Pacifier Use Decreases SIDS
The newest AAP recommendations for SIDS include placing the baby’s crib in the parents’ room and encouraging pacifier use. This is supposed to keep the baby from sleeping too deeply. I wonder if my child using *me* as a pacifier all night accomplishes the same thing. Of course, the AAP would never encourage me to sleep with my child in my bed. In fact, that’s a big no-no, but at least they’re now recommending sleeping in the same room. You can read more about the recommendation here.
The recommendation of increased use of pacifiers is a very dangerous one. In the first week of life, the use of pacifiers can increase the risk of dehydration in the baby, because he is often being pacified when he should be fed instead. In the second week of life, pacifiers can interfere with the growth-spurt process, in which the baby’s need for milk increases dramatically and the mother needs to go through specific steps to increase her milk supply to match the baby’s needs. The use of pacifiers at this point can interfere with this process to the point that the mother often becomes convinced that her milk supply has dried up and she stops breastfeeding. In addition, in the first 3-4 weeks of life, the use of pacifiers often creates nipple confusion. In breastfeeding, the human nipple conforms to the shape of the baby’s mouth. With pacifiers and bottle nipples, the baby’s mouth conforms to the shape of the artificial nipple, and the baby often becomes confused about the different dynamics involved with using the two kinds of nipples, and he can become dissatisfied with the soft conformity of human nipple. In this situation, he gets confused about why the human nipple is not firm and non-conforming, like his artificial nipple is, and often develops the difficult habit of frequently pulling off the nipple in the middle of breastfeeding. I strongly disagree with this recommendation, and I recommend that anyone with questions refer to the La Leche League website and the “Dr. William Sears” website.
Comment by Joy Jones, RN — November 8, 2005 @ 11:36 am
most of the above is toatl crap! I have done in home 24 hour a day newborn care with more than 180 newborns and their moms. Nipple confusion is a total buzz word. I have never yet seen a baby who would prefer a silicone pacifier to their moms breast. It has been proven time and again that newborns need to suck–constantly, and they cannot keep their thumb or fingers in their mouths as they could in utero. A pacifier is their only soothing mechanism. In my opinion it is cruel not to provide that. To let newborns and their already tired parents suffer, by telling them all of those lies, is in itself cruel. Laleche would have a mother duct tape the baby to their breast and leave it there for a year. come on–we are human beings, not a breast. Give women a chance to enjoy breastfeeding without using all of these scare tactics. Talk to a good pediatrician. He/she will tell you the facts. The scientific facts.
Comment by sylvia dostie — December 22, 2006 @ 1:20 pm
It saddens me to see comments such as the above for two reasons. First, you seem to have an awful lot of hostility towards natural mothering. I have breastfed four children now, without the use of a pacifier, and I have never felt that either I or my children “suffered” because of it. In fact, I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Were there times when they wanted to nurse that it would have been easier to stick a pacifier in their mouth? Sure. But what they really needed was to nurse. The frequent skin to skin contact associated with exclusive breastfeeding has been shown to be extremely important to newborns, and their frequent nursing patterns, especially in the first couple of weeks, are important for establishing a good milk supply for the coming months.
Second, it saddens me to see someone that works with parents of newborns have such misperceptions of the problems pacifiers can cause. As a childbirth educator, doula, and breastfeeding educator, I can assure you that nipple confusion is most certainly NOT just a buzz word. Yes, there are plenty of babies who will go back and forth between breast and bottle or pacifier without any noticeable difficulty with their latch or sucking. But there are also plenty of babies who have major difficulties when asked to do so – I’ve seen them, and spent a lot of time working with their very frustrated mothers to correct the problem. It is not cruel to ask mothers to provide their breast for their baby whenever they need it, but it IS cruel in my opinion to tell a mother who wants to breastfeed that she can use a pacifier or give bottles to her newborn baby and there won’t be any problems associated with it. You obviously haven’t sat with a woman in tears over breastfeeding difficulties that were caused by this misinformation. Moms who were furious with their care providers who gave them the misinformation. Moms who were breastfeeding beautifully at the start, and the addition of even one bottle or pacifier use derailed that train.
I don’t veiw giving women the facts as using scare tactics. Not every breastfed baby who is exposed to an artificial nipple will get nipple confusion. But for those that do get it, it is an absolute bear to correct. And women have a right to know that before deciding to give a bottle or pacifier.
And as for talking to a good pediatrician about breastfeeding – if it was a good pedi, then they would be telling mothers to avoid artificial nipples as well. But a pediatrician is not the best person to talk to about breastfeeding anyway. If your tv is on the fritz, you call a tv repair man. If your car breaks down, you call a mechanic. Similarly, if you’ve got a breastfeeding problem, you should talk to a breastfeeding expert. Doctors get amazingly little education about breastfeeding during their schooling – there is just too much to learn and too little time. Much of the information they get about breastfeeding once they have graduated comes from formula representatives. Instead, why not talk to a board certified lactation consultant (IBCLC)? These people have had much more training and study of the subject than any pediatrician will ever have. And despite your attempts to disparage La Leche League, their volunteer moms are extremely knowledgeable about breastfeeding and can be very helpful. They work with moms to achieve their breastfeeding goals, not push any particular agenda. And they do it all for free.
Comment by Laura King — December 22, 2006 @ 3:47 pm