"I have done home visits as a perinatal nurse and found dehydrated babies
secondary to inappropriate pacifier use (ie. to hold baby off for 3-4
hours.)"

I would classify that, in cases where dehydration has developed, not as
"inappropriate pacifier use", but as inappropriate parenting! Or
inappropriate education re: the needs of a baby & how to tell if those needs
are being met. Or maybe sometimes actual neglect.

Kinda reminds me of the arguments about guns: on the one hand, the gun is
not the criminal, and OTOH if there weren't so many guns lying around, or if
people were taught how to use and protect and care for them properly, there
wouldn't be so many tragedies around them. A gun's just a hunk of metal, and
a pacifier's just a funny-looking piece of rubber or silicone - it's how you
teach about them & how you use 'em that counts.

Cathy Bargar RN IBCLC Ithaca NY

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