Moms take note: Those cherished sippies, bottles, and binkies could be dangerous, according to  a new study published in the journal Pediatrics.

It seems kids who cruise around the the house with these time-tested soothers in their mouths are ending up in the emergency room.

Researchers at the Nationwide Children's Hospital and Ohio State University combed through ER records and found that 45,398 children were rushed to the hospital with injuries caused by bottles, sippy cups and pacifiers between 1991 and 2010.

When it comes to pacifiers, some kids are never given one and know not what they're missing. Others are offered one, and have no interest. Then there are those (like my children) for whom it's love at first suck. They fall in love, and all is well; only the fight to get them to surrender the binky can often be brutal.

Case in point: The two adorable babies in the following video. They both want that piece of plastic, and they're not going to stop until they get it. There's no screaming or crying -- just sheer will and determination.

I was cleaning and had to go through some bags of old mementos. Okay, fine, they were a lot of Kiddo's stuff, stuff that should be in a preservation box, that should be kept safe -- like the hospital form with her footprints at the bottom from when she was born, her little name tag from then, and the baggie of her hair from her first haircut. Lots of "firsts" were in these bags ... including the hardened skin thing that fell off from her belly button. It took me a minute to realize what it was ... at which point I was totally grossed out.

I kept the friggin' belly-button stub-a-ma-bob. Seriously, why do we keep these things?

Key Baby is recalling almost 30,000 pacifiers due to a potential choking hazard. Which is not at all what you want to hear in relation to your baby's binky. In fact, short of a baby bottle, this is one of the last things I would want to have to worry about when it came to my baby. While no injuries have been reported by this company, they announced yesterday that their Pampers Natural Stages Infant Ortho and Bulb models do not meet federal safety standards.

Yikes! So pop that paci out of your baby's mouth right now, and check for this info:

Congratulations to our winners: frog_lillypad and kirbycolby!

One thing is certain about breast pumps: No one gets excited about using them. But we do love what they are used for -- feeding baby when you can't be around. 

Convenient for those on the go, the NUK Easy Flow Single Electric Breast Pump runs on AAA batteries, is BPA-free, and comes with a Store n' Go breast milk container. All you need to have is breast milk ready for baby.

Two lucky Stir readers will win a NUK prize pack complete with two Trendline pacifiers, learner cup, orthodontic bottle, and breast pump.

To enter to win, tell me ...

My older son had his pacifier until he was 3. I finally parted with it after my smart-alec pediatrician told me I should Google how much orthodontist bills would cost me later in life.

Sucking is an innate reflex that babies develop and practice in the womb. Sucking also seems like it's comforting well into a child’s first years of life -- long after he or she no longer needs to get nourishment from a breast or bottle.

So if his "non-nutritive sucking" is soothing, why is it a problem?

Amidst all the drama surrounding death, addiction, abuse, and other major issues on last week's Teen Mom finale, Dr. Drew Pinsky couldn't let go of one little, tiny thing  -- a pacifier.

The good doctor was adamant that Ryan and Maci get Bentley, 2, to get rid of his pacifier.

Forget the bigger problems like him being pulled between two teenage parents wrapped up in a custody battle. There are more important matters to be had -- that damn piece of plastic in his mouth?

The fact that Dr. Drew even took the time or energy to focus on something so small in the midst of so many other huge life struggles was more than a little ridiculous. 

Almost as ridiculous as Ryan's rebuttal to Dr. Drew's questioning:

"I had a bottle 'til I was 2, and I turned out great."

Which actually may be an argument in the other direction, but ... in general, really, what's the harm in kids having pacifiers -- especially kids who could use a little bit of comfort?

I so wanted to hug Maci of MTV's Teen Mom this week during the binky war with her ex-boyfriend and baby daddy Ryan.

This past week, Maci was trying her hardest to wean their 18-month-old son Bentley from his binky. She spent a couple afternoons frustrated by his screaming and had a very early morning wake-up call (read 4 a.m.) but toughed it out because her son needs to get off the pacifier.

Later that day, she handed her son off to his father, asked him not to give him the binky on his weekend (can you see where this is going) and then picked him up a couple days later with -- you guessed it -- a pacifier in his mouth.

All her hard work? Gone. Back to square one. And oh man, have I been there.