Cher,

I don't know of any studies showing an increase in the rate of SIDS in babies
who use pacifiers. There is, however a study showing a *decrease* in the rate
of SIDS among babies who use pacifiers. This study was cited in the article
by Cynthia R Howard et al "The effects of early pacifier use on breastfeeding
duration" published in the March issue of Pediatrics.

EA Mitchell, et al state in the abstract of the paper "Dummies and the sudden
infant death syndrome" that

"Dummy use in the two week period before death was less in cases of SIDS than
in the last two weeks for controls (odds ratio (OR) 0.76, 95% confidence
interval (CI) 0.57 to 1.02). Use of a dummy in the last sleep for cases of
SIDS or in the nominated sleep for controls was significantly less in cases
than controls (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.73). The OR changed very little
after controlling for a wide range of potential confounders. It is concluded
that dummy use may protect against SIDS, but this observation needs to be
repeated before dummies can be recommended for this purpose."

The Howard study is published in the Pediatrics electronic pages. There is a
hyperlink to the abstract of the Mitchell article in the bibliography.

Warmly,
Carol Kelley  LLLL
Taylors SC USA in the Blue Ridge foothills
mailto:[log in to unmask]

References:
Howard CR et al. The effects of early pacifier use on breastfeeding duration.
Pediatrics 1999; 103(3):e33
<A HREF="http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/103/3/e33">Pediatrics --
Howard et al. 103 (3): e33
</A>

Mitchell EA et al. Dummies and the sudden infant death syndrome. Arch Dis
Child  1993; 68:501-504
<A
HREF="http://www.archdischild.com/cgi/content/abstract/archdischild;68/4/501?i
jkey=wqp8Rtn9AXbAk">eADC -- Abstracts: Mitchell et al. 68 (4): 501
</A>

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