Are pacifiers associated with early weaning from breastfeeding?
Benis MM Department of Pediatrics, Vermont Children’s Hospital, Fletcher Allen Health Care, Burlington, VT, USA. marilyn.benis@vtmednet.org BACKGROUND: The pacifier, a non-nutritive sucking device, is commonly used for calming infants. The World Health Organization/United Nation’s Children’s Fund (WHO/UNICEF) Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative recommends avoiding pacifiers in breastfed term infants because it is thought to lead to early weaning. Most studies that found early weaning to be associated with pacifier use were observational in design. This Critically Appraised Topic evaluates a randomized controlled trial that examines pacifiers and early weaning. PURPOSE: The objectives of the study analyzed were to test whether regular pacifier use has a causal effect on early weaning from the breast by 3 months of age and to assess the difference in results when the data are examined using randomized intervention allocation (intention to treat) versus observational use of pacifiers. METHO
