While researching dummy use in childcare settings, everyone I met had a view, ranging from the slightly saintly, 'I would never use a dummy' attitude, to the 'I used a dummy but ...', always followed by a guilty explanation of why it was acceptable in this instance but that this mother really knows dummies are 'not a good thing'.
But why do mothers feel so guilty about dummy use that they need to offer a rationale? Do we, as professionals, make mothers feel guilty about offering a baby a dummy? Should we do so?
My research, investigating how practitioners in children's centres and nurseries viewed dummies, demonstrates how much confusion and tension exists in the workplace around the issue. In view of these tensions, how will staff integrate the new advice from the Department of Health that giving a baby a dummy at sleep time may protect them against cot death?
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