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The influence of a pacifier on infants' arousals from sleep.
- Source :
-
The Journal of pediatrics [J Pediatr] 2000 Jun; Vol. 136 (6), pp. 775-9. - Publication Year :
- 2000
-
Abstract
- Objective: The risk of sudden infant death during sleep was postulated to decrease with the use of a pacifier and by conditions facilitating arousals from sleep. We evaluated the influence of a pacifier on arousal from sleep in healthy infants.<br />Study Design: Fifty-six healthy infants were studied with polygraphy during 1 night; 36 infants used a pacifier regularly during sleep, and 20 never used a pacifier. Thumb users or occasional pacifier users were not included in the study. The infants were recorded at a median age of 10 weeks (range 6 to 19 weeks). To evaluate auditory arousal thresholds, the infants were exposed to white noise of increasing intensity during rapid eye movement sleep.<br />Results: Polygraphic arousals occurred at significantly lower auditory stimuli in pacifier users than in nonusers (P =.010). Compared with nonusers, pacifier users were more frequently bottle-fed than breast-fed (P =. 036). Among infants sleeping without a pacifier, breast-fed infants had lower auditory thresholds than bottle-fed infants (P =.049).<br />Conclusions: Infants using pacifiers during sleep had lower auditory arousal thresholds than those who did not use a pacifier during sleep. Breast-feeding could be a further factor contributing to lower arousal thresholds. These findings could be relevant to the occurrence of sudden infant deaths during sleep.
- Subjects :
- Female
Humans
Infant
Male
Time Factors
Arousal physiology
Infant Care
Sleep physiology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0022-3476
- Volume :
- 136
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The Journal of pediatrics
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 10839876