I appreciate Barbara Wilson-Clay's well thought out ideas about pacifiers.
I am amazed by how much PASSION many people have toward their use---both pro-
and anti-pacifier people.  It makes much more sense to me to look at each
baby's needs.  Personally, my first baby lived with either a breast or a
pacifier in his mouth for three years, while the other two never took a
pacifier.
    My concern is the use of pacifiers in those first few days of life.  They
are used instead of feeding, especially at night, to "give the mothers rest".
 They are used after a *poor feeding*, when the adults determine that the
baby's just been fed, so can't possibly be hungry.
    While I think that pacifiers can be very helpful, and perhaps healthful
for some babies, I have not seen evidence that healthy, full-term infants
benefit from their use in the first week of life.
    The AAP recently published an article about pacifiers' detrimental
effects on breastfeeding.  It seems odd that they would be issuing a
recommendation for their use at the same time.
     -Debi Page Ferrarello, RN, IBCLC

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