A study published by the British Medical Journal today indicates clearly that the use of pacifiers significantly reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (cot death).
(SIDS = Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
In California, USA, researchers interviewed a total of 185 mothers and carers of babies who had died of SIDS. They also interviewed 312 controls, which were matched for race, ethnicity and age (randomly selected).
(In this text, ?controls’ means mothers whose babies were healthy and did not die as a result of SIDS).
They asked the mothers and carers whether their babies had had a dummy (pacifier) during their last sleep before they died, or during their last sleep before being interviewed (for the control group).
The researchers saw a clear correlation between lower SIDS risk and the use of pacifiers during the babies’ sleep, regardless of social and economic factors.
The reduced risk was more significant in cases were risk factor was greater, such as babies sleeping with a mother who smokes, or babies sleeping on very soft bedding, etc.
The authors said ?Use of a dummy is associated with a substantial reduction in the risk of SIDS. Our results also provide some evidence that use of a dummy may reduce the impact of other risk factors for SIDS, especially those related to adverse sleep conditions.?
The authors indicate that dummy usage could be an effective strategy for public health intervention.