The who, when, and why of pacifier use

Background: Social and familial consequences of pacifier use remain poorly understood. The present study attempts to shed more light on the characteristics of parents using pacifiers with their infants and to explore how pacifier use affects perceptions of infant emotionality, maternal stress, and parental efficacy. Methods: The study sample consisted of 428 mothers (range: 17–49 years) of infants (0–36 months) who completed a comprehensive questionnaire assessing infant and parent characteristics as well as parenting practices and pacifier use. We compared attitudes toward pacifiers, parenting stress, children’s levels of reactivity and self-regulation, and maternal efficacy among Pacifier Users, Never-Users, and families that Tried-Pacifiers. Results: The reported results reveal benefits of pacifier use for the family relationships, namely reduced parenting stress (p = 0.018), better parent-child dynamics (p < 0.001), and more positive perceptions of child’s affectivity (p = 0.006), which are all important aspects of infant development. Conclusion: Our findings highlight developmental benefits of pacifier use, a practice that is known to have both positive and negative long-term consequences for healthy child development. It is, therefore, important for health professionals to have discussions about the pros and cons of pacifier use with parents. Impact: The study provides novel insights into how and why mothers use pacifiers and into the psychological consequences of this practice. We found pacifier use is associated with less maternal stress, better mother-child dynamics, and more positive perceptions of child’s affectivity. Our findings document developmental benefits of pacifier use adding a new perspective to the debate on pacifiers. Doctors, health visitors, pediatric nurses, and midwives may consider this evidence when advising parents on pacifier use.