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By Erika Edwards
The latest research on allergy prevention in children will reassure parents or disgust them completely.
The conclusion: sucking your baby's pacifier for cleaning may mean that little Olivia or Milo will be less likely to develop allergies.
"Microbes that a child is exposed to in early childhood can affect the development of their immune system," said Dr. Eliane Abou-Jaoude, researcher in allergology and immunology at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and lead author of the new study . In this case, it seems that these beneficial microbes can come from the mouth of the mother.
Abou-Jaoude and her colleagues followed 128 new mothers for a year and a half after giving birth, periodically asking them how they had cleaned their baby's pacifiers.
Of the 74 children used, the majority washed them by hand; 41% went one step further by sterilizing the devices. But 12% simply put the binky in their own mouths to clean them.
After a series of blood tests, the researchers found that babies had an antibody level called IgE lower at the age of 10 months. People with higher IgE levels are generally more prone to allergies, asthma and eczema.
Some of the children in the study were already at higher risk because of their family history. About 18% of the mothers were asthmatic and about 8% had eczema.
Research does not prove that sucking a child's pacifier will prevent allergies. "It was not a cause-and-effect study," Abu-Jaoude said. "We can not say that these kids will not develop allergies later. We have IgE levels only up to 18 months. "
The research team plans to follow up with families in the coming years to determine if a child may have an allergy. Ongoing research will be presented at a meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
All bacteria are not bad
The results reinforce the evidence that exposure to the infant's bacteria can be a very good thing. During delivery, babies are exposed to important bacteria when they give birth in the genital canal. A study last year found that mothers passed healthy bacteria to their babies through breast milk. And a 2013 Swedish study found that babies whose parents sucked their lollipops to clean them were three times less likely to suffer from eczema before becoming toddlers.
But that does not mean that parents should start actively exposing their baby to saliva – theirs or someone else's.
"Saliva is a very versatile tool," said Whasun "Sun" Oh Chung, a research professor at the faculty of dentistry at the University of Washington. She studies how the body distinguishes good bacteria from bad ones. She points out that saliva can also transmit potentially dangerous germs and bacteria that cause cavities. "We do not have enough data to know if the benefits (of this practice) outweigh the disadvantages," she said.
Abu-Jaoude agrees. "We do not tell parents to clean their child's pacifier by sucking it. The bad bacteria can be transferred by a parent who sucks the lollipop and then gives it to her child, which exposes her to other infections. "
Nevertheless, experts say that this type of research shows that most children do not need to be raised in an extremely hygienic environment.
"A variety of bacteria in your body, in your mouth, and on your skin is probably good, especially in a baby whose immune system is developing," said Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson, a pediatrician at Seattle Children's Hospital.
"Let them play in the mud," she says. "Introduce them to foods early in life and allow them to explore the world in a certain way, as we did before."
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