Pacifiers were settling into their modern form around 1900 when the first teat, shield and handle design was patented in the US as a "baby comforter".[1] Rubber had been used in flexible teethers sold as "elastic gum rings" for British babies in the mid-1800s,[2] and also used for feeding-bottle teats. In 1902 Sears Roebuck advertised a "new style rubber teething ring, with one hard and one soft nipple",[3] and in 1909 someone calling herself "Auntie Pacifier" wrote to the New York Times to warn of the "menace to health" (she meant dental health) of "the persistent, and, among poorer classes, the universal sucking of a rubber nipple sold as a 'pacifier'."[4]
Researchers have found that "Use of a pacifier is associated with a substantial reduction in the risk of SIDS". (Sudden infant death syndrome) [17]. A meta-analytic study published by American Pediatric Association in Pediatrics in October 2005 supports this benefit to 1 year of age.[18][19]. However other experts while acknowledging the correlation between SIDS risk reduction and the pacifier use, questioned the causality of the findings.[20][21]
