Ask the dentist. But you can get rid of a pacifier more easily than a thumb.

ten weeks! yes, yes yes on the pacifier. as much as she wants/needs now, and later on you can restrict its use to sleep only, until you eventually take it away.

it's nearly unheardof for babies to switch to their thumbs after giving up the pacifiers, so you don't have to worry about that. when they give them up they have a few rough nights and then they're done with it. and nobody ever had to pop the pacifier out to kiss the bride. as long as it's not constant when she's older you have nothing, NOTHING to worry about.

ten weeks old - you have so much else to think of right now ... don't worry yourself with this. it comforts her when she needs comforting, and that is the most important thing behind food at this point in her life. self soothing comes later when you have to let her put herself back to sleep. for now just enjoy your new baby!

I think the bigger issue is that you and your husband come to a solution that works for both of you. Perhaps he can use a pacifier when he is with her and you use your pinky. Parenting seldom is about one person being 'right' - trust me on this!
Getting 'dug in' about any aspect of parenting and causing a rift in the relationship that brought a child into the world is NOT good for baby.

Give her a pacifier! Now! The parents I know who stuck with the finger regret it. First of all, fingers are dirty and believe me, you're not going to have time to wash your hand every single time your baby is freaking out and needs comforting. Secondly, fingernails (even if you keep them short) scratch the roofs of their mouths and make it easier for bacteria to get in. Thirdly, you will end up with your hands full and some strange nurse/friend/stranger with their finger in your baby's mouth at a stressful time.

Babies need to suck a lot for comfort. If you let them have a pacifier they won't use your breast as a pacifier. Trust me, you don't want them on your boob 24/7.

Finally, my daughter was a voracious pacifier user and then she just stopped, by herself, no problems, around 3 months and has never looked back.

The pacifier has been instrumental in getting us through the hell known as teething. Once they're old enough to understand, you can explain to them the time line. "Once you turn x old, you're a big boy/girl and they don't use pacifiers." I don't for sure that this will work but I've heard testimony to that effect. All I know is that my baby is a lot happier with her pacifier. Especially if it's ice cold from the freezer. You will have to deal with some annoying, judgey people on the matter, but you'll have to deal with that anyway, on a variety of parenting issues. If you give her the paci and it works, great. On the other hand, she may not take to it at all. You never know. Bottom line: I don't see anything wrong with using a self-soothing method that works. It's not like she'll be 18 and still using one. It'll sort itself out.

Embarrassing confession: I sucked my thumb until I was old enough to drive. For reals. (My sister did, too, now that I think about it.) I finally stopped in college, but it was a little weird at 21 to still occasionally wake up with a thumb in my mouth.

My parents never made a big deal about it, and I eventually outgrew it. And, it hasn't seemed to stunt my maturity in any real way. My guess is that if I had a pacifier, I would have stopped much, much earlier.

I, personally, think it's best for children not to use pacifiers, but they are lifesavers for some families. Some of it depends on your daughter's temperament-- is she a fussy, easily disturbed child who cries a lot and often needs to be soothed (difficult temperament), or a generally relaxed and happy baby (easy temperament)? If she has a difficult temperament, a pacifier might be a great tool for calming her down and saving your sanity. Otherwise, why stick something in her mouth that she doesn't really need? The reason I don't like pacifiers is because I think children often end up with one stuck in their mouths all the time, restricting their ability to babble and experiment with early speech.

No thanks, I gave them up YEARS ago...

Our son is over 2 and relies on the pacifier to sleep and sometimes when he needs to calm down, but he doesn't have it all day long any more.

Our doctor pointed out that even if a pacifier (or thumb) distorts their palette, the very flexibility of that area which let it get deformed in the first place means that it will pop back into shape once they quit. But she also said dentists are more militant about the evils of sucking than MDs. So it depends on whom you consult for advice.

I'm rather sick of having to continually search for clean pacifiers around the house and having to have one ready when he is sleeping or about to sleep. But at the same time, it's nice to have one in my pocket when we go somewhere as a secret weapon in case of a tantrum. And we really relied on them to get him to sleep when he was 3 to 9 months old.

Are you breastfeeding? If yes, avoid the pacifier!! also avoid milk bottle nipples too.

Otherwise:

When she's three or four have this discussion again. She's fine now with.