Use of Pacifiers is Associated With Decreased Breast-Feeding Duration

Department of Pediatric Dentistry
Lutheran Medical Center

Resident's Name: Dan Boboia Date: 4/17/09
Article title: Use of Pacifiers is Associated With Decreased Breast-Feeding Duration
Author(s): F.C. Barros et al
Journal: Pediatrics
Volume (number): 95 (4)
Month, Year: April 1995
Major topic: Determine the relationship between pacifier use at 1 month of age to the duration of breast-feeding to 6 months of age
Type of Study: Longitudinal Study
Methods:
605 infants were followed from birth to 6 months of age
Mothers answered a baseline questionnaire, perinatal information was collected, and hospital records were also used
Follow-up home visits were conducted at 1, 4, and 6 months of age
Only infants breast-fed by 1 month of age were considered for this study
Results:
8.2% could not be located at 1-month follow-up visit
Additional 3.3% could not be located at 4-month follow-up visit
A cumulative of 14.5% could not be located at 6-month follow-up visit
Risk for weaning between 1 and 6 months of age was 3.84 for pacifier users at 1 month of age compared with nonusers; this dropped to 2.87 after Cox analysis adjustment
Discussion:
The 14.5% infants that dropped out from the study are unlikely to have biased the study because they were similar to infants who did not drop out
It is unknown if pacifier use is causally related to weaning or simply a marker of poor sucking or other undetermined variables. It is possible that several factors, including pacifier use, influence duration and frequency for breast-feeding
Infants using pacifiers at 1 month were three times more likely to be weaned by 6 months of age
Pacifier use is highly correlated with early weaning, even after controlling for possible confounders; these results suggest that the pacifier use should not be recommended for breast-fed infants
Assessment of article: Good article