GIVING a baby a dummy reduces the risk of cot death by more than 90 per cent, according to a study in the US.

The results confirm research that led the American Academy of Pediatrics to recommend dummies for babies, but the issue remains controversial.

Researchers from Kaiser Permanente, a large health insurance and management organisation in California, interviewed mothers or carers of 185 victims of cot death, as well as 312 randomly selected controls matched for their race, ethnicity and age.

They obtained information on dummy use during the “index sleep”, the last sleep of those babies who died, or the sleep during the night before the interview of those randomly selected.

De-Kun Li, who led the team, said: “After adjusting for known risk factors, use of a dummy during sleep was associated with a 90 per cent reduced risk of sudden infant death syndrome (Sids) compared with infants who did not use a dummy.

“The reduced risk was consistent across a wide range of social and economic characteristics and risk factors examined.”

The protection seemed to be stronger when an infant was in a sleeping situation believed to be dangerous, such as sleeping face downwards or on the side, sleeping with a mother who smoked, or sleeping on soft bedding. But these differences were not deemed to be significant. Dr Li said: “Use of a dummy is associated with a substantial reduction in the risk of Sids. Our results also provide some evidence that use of a dummy may reduce the impact of other risk factors for Sids, especially those related to adverse sleep conditions.

“Some studies have reported that use of a dummy is associated with a reduced risk of Sids, though few have examined the association in detail and in the context of other risk factors.”

Dummies, he said, usually have a bulky external handle, which could make sure that air reaches the nose or mouth when the baby’s face is buried by bedclothes.

Sucking on a dummy might also help to develop the nerves that control the upper airway, he said.

The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths responded to the study by advising parents that if their baby is using a dummy regularly they should continue to do so.

“That is because two research studies published since 2000 showed that babies who usually use a dummy but then stop are at increased risk of cot death on the night they don’t use it,” the foundation said in a statement.

They also advised that dummies should not be coated in any sweet solution; that a dummy can be taken away when the baby is about 12 months old; and that if mothers are breast-feeding, they might like to wait a month or so before introducing a dummy.

There is also evidence that the use of dummies can have less beneficial effects.

Some studies have suggested that using a dummy reduces the amount of babbling that a baby does, and may therefore slow the development of speech.

An Italian study found that babies who use dummies were more likely to have crooked teeth, while a University of Bristol study of 11,000 babies found that dummies were linked to a greater chance of suffering earache, fever, colic, wheezing and diarrhoea.

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