Honey Pacifiers?? Yikes!

KeyLime81 · August 2012

I went to the local Mexican supermarket this morning to get a tortilla press. (Random side note: I used to think corn tortillas were rubbery and gross. Then my friend, who is married to a Mexican, told me to make my own. Oh. my. word. Delicious. I will never buy prepared tortillas again.) Anyway, as I was checking out I saw this:

Chup?n con miel?? Pacifier with honey?? Seriously??

I got home and had to google. Cultural differences fascinate me. I love to understand why people do things differently. But, giving to honey to a baby?? I couldn't find too much online, but apparently, the baby doesn't get any honey unless the parent makes a hole in the nipple part. The honey just makes it soft and interesting to chew on. Spanish message boards are split on these things...some people say that they're traditional and they've been used for years, others say that since honey is dangerous for babies they're going to throw the tradition out.

Has anyone seen these before? Know anyone who uses them? Any other interesting cultural differences you know of?

emilyerin13 · August 2012

I gotta know, how much were they? I've never heard of honey pacifiers and wouldn't dream of offering one of these to LO. They look more like novelties.

MesmrEwe · August 2012

(side note: I grew up a beekeeper and I have a science based degree..)..

The whole "honey is bad for babies" is a piece of research did in Russia back somewhere around the 1940's (can't remember the exact year)... Basically, it was a population sample of four infants and the hypothesis was could children get botulism from honey. They only used raw honey and I think one infant passed away but it was questionable if it was actually caused by botulism knowing what we knew even back in the early 90's when I first heard about the research.

Fast forward to what we now know about scientific method and botulism. If it was such a fear, you would not be giving your baby carrots or any other root vegetable because of the risk of botulism and it's originating source. Next, most honey sold in stores today has been through a heat process to not only filter out any impurities but to keep it from granulating on the shelf as quickly, it doesn't change the consistency or nutritional value of the honey, it only "melts" what granulated in the comb and during storage. The heat process really is the key element because with it the risk is basically eliminated (any spores/bacteria that survived would be killed off). Also, from a pragmatic perspective, if there was such a high risk of botulism from honey, no one would be able to consume it. Even people who are immunocompromised, it's just fine that they have (heat processed) honey. Ultimately, the research that is sited for babies not to have honey is about as flawed and unscientifically based as it is possible to get. Unfortunately, it's also within the rhelm of it'd be unethical to try to reproduce the research on multiple levels.

That said, all of my aunts/uncles on my Dad's side (12 total) had honey as their first food before they were allowed to latch.

It's an assessment of risk and one that you have to decide for yourself and your family. Especially since it's something that will never ethically be able to be tested and evidence to actually prove one way or the other... Even most of the families I know in the beekeeping industry still adhere to the "one year old for honey" recommendation...

alber2am · August 2012

MesmrEwe Interesting!

KeyLime81 · August 2012

MesmrEwe: Thanks so much for that explanation! I was wondering if the "no honey before 1" just wasn't mentioned much in Mexico, or if there was some other reason why parents wouldn't be as concerned with it.

Having said that, I prefer Farmer's Market honey, so we'll probably wait until LO is a bit older to introduce it.

lckcdc3 · August 2012

My mom said she used to dip my pacifier in honey when I was a baby. This is before she knew it was bad. Whoopsie.

glenrapids · August 2012

Mesmewe, you are all sorts of awesome. Reading that and knowing you are a beekeeper is the highlight of my day.

My Indian friend says that baby girls in India are fed honey.

MesmrEwe · August 2012

glenrapids:
Mesmewe, you are all sorts of awesome. Reading that and knowing you are a beekeeper is the highlight of my day. My Indian friend says that baby girls in India are fed honey.

My family is still in the industry (our bees travel to California in the winter to help pollinate the orange/almond crops) but the only thing I do at this point is manage their website.. Not technically a beekeeper anymore (obviously if I was down there and they needed help with something I'd step in and help, but that's what you do in a family business..)

In respons to a PP - Just because the honey is from the Farmer's Market doesn't mean that it hasn't been through a heat process. Just need to ask the person you're getting it from if it's "Raw Honey" or not.. One isn't any better than the other both are fantastic, raw is just not as filtered as if it's heated before straining...

InTheSun · August 2012

MesmrEwe:
(side note: I grew up a beekeeper and I have a science based degree..)..

The whole "honey is bad for babies" is a piece of research did in Russia back somewhere around the 1940's (can't remember the exact year)... Basically, it was a population sample of four infants and the hypothesis was could children get botulism from honey. They only used raw honey and I think one infant passed away but it was questionable if it was actually caused by botulism knowing what we knew even back in the early 90's when I first heard about the research.

Fast forward to what we now know about scientific method and botulism. If it was such a fear, you would not be giving your baby carrots or any other root vegetable because of the risk of botulism and it's originating source. Next, most honey sold in stores today has been through a heat process to not only filter out any impurities but to keep it from granulating on the shelf as quickly, it doesn't change the consistency or nutritional value of the honey, it only "melts" what granulated in the comb and during storage. The heat process really is the key element because with it the risk is basically eliminated (any spores/bacteria that survived would be killed off). Also, from a pragmatic perspective, if there was such a high risk of botulism from honey, no one would be able to consume it. Even people who are immunocompromised, it's just fine that they have (heat processed) honey. Ultimately, the research that is sited for babies not to have honey is about as flawed and unscientifically based as it is possible to get. Unfortunately, it's also within the rhelm of it'd be unethical to try to reproduce the research on multiple levels.

That said, all of my aunts/uncles on my Dad's side (12 total) had honey as their first food before they were allowed to latch.

It's an assessment of risk and one that you have to decide for yourself and your family. Especially since it's something that will never ethically be able to be tested and evidence to actually prove one way or the other... Even most of the families I know in the beekeeping industry still adhere to the "one year old for honey" recommendation...

Totally fascinating. I think I'm more fascinated by the fact that you were raised in a beekeeping family. Sounds like fun! (Probably not to you though).

Greenbaby3114 · August 2012

I was just wondering what you meant by your uncles and aunts all had honey as a first food before allowed to latch?

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