Dummies are a controversial subject when it comes to baby’s health, but a new Swedish study has found that if a parent sucks a baby’s dummy it can help prevent eczema.

It is not the dummy itself but the transfer of saliva containing immune boosting microbes from the parent to the baby that could help prevent eczema.

According to the National Eczema Society, one in five babies and children have eczema.

[quote]In the study, carried out at Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital inGothenburg,Sweden, babies whose dummies were sucked by their parents before being inserted into their own mouths were 63% less likely to get eczema.[/quote]

Of the 184 six-month old babies who were participating in the study, 80% has at least one parent with allergies and so were at a greater risk of developing eczema. The babies were tested again at 18 moths and that is where the biggest difference I the incidence of eczema was seen. Of those babies whose parents sucked their dummies before giving them to their babies, there was a 63% less incidence of eczema compared to babies whose parents did not suck their dummies. However when tested again at 36, the difference between the incidence of eczema between the two different groups had diminished to 49%.

The babies whose parents sucked their dummies were found to have a different type of bacteria living in their mouths.