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Pacifier and digit sucking in infants. Il: Developmental change and behavioural effects
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Pacifier and digit sucking in infants. Il: Developmental change and behavioural effects

K S Pollard, P J Fleming, Jeanine Young, P S Blair and A Sawczenko
Proceedings of the 6th SIDS International Conference, p.37
SIDS International Conference, 6th (Auckland, New Zealand, 08-Feb-2000–11-Feb-2000)
2000
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http://www.ispid.org/fileadmin/user_upload/textfiles/SIDSI2000_handbook1Feb.pdfView
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Abstract

Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine sudden infant death syndrome
Pacifier use is associated with a decreased risk of SIDS [1], and is widely believed to suppress digit sucking in infants, but little is known of the relative effects of these two forms of non-nutritive sucking on morbidity in infants. Methods. As part of a continuing cohort study (ALSPAC) of 14,000 infants born in Avon, UK, in 1991-2, [2] information was collected on pacifier use at 4 weeks and 6 months, and on pacifier and digit sucking at 15 months of age. This was correlated with data on infant morbidity from birth to 18 months of age. Results. Pacifier use fell from 58% in infants at 4 weeks to 49% at 6 months and 36% at 15 months; it was most prevalent amongst infants of younger, more deprived mothers, who smoked and did not breast feed. Adjusting for these factors, pacifier use was associated with a higher prevalence of respiratory (cough, wheeze, apnoea), gastrointestinal (vomiting, diarrhoea, colic), and other morbidity (e.g. earache, fever, excessive crying) throughout the first 18 months. At 15 months, 21% infants sucked their thumb or finger, and 2% sucked both a pacifier and a digit. Finger or thumb sucking was most prevalent amongst infants of nonsmoking, older mothers, who breast-fed more than 4 weeks. In a multivariate analysis, infants who sucked a digit alone were less likely than pacifier users to have had earache or to have seen a doctor as an emergency, and more likely to have a regular sleeping pattern. Morbidity was generally highest amongst those infants who sucked both a pacifier and a digit. Conclusions Despite its association with a lower risk of SIDS, pacifier use is associated with significantly higher morbidity in infancy, than for infants not given a pacifier, particularly for those who also suck a finger or thumb.

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