THE common caution not to give a breast-feeding newborn a pacifier has proved to be true. Hold off for at least four weeks, conclude the authors of a study comparing how long babies nursed if they were given a pacifier early (before they were five days old) or later (at one month old).
More than 700 pregnant women who planned to breast-feed were recruited by University of Rochester researchers and randomly assigned to one of four groups. Information about nursing patterns was regularly collected from birth to one year, and researchers compared the effects of early and late introduction of a pacifier – as well as the use of cups or bottles for supplementary meals.