The US research paper, published in the British Medical Journal on 9 December, compared 185 infants who died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) with 312 randomly selected healthy babies.
Researchers discovered that use of a dummy during sleep was associated with a 90 per cent reduced risk of SIDS compared with infants who did not use a dummy.
The drop in risk was found to be even greater when the baby was in an adverse sleep environment, such as sleeping on its front or side, sleeping with a mother who smoked, or sleeping on soft bedding.
The researchers suggest that the bulky handle on a dummy creates an air passage and prevents accidental suffocation when a baby's face becomes buried in bedding or covered with a blanket.
Joyce Epstein, director of FSID, said the Foundation would carry out its own study to determine the extent of dummy use in the UK.
She said, 'There is currently no national data on the prevalence of dummy use. The survey will determine the types of people are using who dummies, how often they use them and why.
'The BMJ study presents striking evidence for dummies reducing the risk of SIDS, but we need to look at the use of dummies among British parents to see if the research can be translated into a British context.'
Current advice from the FSID is that there is no reason for parents not to use a dummy if they wish. However, if a baby uses a dummy regularly, carers must never forget to give it to them.
Two studies published since 2000 show that babies who usually use a dummy but then stop are at increased risk of cot death on the night they do not use it.
The research paper, Use of a dummy during sleep and risk of sudden infant death syndrome, can be downloaded from www.bmj.com.
