Nursing mothers are often advised to keep pacifiers from
their babies in order to avoid early weaning. A new study, however,
finds that pacifier use may not lead to early weaning, but rather be a
sign of problems with breastfeeding.
Researchers from Montreal's McGill University studied 281
breastfeeding women and their healthy, full-term infants at a hospital
in Montreal, Quebec. The women and babies were split into two groups -
one group was told to avoid pacifier use, while the other group was
not.
Although the researchers found an association between pacifier use and
early weaning (defined as weaning within three months of birth), their
results also suggest that pacifier use is a marker of breastfeeding
difficulties or a reduced motivation to breastfeeding, rather than a
true cause of early weaning.
"The use of the pacifier, in and of itself, is not likely to have
anything to do with how long the infant can, will, or will want to
breastfeed," study author Dr. Ronald Barr told ABCNEWS.com.
The researchers also found that pacifiers do not do a very good job at
calming a fussy baby. There was no significant difference between the
amount of crying and fussiness between the babies that used pacifiers
and those who did not.
Dr. Barr and his colleagues published the results of their study in
the Journal of the American Medical Association. Follow
this link to read the complete study.
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