Saliva On Pacifiers Can Ward Off Childhood Allergies

When I was growing up I always thought it was disgusting whenever my mother put a pacifier in her mouth before sliding it into the mouth of one of my baby brother's or sisters.

If we were at home and the thing was dropped on the floor, one of us would rinse it off under the faucet. However, if we were away from home, that's when it went into her mouth between the floor and the baby's mouth.

I remember asking her why she did that and she said, if there was dirt on it, the baby would just spit it back out. I don't know if that was really the reason, but it made sense to me because I often saw my baby brothers or sisters spit the pacifier back out as soon as it was put in their mouth. Even today if something has dirt or hair or anything on it that shouldn't be there when I put in my mouth I spit it out (unless, it's chocolate or ice cream in which case I try to keep it in my mouth while I try to carefully draw the dirt or whatever to some place in my mouth where I can control it).

I believed my little brothers or sisters were spitting their pacifiers out because they weren't interested in a nipple that wasn't giving any milk. Makes sense, doesn't it? I like a nice bottle of beer every now and then, but if the thing's empty I'm not going to keep trying to get something out of it.

I found this study that indicates saliva on a baby's pacifier can fight childhood allergies. Only one of my siblings has any problems with allergies. I'm trying to remember if she was the one who was always spitting the pacifier back out. I remember somebody doing that, so it was probably her and I'll bet if she reads this (which I'll make sure she does) she's going to wonder what she didn't like about those pacifiers.

If you've got a baby, if you're always rinsing the pacifier off before putting it back in your baby's mouth, maybe you should consider taking a chance on the dirt. Consider what you're doing as 'pre-flavoring' the pacifier.