If your baby is crying, he/she needs something.

Silly me.

A friend once presented his 8+ month pregnant wife with a joke pacifier molded to look like some lipsticked-up lips and a cigarette butt.

She didn’t find it as amusing as we did.

Hopefully these will be better received.

You bring up a good point about increased risk of otitis media, but you forgot the word ‘may’ in your post.

This study, Is pacifier use a risk factor for acute otitis media? A dynamic cohort study, talks about methodological problems with the previous studies that had found links between increased risk of ear infection and pacifier use. The cohort study seems better designed, and does find that a higher percentage of infants using pacifiers end up with recurrent infections. However, the results aren’t statistically significant, so I’m not sure how they can be so sure about the link.

In any case, most of the problems that may arise from pacifier use occur when the pacifier is used for too long, or isn’t cleaned, etc. The Canadian Paediatric Society’s position statement on the use of pacifiers is interesting reading on the subject, covering pacifier use as it relates to breastfeeding, otitis media, dentition, SIDS(!), infection, analgesic effects, and preterm infants.

Here’s the tl;dr version:

SUMMARY
The decision to use pacifiers in infants and children remains controversial and an individual choice for today’s parents. Many experts agree that pacifiers may be associated with otitis media, early weaning and dental problems, but the nature of this association along with the scope of this negative impact is still unclear. Pacifier use may be protective against SIDS, which is significantly consequential, and indeed further research is needed to validate this claim. Due to the lack of strong evidence, either for or against the use of pacifiers, selective use and safe use cannot be over-emphasized to those who choose them. Paediatricians and other child health care providers must be vigilant in advising parents on the appropriateness of pacifier use (see parent handout) and be aware of the available evidence to date to support this advice.

So, interesting reading on a controversial subject that, on the whole, really sucks.

Gene pool’s loss, I guess.

I highly recommend them.

Further picture evidence:
http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/nn271/jjpeloquin/?action=view&current=redstripes.jpg