proteins that can cause allergic reactions, and research has shown that repeated exposure increases the likelihood of developing allergies.
Symptoms range from stridor and wheezing to more severe reactions like facial swelling, persistent coughs, and atopic eczema. Latex pacifiers can also harbor more bacteria and yeast compared to their silicone counterparts, leading to potential health hazards like mold growing in harder-to-clean designs. It also degrades quickly, especially under UV light and heat, turning it into a choking hazard as it breaks down. Silicone is non-toxic, durable, and recyclable. Pacifier nipples made from silicone do not leach at all, so the risk of microplastics—ever-present in the modern world—is one less thing to worry about with Soothe Beginnings. It’s also recyclable, which is an often-overlooked sustainability benefit.
Another issue Lindsay has tackled with her product is the Richlite pacifier shields. Richlite is a food-grade, non-porous material that’s both biodegradable and won’t splinter like similar materials. It’s dishwasher safe, making it easy to keep clean, and it resists bacterial growth—an essential feature for any product that comes into contact with a baby’s mouth. Made from resin-infused paper, Richlite offers an eco-friendly alternative to the cheap plastics commonly used in other pacifiers. Used in commercial food service for decades due to its hygienic properties, the shields meet some of the world’s most stringent safety standards. The VOC emissions are well below dangerous levels, and Lindsay didn’t stop there.
The quality of the interchangeable pacifier nipples is certainly top-notch from Lindsay’s sustainable and safe business model, but it’s not enough to just say that the product is safe. Every single batch that Soothe Beginnings is tested for product safety. That means that what goes in your baby’s mouth has been made safely and inspected thoroughly. Other names in the pacifier industry, like MAM and Avent, test their products only once per year—or even less frequently. Soothe Beginnings tests and production are all done in the USA. It’s a holistic and efficient way to ensure the safety of our future generations.
Health professionals like RNs, doulas, midwives, pediatric consultants, and more commend the Soothe Beginnings product. Dana Havard, an experienced RN and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), has praised the pacifiers for their hygiene-conscious design and their support for breastfeeding. She points out that many pacifiers on the market today cannot be thoroughly cleaned, leading to contamination and mold growth—issues that Soothe Beginnings has effectively addressed. “As an LC, what goes in a baby’s mouth makes a big difference to successful breastfeeding and later oral development. Soothe Beginnings offers the three most evidence-based designs for correct suckling and wide attachment, giving moms a way to calm their baby without worrying about messing up the baby’s latch.” Beyond the professional world, new mothers like Brittany Washburn think, “The design is gorgeous, the material is safer for our baby and better for the environment, and the convenience makes my life easier as a new mom.”
Explore their offerings, read reviews, and see for yourself how Soothe Beginnings is evolving into a market that needs serious renovation. On top of safety and sustainability, customers can check out the cute design capabilities of personalized engravings and confirm their questions on the FAQ page of their website.
Published by: Khy Talara
