The Air Force Safety Center is a Field Operating Agency with headquarters at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.
The Finnish researchers are unsure why the use of a pacifier might lead to an ear infection, but theorized it may have something to do with the change in pressure equilibrium inside the ear caused by the sucking.
The early history of pacifiers is inextricably bound to the development and use of the baby rattle. The two were often attached to both amuse and assuage a crying baby. Rattles were used for centuries by primitive adults for ceremonial and musical or dance use and could be of sticks, teeth, shells or pods.