Nutrition For Infant
Get a pacifier for your baby? by Nitin Patidar
Babies, especially newborns have a strong sucking reflex and ultrasound scans sometimes even reveal babies sucking their thumbs. Studies have shown that non-nutritive sucking has a soothing and calming effect on babies and can even help alleviate pain.
Giving a pacifier to a fussy baby can help calm them down, or provide temporary distraction but most importantly – they may help reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Why are pacifiers beneficial for babies?
Pacifiers or soothers, as the term implies, plays a great job in relieving a crying infant. Giving babies a pacifier can help them cope with irritation, help soothe them to sleep and even calm tired and frazzled babies. It may even help with soothing pain – studies have shown that a pacifier was a much more effective analgesic than sucrose or glucose, when given to newborn infants.The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) recommends giving babies pacifiers when they are suffering from pain. Although it doesn’t reduce pain, it may help distract the baby from pain or to soothe their pain. Pacifiers also come in handy during immunizations, bouts of colic or other painful treatments at the doctors.
In another study, this time published in the medical journal Acta Paediatr, researchers discovered that non-nutritive sucking with a pacifier accelerates weight gain in premature infants. Although an exact reason is still being determined, they theorized that sucking on a pacifier made the babies calmer, allowing for reduction in activity and therefore conserving their energy for growth Two separate studies have also shown that sucking on pacifiers releases anti-bacterial agents in the saliva, which can be beneficial to infants. In a paper delivered at the 15th Congress of the International Association of Paediatric Dentistry, use of a pacifier cause the protective agents fluoride, xyllitol and sorbitol to be discharged into the mouth. In an abstract published by the International Association for Dental Research, a 1997 study found that infants who used a pacifier have less bacteria in their mouths than in babies who use just a bottle (whether to feed or soothe).
Preventing SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
One very helpful benefit of using pacifiers is the prevention of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). SIDS is characterized by the sudden and unexplained death of a baby. A majority of deaths occur when the baby is asleep in their cot, hence the syndrome is also commonly referred to as ‘cot death’. SIDS are most prevalent in babies under 12 months. The causes of SIDS remain unknown but studies have shown that the risk of SIDS can be reduced significantly by the use of suitable pacifiers. As a result, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) are now recommending that pacifiers should be offered every time an infant is put down to sleep, once breastfeeding has been established (around one month of age).
Further studies, such as those published in the Pediatrics medical journal in 2005 recommends pacifier use for infants up to one year, when the babies need for sucking is at its peak, as well as the risk for SIDS. In the same year, a study published in the BMJ (British Medical Journal) had the same results – that pacifiers reduce the known factors that cause SIDS and lowered the incidences in infants.While pacifiers may not be for everyone, every parent should at least consider the benefits of using pacifiers – both for the babies and for their own peace of mind.
About the Author
MAM produces baby pacifiers developed in collaboration with designers & orthodontists. Innovative pacifiers for smart parents and babies with MAM’s patented Silk Teatâ
