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- This article is about the baby pacifier. For other uses see Pacifier (disambiguation).
A pacifier (American English), dummy (British English) or soother (Canadian English), is a rubber or plastic nipple given to an infant or other young child to suck upon.
History
While pacifiers have taken on a standard appearance, with teat, mouth shield, and handle, there have always been things which a baby can suck on for comfort.
Pacifiers were settling into their modern form around 1900 when the first teat, shield and handle design was patented in the US as a "baby comforter".Design Patent number D33,212 C.W.Meinecke Sep 18 1900 Rubber had been used in flexible teethers sold as "elastic gum rings" for British babies in the mid-1800s,S. Levin, MB(RAND) VLR.C.P.(EDNN.) DCH, in South African Medical Journal 1971 and also used for feeding-bottle teats. In 1902 Sears Roebuck advertised a "new style rubber teething ring, with one hard and one soft nipple",Sears Roebuck catalog 1902 and in 1909 someone calling herself "Auntie Pacifier" wrote to the New York Times to warn of the "menace to health" (she meant dental health) of "the persistent, and, among poorer classes, the universal sucking of a rubber nipple sold as a 'pacifier'."New York Times June 30 1909 In England too, dummies were seen as something the "poorer classes" would use, and associated with poor hygiene. In 1914 a London doctor complained about "the dummy teat": "If it falls on the floor it is rubbed momentarily on the mother's blouse or apron, lipped by the mother and replaced in the baby's mouth."Journal of Nursing: The Midwife Aug 7 1915
Early pacifiers were manufactured with a choice of black, maroon or white rubber, though the white rubber of the day contained a certain amount of lead. One of the best-known brands was the Binki, which became a general name for pacifier in the US. Binky (with a y) was first used as a brand name for pacifiers and other baby products in about 1935.According to trademark registration documents 1948 Pacifiers were a development of hard teething rings, but they were also a substitute for the softer sugar-tits, sugar-teats or sugar-rags Oxford English Dictionarywhich had been in use in 19th century America. A writer in 1873 described a "sugar-teat" made from "a small piece of old linen" with a "spoonful of rather sandy sugar in the centre of it", "gathered ... up into a little ball" with a thread tied tightly around it. Cecilia Viets Jamieson Ropes of Sand Chapter 2: Top's baby (1873) Rags with foodstuffs tied inside were also given to babies in many parts of Northern Europe and elsewhere. In some places a lump of meat or fat was tied in cloth, and sometimes the rag was moistened with brandy. German-speaking areas might use Lutschbeutel: cloth wrapped round sweetened bread, or maybe poppy-seeds. A Madonna and child painted by Dürer in 1506Madonna and Siskin shows one of these tied-cloth "pacifiers" in the baby's hand.S. Levin
In the 1800s, the expression "born with a silver spoon in his mouth" could be taken almost literally – silver soothers/teethers were often given to babies born to wealth. Other expensive materials were also used, with mother-of-pearl or coral being thought to ward off sickness. Coral was believed to guard against all kinds of evil,Norfolk Museums and in England in the 17th-19th centuries, a coral meant a teething toy made of coral, ivory or bone.OED A museum curator has suggested that these substances were used as "sympathetic magic"Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood and that the animal bone could symbolise animal strength to help the child cope with pain.
Problems caused by their use
Some have said that, if the baby does not take to the pacifier that it should be dipped in a sweet substance like syrup or honey. This has unfortunately been shown to cause problems in the development of the baby's teeth. Feeding honey to infants is also very dangerous due to the risk of botulism.- Pacifiers have also been shown to interfere with breastfeeding, especially if introduced within the first 6 weeks of life. Children who suck pacifiers may also be more prone to ear infections. Some older infants may have delayed speech development due to the pacifier's constant presence in their mouths preventing them from practising their speaking skills.
Some believe that pacifiers, if used for too long, may cause crooked teeth.
Problems remedied by their use
Researchers have said: "Use of a pacifier is associated with a substantial reduction in the risk of SIDS"**. Some parents may prefer the use of pacifiers to the child sucking their thumbs.
In common culture
Maggie Simpson from animated television show The Simpsons is rarely separated from her pacifier, and her constant "suck, suck" sound has been one of the few sounds made by the baby.
In the mid-1990s, soothers were featured in the world of U.S. fashion, becoming a teen trend to wear pacifiers as accessories. This was associated by some with techno music and the illegal drug MDMA ("Ecstasy/Ex"), leading to a ban of this trend in many places.
Note
External links
"Pacifier"