They conducted a study comparing the use of pacifiers and risk of ear infections. The Finnish team advised parents of about 270 children that after the age of six months, pacifiers should only be used when the child is falling asleep. The parents were also told that pacifier use should be discontinued at 10 months. Parents of another group of more than 200 children were told to continue unrestricted pacifier use. Therefore, she doesn't recommend advising parents of newborns to limit pacifier use.
Many parents think the trick to safe pacifier use is cleanliness.
Robert C. Sprecher, MD, chief of the division of otolaryngology at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, tells WebMD he is not convinced that pacifiers increase ear infections. You can't do anything about genetics and it is difficult to keep children out of day care. Sprecher says that pacifier use is already associated with increased oral infections, and with dental problems. But I'm not going to tell a mother to get rid of the pacifier to protect against ear infections. If your baby wants to suck beyond what nursing or bottle-feeding provides, a pacifier will satisfy that need.