Q&A Forum

19/12/24

Allison

Hi I just need some clarification on dummies. I have been told that my son who is 3 months old and attends childcare 3 days is not allowed to have his dummy. I was informed that his dummy will be removed if he is asleep. I understand that they must follow their policies and procedures but that is his comfort and on my research it is proven that dummies assist with keeping their airway open and is a prevention against SIDS. Please help.

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Posted a response on 19/12/24

Red Nose Education

You are correct that Child Care is regulated & must follow their own policies/procedures, which is important for providing a high level of care & safety for the children.
However Red Nose does provide information to Child Care in relation to Safe Sleeping recommendations.
Red Nose has no information about removing dummies when baby is sleeping.
Is your baby able to re-settle without his dummy when he wakes?

There are 2 reasons that may be used dummies are used.
One is as part of settling or re-settling for sleep.
The other is related risk reduction of SUDI/SIDS that you mention,
- research about using a dummy for risk reduction of SUDI, SIDS is not widely accepted by many countries, including Australia, but it is not actively discouraged because of use of in assisting some babies to settle.
https://rednose.org.au/article/does-dummy-use-reduce-the-risk-of-sudden-unexpected-death-in-infancy

I am not sure what the rationale is for refusing a baby to have a dummy in Child Care, but you are welcome to show them the article linked above.

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