Pacifiers reduce SIDS by 90%!
Pacifiers cut risk of SIDS: Study
Crib death cause remains unknown
Sleeping on backstill safest position
Dec. 9, 2005. 04:48 AM
TANYA TALAGA
MEDICAL REPORTER
Call it a soother, a dummy or even a binky, but for some babies the controversial pacifier is simply a lifesaver.
The use of a pacifier by babies can reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome by 90 per cent compared with babies who don't, American researchers say in a study published in the online version of the British Medical Journal.
Researchers interviewed mothers or caregivers of 185 infants who died and 312 randomly selected others. The babies were matched for race, ethnicity and age.
"A pacifier, if you are really worried about SIDS, I don't think there is any harm," said Dr. Howard Hoffman, study author and a director at the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders in Bethesda, Md.
"It's good to have results like this instead of negative ones."
SIDS occurs in infants who seem healthy but then die suddenly, for no apparent reason, to the utter devastation of parents and health providers. Most die between 2 and 4 months, but older and younger babies can also fall victim to SIDS.
The diagnosis of SIDS is given after an autopsy shows there is no cause of death.
While the cause of SIDS is still unknown, there are risk factors such as younger maternal age, exposure to smoke before and after birth, soft bedding, and race — North American children of African and Native Indian descent have higher SIDS rates.
During the 1990s, the incidence of SIDS fell dramatically in the Western world after doctors recommended babies should never sleep on their tummies or sides.
Babies should sleep on their backs, experts say, in a smoke-free environment. The study showed if a parent is a smoker and sleeps with a child who is not using a pacifier, the relative risk of their child getting SIDS increases 4.5 times.
In 2002, 111 infants died from the syndrome, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, citing the most recent figures available. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends pacifier use for infants up to 12 months during nap and bedtimes to lessen the SIDS risk.
Pacifiers can help reduce the effects of other SIDS risk factors, said another study author, Dr. De-Kun Li of the Kaiser Permanente HMO in Oakland, Calif. Among infants who used pacifiers, no increased risk was associated with sleeping position, the study indicates. While sleeping with a mother who smoked is also linked with increased risk of SIDS among infants who did not use a pacifier, there was no such link among those who did.
Doctors don't really have an answer why pacifiers work, Hoffman said. "It's speculative," he said.
It may have to do with sucking, but Li thinks it may be the soother's shape.
"My hypothesis is it is actually mechanical," Li said. "Pacifiers have bulky handles. When you put it in, the whole constellation of the configuration of the airway is changed."
If a loose blanket somehow comes to cover a baby's mouth, the handle of the pacifier will create or prevent the baby from suffocating by creating an air pocket, he believes. Perhaps soother use has something to do with the sleep cycle or calming the baby, Hoffman said.
The presence of a pacifier isn't a saving grace for everyone, cautioned Mary MacCormick, a counsellor with the Canadian Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths. MacCormick lost her grandson Jesse Buck to SIDS in 1990.
"It didn't help my grandson. He died with one in his mouth," she told the Star. "My only problem with the pacifier is it isn't the most important risk reducer, and that is sleeping on the back."
Losing a child to SIDS can change family dynamics forever, said MacCormick. Jesse Buck died two days short of 4 months of age.
"I still feel guilty. My daughter was only 17 at the time and I was the adult," she said. "We didn't know about putting him on his back then."
She hopes people don't assume it's okay to let babies sleep on their tummies as long as they are using a soother.
"I just don't want other parents to forget the other two (risk reducers) — sleeping on the back and living in a smoke-free environment."
Dr. Michael Dunn, chief of newborn and developmental pediatrics at Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, said pacifiers should not be used until after one month so newborns establish good breastfeeding practices and should not be forced on babies who don't want to take it.
Crib death cause remains unknown
Sleeping on backstill safest position
Dec. 9, 2005. 04:48 AM
TANYA TALAGA
MEDICAL REPORTER
Call it a soother, a dummy or even a binky, but for some babies the controversial pacifier is simply a lifesaver.
The use of a pacifier by babies can reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome by 90 per cent compared with babies who don't, American researchers say in a study published in the online version of the British Medical Journal.
Researchers interviewed mothers or caregivers of 185 infants who died and 312 randomly selected others. The babies were matched for race, ethnicity and age.
"A pacifier, if you are really worried about SIDS, I don't think there is any harm," said Dr. Howard Hoffman, study author and a director at the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders in Bethesda, Md.
"It's good to have results like this instead of negative ones."
SIDS occurs in infants who seem healthy but then die suddenly, for no apparent reason, to the utter devastation of parents and health providers. Most die between 2 and 4 months, but older and younger babies can also fall victim to SIDS.
The diagnosis of SIDS is given after an autopsy shows there is no cause of death.
While the cause of SIDS is still unknown, there are risk factors such as younger maternal age, exposure to smoke before and after birth, soft bedding, and race — North American children of African and Native Indian descent have higher SIDS rates.
During the 1990s, the incidence of SIDS fell dramatically in the Western world after doctors recommended babies should never sleep on their tummies or sides.
Babies should sleep on their backs, experts say, in a smoke-free environment. The study showed if a parent is a smoker and sleeps with a child who is not using a pacifier, the relative risk of their child getting SIDS increases 4.5 times.
In 2002, 111 infants died from the syndrome, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, citing the most recent figures available. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends pacifier use for infants up to 12 months during nap and bedtimes to lessen the SIDS risk.
Pacifiers can help reduce the effects of other SIDS risk factors, said another study author, Dr. De-Kun Li of the Kaiser Permanente HMO in Oakland, Calif. Among infants who used pacifiers, no increased risk was associated with sleeping position, the study indicates. While sleeping with a mother who smoked is also linked with increased risk of SIDS among infants who did not use a pacifier, there was no such link among those who did.
Doctors don't really have an answer why pacifiers work, Hoffman said. "It's speculative," he said.
It may have to do with sucking, but Li thinks it may be the soother's shape.
"My hypothesis is it is actually mechanical," Li said. "Pacifiers have bulky handles. When you put it in, the whole constellation of the configuration of the airway is changed."
If a loose blanket somehow comes to cover a baby's mouth, the handle of the pacifier will create or prevent the baby from suffocating by creating an air pocket, he believes. Perhaps soother use has something to do with the sleep cycle or calming the baby, Hoffman said.
The presence of a pacifier isn't a saving grace for everyone, cautioned Mary MacCormick, a counsellor with the Canadian Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths. MacCormick lost her grandson Jesse Buck to SIDS in 1990.
"It didn't help my grandson. He died with one in his mouth," she told the Star. "My only problem with the pacifier is it isn't the most important risk reducer, and that is sleeping on the back."
Losing a child to SIDS can change family dynamics forever, said MacCormick. Jesse Buck died two days short of 4 months of age.
"I still feel guilty. My daughter was only 17 at the time and I was the adult," she said. "We didn't know about putting him on his back then."
She hopes people don't assume it's okay to let babies sleep on their tummies as long as they are using a soother.
"I just don't want other parents to forget the other two (risk reducers) — sleeping on the back and living in a smoke-free environment."
Dr. Michael Dunn, chief of newborn and developmental pediatrics at Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, said pacifiers should not be used until after one month so newborns establish good breastfeeding practices and should not be forced on babies who don't want to take it.
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