Parents who clean their child’s dummy by sucking it, are three times less likely to suffer from eczema. It’s a germ thing…..
You’ve opted to get your baby “quiet”, with the help of a pacifier / dummy.
You did your homework and invested a fortune to obtain the latest greatest model, which has been designed by an orthodontist, it is BPA free etc.
But, no matter how great the design – babies suck and then…………. SPIT them out.
Dummy moves
Some really do, SPIT it out.
That was me.
In short, pacifiying me with a hunk of plastic, was a pointless exercise. My Mom attempted to sweeten the deal, by plopping sweet treats on the device. This made my sugar gremlin VERY HAPPY, but only brought short term relief. As soon as the sweet treat had been licked off………………….. the dummy was ejected. And the screaming continued. Sugar gremlin
Sorry Mom.
Others, genuinely find comfort in the device, but it can be a challenge to keep it IN the mouth.
The dummy is dirty
This means, the dummy is often DIRTY.
Translated – it is FULL of GERMS.
Nasty little guys, who could make your baby VERY VERY sick. So the dummy must be cleaned.
And, the best way to clean a dummy is….
Cleaning a dummy 101
Sterilize it.
Dip it in boiling hot water or some kind of anti-septic.
Kill every possible bug on the thing.
And when this is not practical. Run it under the tap for a minute or so. Flush the little “suckers” down the drain.
Or.
Pop it in your mouth and lick the “dirt” off.
GROSS !
I don’t do that
You should.
This is the best way to clean your child’s dummy. This is what a group of Swedish researchers from the University of Gothenburg discovered.
Parents who admit to this “unsavoury” practice, protect their little one from being ALLERGIC.
The reason…..
THEY’RE SHARING THEIR GERMS.
Mouth germs matter
It turns out, the mouth is actually a BIG part of the immune system.
REALLY ? Think TONSILS and ADENOIDS.
I know, we’ve been made to believe these bits and pieces are expendable. But, they represent the immune system in your mouth. And, since the mouth is the first port of call, for most “foreign invaders”, the mouth’s immune system is important.
The mouth guard
The tonsils are full of T cells with a regulatory phenotype – these are the guys that determine when the immune system should launch a full out attack and when it should stand down.
People who are ALLERGIC, tend to have immune systems that REACT.
The reaction is inappropriate. And this is what causes ALL the trouble. Overactive immune systems are not just a result of the genetic lottery, the immune system is trained to NOT react.
The training programme requires “GERM” EXPOSURE.
Spit is packed full of “germs” (the oral microbiome), making it a great training tool for the developing immune system.
More germs mean less reactivity
In this study, the research team followed 184 children from birth till 3 years – to see who became ALLERGIC. The little ones enrolled in this study, were “destined” to be allergic, since they had at least one parent, who suffered from allergies.
And sure enough……………. 25 % of them were itching their way through eczema by the time they reached the 18 month mark. Shame !
But, when the team carefully examined which children were itching, a pattern emerged.
Parents who habitually sucked their kids pacifier were three times less likely to suffer from eczema.
THREE TIMES.
It’s in the numbers
The protection came, because the kids had more “germs” coming into their mouths.
The researchers found, the resident germs of the kids, looked pretty much the same as the resident germs of their parents. Dummy sucking had served to transfer the oral microbiome between generations.
Suck your baby’s dummy
In the process, you’ll be transferring the hundreds of different bacteria that live in your mouth, to junior and facilitating immune system training…………….
This will decreases the odds your child will be ALLERGIC.
NB. This is particularly important if your little one was born by c-section and /or has not been breast fed – they need help acquiring good bacteria.
Further reading
Are today’s kids too clean for their own good ?
Rub a dub dub – your kid is SPARKLING CLEAN. Too clean ? Maybe. The SPARKLING CLEAN kids are full of cleaning chemicals and allergies.
Your baby’s first “friends” shape their destiny
Tucked away inside Mom, a baby is germ free. But once they move out into the REAL WORLD, the situation changes and who moves in, MATTERS.
Bacteria help keep the airways open holding back asthma
The bugs in the air we are doing more than simply riding the airways in and out of our lungs. They’re keeping the immune system in check, stopping asthma.
Being a Mom is a huge responsibility and knowing how to protect and optimize your family’s health is challenging. Get tips and strategies from the world of science and help your little ones have Better Body Chemistry so they grow up healthy and avoid the lifestyle diseases.
I have put together a series of TIPS to help Moms create Better Body Chemistry…