Pacifier Use Reduces SIDS Deaths

A study just published in the British Medical Journal (Dec 9 2005) found that infants who slept with a pacifier had a significantly reduced risk for dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). This was true in all sleep positions (back, side, tummy) and even when other risk factors, like sleeping with a mother who smokes, were present. Experts still advise putting babies to sleep on their backs, in their own beds, but adding a pacifier seems to provide extra risk reduction.

For more information, go to Safe Sleep for Your Baby: Ten Ways to Reduce the Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Source: British Medical Journal - Use of a dummy (pacifier) during sleep and risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): population based case-control study