Hi All, Coach Smith chiming in on this issue.

Be careful with how you approach the pacifier issue. Whenever ANY
intervention is introduced or suggested to a breastfeeding dyad, there
should be a very good clinical justification / reason for its "need." Just
because not every baby is harmed by an intervention does not mean that the
intervention is good for all babies. My friend Carl Bromer says "The worst
enemy of good technique is good luck."

Look for any good research FOR using a pacifier. And be sure to consider
therapeutic uses versus social use. There may be a limited number of
therapeutic uses for pacifiers. However, any device used therapeutically for
SOME babies may have the side-effect of spilling over to overuse and social
use for a larger population of babies who are thereby harmed by its
introduction. Feeding bottles are a classic example of this and are covered
by the WHO Code.

I have been researching this topic and lecturing on it for several years,
and the more information I gather, the more I am "against" the social use of
pacifiers. Where therapeutic use of "non-nutritive sucking" is indicated,
using an "empty" breast is far healthier for both mother and baby. I
encourage anyone interested to do a Medline search on "non-nutritive
sucking", pacifier, and similar terms. I spent several days downloading
abstracts on the topic of pacifiers, then took a trip to the local medical
library for the full articles. My stack is huge and continues to grow.

I've found no GOOD reason to separate sucking from food intake. I've found
no evidence that "the urge to suck" exists in isolation, separate from the
need for simultaneous food intake and a degree of human touch.

Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre www.bflrc.com
6540 Cedarview Ct., Dayton, OH 45459-1214 USA
(937) 438-9458 email [log in to unmask]

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