The Truth About Spit-Cleaning Baby Dummies
Many reports on the internet suggest parents who pop their baby’s dummy in their mouth to clean it might provide their child with vital protection against allergies. What’s the deal?
To spit, or Not To?
It’s been suggested that when parents’spit-clean’ a dummy, and then return it to the mouth of their child, the microbes from mum or dad may foster immunity, help to prevent allergies, and contribute to the wellbeing of a child in the long run.
To reach this conclusion, US researchers tracked 74 infants to look for a specific protein called the IgE antigen in their systems. This protein may be related to allergies.
Only nine out of the twenty-one babies who were studied had parents that regularly sucked their dummies. The IgE levels in the system of those nine babies were much lower.
The Doctor of an allergy fellow at Detroit’s Henry Ford Health System explained her study.
Microbes to the Rescue
The study was small and, according to reports, it wasn’t peer-reviewed. However, the findings are a valuable addition to our knowledge of how we can raise healthier children and protect them against allergies.
It’s important to note that this study was not one of cause and effect. “This is not saying that if you stuck on your child’s pacifier they won’t develop allergies,” said Dr Abou Jaoude.
The study is still notable, but “another piece of evidence that early exposure to bacteria helps prevent allergies” said Dr Andrew MacGinnitie of Boston Children’s Hospital’s Division of Immunology, according to CNN.
The Jury has Not Yet Been Decided.
This study only followed these babies up to 18 months of age, so it is not clear where this piece fits into the puzzle.
According to Dr Abou Jaoude, “Based on the levels of these children’s blood, it’s hard to predict what will happen to them in the future.”
All we know is that people with allergies usually have higher levels of IgE antibodies. It doesn’t necessarily mean that people with high IgE levels will have allergies.
In conclusion, sucking the dummy of your baby clean may protect your child against future allergies. It might or it may not. Experts say there’s no harm in doing it if both of you are healthy and free from illness.
Reduce Allergy Risk by Sucking Your Baby’s Dummy.
According to a new Swedish study, parents who wish to protect their children from developing allergies can take a simple step to introduce their children to microbes. They should simply pop their baby pacifiers in their mouths first before returning them to their babies.
Researchers found that, although it may seem disgusting to some or even dangerous to others, the transfer of bacteria from adults onto infants helps train the immune system not to attack germs that aren’t a danger.
Dr. Ron Ferdman is a pediatric allergy specialist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. He said that the immune system’s job is to distinguish between harmful and harmless substances. If your immune system does not encounter enough microbes, then it will default to harmful attacks on things like cat dander, dust mites or food.
More Children with Allergies
According to a recent report, the number of American kids with allergies has increased dramatically over the past few years. About 13% of children have skin allergies while 17% have respiratory allergy.
Researchers in Sweden wanted to know if very early exposure to microbes during the first few months of life affected allergy development. The researchers found that children who had their parents clean their pacifiers by sucking on them were less likely than those whose parents didn’t to develop asthma or sensitivity to allergens.
The authors concluded parents sucking on their baby’s pacifiers could help reduce the risk of allergies caused by microbes transferred through saliva.
In order to conduct the research for the article Pediatrics in the journal, 206 Swedish pregnant women were recruited, along with 187 infants. Scientists looked for families that had at least one allergy parent in order to identify any differences in immune responses among the children.
Researchers studied the transference of microbes from the saliva of parents to their infants by analyzing the bacterial DNA of 33 infants, 21 of whom had parents that sucked into their pacifiers.
187 babies have been followed up until 18 months of age, while 174 are followed up until 36 months. Researchers chose to assess the children at these specific times because certain diseases, like eczema for example, can develop in childhood, according to Dr Bill Hesselmar of Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital in Gothenburg.
Hesselmar stated that the results of the study did not appear to be affected by introducing solid food into an infant’s meal. We found differences in oral microbial bacteria at just 4 months, when most babies are still breast-fed.
Ferdman, an independent researcher, cautioned against interpreting the findings of the study. He said that because the study involved a relatively small number of infants, it was difficult to generalize.
He expressed his concern that the results might not apply to a wide range of people because they were based on data from only Swedish participants who do not represent a genetically diverse group.
Researchers from other universities have also expressed concern over dirty pacifiers.
Dr Tom Glass of Oklahoma State University’s Department of Forensic Sciences, Pathology, and Dental Medicine presented his research findings at the American Society for Clinical Pathology meeting in Boston, last November. The study found that a variety of bacteria, fungi, and mold can cause disease in children’s pacifiers.
The researchers also discovered that pacifiers could grow a slimy biofilm of bacteria that can alter the normal bacteria found in children’s mouths. This may increase the risk of gastrointestinal issues or even ear infections.
Glass explained that the value of using saliva from a parent to clean a dirty baby pacifier is well known. Glass said that they have been advocating for years that you should put the pacifier into your mouth to clean it if the baby drops it at Walmart. Your saliva contains immunoglobulins that help fight bacteria.
Glass was concerned that researchers had not identified the microbes transmitted from parents to pacifiers. He said, “We don’t know what parents are transmitting to their child.”
What can parents do to prevent allergies among their children? Ferdman stated that babies need to be exposed. “Exposure to the normal microbiological environment is protective,” Ferdman added. Breastfeed your baby for four to six weeks, if possible. Do not smoke and do not expose your children to secondhand smoke.
Sucking on Pacifiers Can Protect Children From Allergies in the Future.
Parents may want to consider sucking their child’s pacifier to protect them from future allergies.
New research finds kids whose parents “cleaned” their child’s pacifier by sucking it were less likely to develop asthma, eczema, and food allergies when compared to kids whose parents opted to avoid the not-so-pleasant-sounding cleaning method.
Researchers led by Dr. Bill Hesselmar of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, found that the practice of sucking the pacifier of an infant before giving it back to them is linked with protection against asthma and early eczema symptoms.
Researchers recruited a group of 184 Swedish babies who were not born prematurely. At least one of the parents had allergies.
At 18 months and three years of age, infants were tested for airborne and food allergies. Parents kept detailed records of their child’s first year of life, noting whether or not they were sick or taking medication. The parents were interviewed starting at 6 months of age. Two questions were asked: “Does your child use a baby pacifier?” The parents were asked to clean the pacifier by boiling it, rinsing it in tap water or sucking it.
Nearly 75 percent of the infants studied used one during their first six months. The majority of parents rinsing the pacifier with tap water. However, approximately half also boiled the pacifier and 65 parents mouth-washed it.
At 18 months, children who had parents who sucked on their pacifiers were 88 percent less prone to asthma and 63 % less prone to eczema. They were also less prone to show sensitization towards food allergens – an immune response indicative of allergies – than those whose parents didn’t engage in this practice. Researchers found that the protection against eczema for infants who sucked on pacifiers remained statistically significant until they reached age 3.
Researchers found that boiling the pacifiers was associated with an increase in asthma, but said the finding was not statistically significant. It could be a result of chance.
Additional DNA tests showed that children whose mothers cleaned their pacifiers by sucking on them had different bacteria in their mouths – called “microbiota”. This was compared to those whose fathers did not use pacifiers.
Researchers also found that children who were born vaginally, as opposed to those who had a cesarean section, showed a protective effect on asthma and eczema. Researchers found that both a vaginal delivery and sucking a pacifier reduced the likelihood of eczema in children by 2.5 times.
The research, published in pediatrics on May 6, was a new study.
The study is based on the “hygiene hypothesis,” which holds that early exposure to bacteria and germs can strengthen a child’s immune system. This, in turn, reduces allergies later in life.
A recent study found that children raised in lower-income families are less likely than those from higher-income homes to develop peanut allergies because of the differences in germ exposure. Children born in the United States are more likely to suffer from allergic hay fever, eczema, and food allergies than those who were born outside of the United States. One expert believes that poor U.S. nutrition or the hygiene hypothesis could be at work.
A Canadian professor made headlines recently when he wondered aloud if children who pick at their noses and eat the “boogers are less likely to get allergies due to the hygiene hypothesis.
- Study suggests that being born in the United States increases allergy risk
- Scientists suspect that eating boogers could boost immunity
- Frequency of fast food consumption linked to asthma and eczema severity among children, teens
The authors concluded that “Further research is now needed to establish whether parental pacifier-sucking could be a safe and simple method to reduce the development of allergies in infants and children as our study suggests.”
Doctors have warned against sharing utensils and eating items with children because germs can be spread.
He said: “This idea of not feeding your child with a spoon or fork is absurd because you cannot prevent this transmission if mom is close to her baby.” There’s no proof that you can prevent it. It is impossible to avoid unless you wear masks or don’t even touch the child. This is not realistic.
A non-participant expert echoed the authors’ call for further research to determine the safety and effectiveness of the cleaning method.
“We know that these bacteria are essential for development”, Dr. Wilfried Karmaus, a professor of Epidemiology at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, who studies asthma and eczema, told Reuters. He said that it could be because these parents spend more time with them, have a more relaxed relationship with their kids, or hug them more.
