Honey pacifier use among an indigent pediatric population.

BACKGROUND: Use of honey pacifiers by infants presenting to a pediatric clinic at a county hospital in Houston, Texas, was observed by several of our staff members. Although we could not find any published studies linking the use of honey pacifiers to infant botulism, we also could not find any studies assessing the prevalence of honey pacifier use in general. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive study using a novel survey that had 19 items. The survey was administered to the parents of children up to age 12 months presenting to a county hospital pediatric clinic for well-child care in Houston, Texas, from February 2010 to April 2011. RESULTS: There were 397 respondents. Approximately 11% of the respondents reported using honey pacifiers with their infant children. Reasons for use included tradition, infant preference, and perceived health benefits (eg, helps with constipation or colic). Approximately 20% of the honey pacifier users and 23% of the entire group reported knowledge of honey potentially causing an illness in children <12 months of age. Nearly 40% of all respondents also reported using herbal or folk remedies. CONCLUSIONS: Honey pacifier use was relatively common among this population, seen in ∼1 out of 10 respondents. A majority of the mothers surveyed (∼80%) were unaware of the potential dangers of giving honey to infants under age 12 months. Herbal medicine use was also common.

Which women breastfeed for 2 years or more?

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors associated with continuation of breastfeeding for 2 years or more. METHODS: This was a cohort study that followed 151 children recruited at the Hospital de Clínicas in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from birth until ages ranging from 3 to 5 years. Mothers were interviewed in person in the maternity unit, at 7 and 30 days after delivery, and when their children were from 3 to 5 years old. Interviews were also conducted at 60, 120 and 180 days, by telephone when possible, or during a home visit otherwise. Associations between the outcome (breastfeeding for 2 years or more) and explanatory variables were investigated using Poisson regression within a hierarchical model. RESULTS: The following variables had positive associations with the outcome: mother staying at home with her child for the first 6 months [relative risk (RR) = 2.13; 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 1.12-4.05]; not using a pacifier (RR = 2.45; 95%CI 1.58-3.81); and later introduction of water and/or teas and of other milks. Each extra day that these liquids were not introduced was associated with 0.5% and 0.1% greater probability of the child being breastfed beyond 2 years, respectively. Cohabitation with the child's father had a negative association with the outcome (RR = 0.61; 95%CI 0.37-0.99). CONCLUSION: Mothers staying at home with their children for the first 6 months of their lives, not cohabiting with a partner, not giving their children pacifiers and delaying introduction of water and/or teas and of other milks are characteristics and behaviors associated with continuation of breastfeeding for 2 years or more.

[Breast feeding determinants on the first year of life of children in a city of Midwestern Brazil]. / Determinantes da amamentação no primeiro ano de vida em Cuiabá, Mato Grosso.

OBJECTIVE: To assess risk factors for breastfeeding discontinuation and weaning among children less than one year old. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in children under one year of age brought by their caregivers to immunization units in the city of Cuiabá, Midwestern Brazil, in 2004. Sampling first comprised drawing immunization units and then children in each unit were systematically drawn. Data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires applied to children's caregivers investigating social and demographic variables, as well as variables related to birth and maternal characteristics, pacifier use and feeding on the first day at home. Descriptive statistical and logistic regression analyses of risk factors by age group were conducted and odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated. RESULTS: A total of 920 children under one year of age were studied, of which 205 were less than 120 days old and 275 were less than 180 days old. Pacifier use, offering tea to children on their first day at home, and being a child of a mother with first or second grade schooling or primapara posed an increased risk for not being on exclusive breastfeeding at the age of 120 days. All these factors were also significantly associated in those under 180 days old, except tea offering, which was not investigated for this age group. Among children less than one year old, pacifier use was the only variable that remained significant. CONCLUSIONS: Social and cultural factors were determinants of breastfeeding status. Maternal education and awareness are crucial to prevent practices that can negatively affect breastfeeding.