USE OF PACIFIERS IS ASSOCIATED WITH DECREASED BREAST-FEEDING DURATION

Objective. To determine the relationship between pacifier use at 1 mon th of age to the duration of breast-feeding to 6 months of age. Design . Longitudinal study of infants from birth to 6 months of age. Populat ion. Six hundred five rooming-in infants born at the largest hospital in Guaruja, Sao Paulo, Brazil, during January and February 1993. Main outcome measures. Prevalence of breast-feeding (exclusive, predominant , and complementary) at 1, 4, and 6 months of age. Results. Relative r isk for weaning between 1 and 6 months of age was 3.84 (95% confidence interval 2.65-5.50) for pacifier users at 1 month of age, compared wi th nonusers. When an adjustment was made for possible confounding vari ables through Cox regression analysis, the relative risk dropped to 2. 87 (95% confidence interval 1.97-419). Conclusion. pacifier use is hig hly correlated with early weaning, even after controlling for possible confounders. Until it is determined if pacifier use is causally relat ed to weaning or is a marker for other undetermined causes, pacifier u se probably should not be recommended for breast-fed infants.