Health professionals disagree with using dummy due to different developmental, hygienic or aesthetic reasons. A study in a medical journal gives authoritative evidence that dummies are bad for babies and parents should be in need of advise.
The research the results of 20 studies conducted over the world since from past decade was analysed and it shows babies who are used to dummies are prone to reject or breastfeed for a shorter time.The researchers found that rather than giving dummy, which diminishes sucking reflex and reduce milk ejection it is better to provide a bottle of milk for sucking. Some says it poses infection, teeth damage, and become habitual.
But contradicting the above, some dentists, Penny Gibson, consultant community paediatrician, a spokeswoman for the British Dental Association said it reduces thumb-sucking habit.
Many parents use dummies to calm children when they are upset. Dummies were initially made of rubber but nowadays dummies were made of latex or silicone and come in different shapes and sizes.
A partial outweighment by the finding that babies who used a dummy were less likely to suffer a cot death - sudden infant death syndrome (Sids), the authors from the Joanna Briggs Institute in Australia concluded.
