Hello, my name is Evan and I am a student nurse at the University of North Dakota College of Nursing.  I am beginning to spend more time with clients in the antepartum and postpartum periods of their pregnancies and many have been inquiring about the same thing: the effects of using pacifiers on infants that are breastfeeding.  I have been doing some fact-finding on the topic and would like to share what I have learned.  Kramer, Barr, Dagenais and Young, et al (2001) did a randomized, controlled study on women who intended to breastfeed for at least 3 months and who were delivered of singleton newborns of at least 37 completed weeks gestational age and 2500g birth weight.  All women were given a breastfeeding promotion package (informational pamphlets and a 45-minute interview with a nurse trained in lactation consultation), but the women in the experimental group were asked to avoid pacifiers when the infant was fussing and to first offer her breast to try and calm it
down.  If that failed, she should try to carry or rock the infant.  The control group had all options for calming the infant discussed, including pacifier use.  The results showed the difference in weaning prior to 3 months was not significantly different between the experimental (18.9%) and the control group (18.3%).  This study is important because it is a randomized, controlled study instead of using convenience sampling.  The study found no evidence that pacifier use is harmful for breastfeeding, but also that there were no beneficial effects of pacifiers on infant crying or fussing.  The non-pacifier soothing methods in the experimental group appeared to be adequate.
     Baker (2000) looked at studies that used convenience sampling of women that had the option of using a pacifier.  She determined through review of studies that there was a relationship between pacifier use and breastfeeding outcomes, but the correlation between these two variables did not support pacifiers as the cause of decreased breastfeeding duration.  She found that if a pacifier is used for the purpose of delaying feeding it could cause a decreased milk supply, but if it is used to soothe an infant after a feeding or to help the infant fall asleep it may not.
     I want to be able to give my clients an answer to questions pertaining to pacifier use, but I have not found a clear answer in the literature.  With so many information mediums available (magazines, television, Internet) giving conflicting information, it is really difficult to give them the direct answer they are asking for.  I am interested in hearing what health care providers are telling their clients pertaining to pacifiers use.
                                                                                                         Thank You,
                                                                                                         Evan, S.N.

Baker, L. (2000).  The relationship between pacifier usage in infants and breastfeeding
     success.   Pediatric Nursing, 4, 402-404.
Kramer, M.S., Barr, R.G., Dagenais, S.,Hong Yang; et al (2001).  Pacifier use, early
     weaning, and cry/fuss behavior: A randomized controlled trial.  The Journal of
     American Medical Association, 3, 322-326.

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html