American Academy of Pediatrics approves
pacifier use for soothing and calming; it recommends delaying its use until breastfeeding is well established. Though
pacifiers have protective effects against
sudden infant death syndrome, prolonged use of a
pacifier can lead to complications. American Academy of Family Physicians discourages the use by 6 months to 1 year of age.
Pacifier use guidelines are not established primarily due to a paucity of information regarding initiation, termination, benefits, and harmful effects of
pacifiers by parents. We aim to investigate
pacifier use among caregivers of 0-1-year-old infants. It was a descriptive study of parents or caregivers of children 0-1 year of age who completed a questionnaire focused on
pacifier use. Statistical analysis was calculated using SPSS version 23. One hundred thirty-three caregivers were interviewed. One hundred eighteen (88.7%) caregivers were mothers. Ninety-one (68.4%) of caregivers identified as Hispanic and 42 (30.1%) as African American. Caregivers reported that mean
pacifier use was 16 months and 3.4 h/day. One hundred six (80%) reported the most common use of the
pacifier alone was to calm the baby. For the weaning method, 37 (27.8%) stated that gradual decrease of
pacifiers was useful whereas 33 (24.8%) stated that abrupt removal of
pacifiers was effective. Seventy-two (54.1%) reported that their family and friends recommended
pacifiers. Eleven (8.3%) caregivers reported that information about
pacifiers was provided by medical and
day-care providers.
Pacifier use was not significantly related to the
feeding method during the first 2 months of life. This study identifies impressions and common misconceptions of
pacifier use which may assist in the development of comprehensive guidelines.