I have two sets of personal views on dummies (pacifiers, soothers)—from the perspective of a mother and also as a “hands on” paediatric cardiologist. Thus my reactions to the paper by Viggiano and colleagues,¹ in this issue, are a synthesis of both. I am actually rather “pro-dummy”; albeit in the right place, at the right time, and for limited applications.

I breast fed both my children, for around 10 months. They were born hungry and sometimes it was a struggle. They are both strong willed young men who like a cuddle. I may be a sort of paediatrician but I am not an “earth mother”, and the logistic and practical details of spending the first six months of each of their lives acceding to their needs to be permanently clamped to my chest were really rather more than I could manage. Also I went back to work when they were …