People used to say that you shouldn't share utensils or pacifiers with your baby.  WRONG!  They claimed that this would spread germs between the parent and child, but after a study was done on the subject, the results showed just the opposite.

In a study done by the Journal of Pediatrics, Children whose parents “cleaned” their pacifier by sucking it were less likely to have asthma, eczema, and sensitization.  According to the study's conclusion, "Parental sucking of their infant’s pacifier may reduce the risk of allergy development, possibly via immune stimulation by microbes transferred to the infant via the parent’s saliva."

The study just goes to show that the more we understand about child development, the more we recognize that germs and bacteria can be very beneficial for babies and toddlers.

The New York Times goes in to a little more detail about the study and the benefits of bacteria and germs for kids.  And if you want to dive even deeper, you can read the actual scientific study done by The Journal of Pediatrics.

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