xvm. Proportions of babies who had had a dummy at some time during the first year, and of those who still used one at twelve months: analysed by social class

Conclusion Thegeneralpictureofchildren'ssuckinghabitsis,then,one ofaratherhighpermissiveness.Especiallywhenlinkedwith ourfindingsontheincidenceofdemandandnear-demand feeding(75percentofthetotalsample),itseemsthatmost babiesinNottinghamhaveplentyofopportunitytosuck whentheypleaseandforaslongastheyplease.Whenthis generalpatternisanalysedintoseparateclassgroups,however, wefindthatthechild'ssocio-economiclevelhasaconsiderable effectuponthekindofsuckingwhichhismotherapprovesand allows.Themiddle-classbabyhasamuchbiggerchanceof beingbreastfed,bothduringhisfirstmonthandonintothe secondhalfofhisfirstyear;ontheotherhand,heisexpected togiveupthepleasuresofsuckingearlierthantheworkingclasschild,andisnotnearlysolikelytobeofferedanysubstituteintheformofadummy:ifhedoeshaveadummy,its usewillbecarefullyrestricted.Theworking-classchild,more oftendeniedthecloserelationshipofprolongedbreastfeeding, hasascompensationaverylongperiodofbottlefeedingto lookforwardto,withtheadditionalcomfortofthedummy, bothusuallyavailableatanytime.Thewithdrawalofthe breastseemstobeaccompaniedbypermissivenessintheuseof artificialsuckingmedia;and,justasmiddle-classmothersare 5>lowertofollowthegeneraltrendawayfrombreastfeeding,

175 sotheydonotquicklyacceptthefreeandprotracteduseof substitutes.Nevertheless,thefactthatmiddle-classmothers dousebothdummiesandthesoporificbottle,toanextentthat surprisesthosepioneerswhofeartoexposethesepracticesto theexpecteddisapprovaloftheirmiddle-classfriends,suggests thatwhatwemaycallsecondaryoralpermissiveness(as opposedtotheprimarypermissivenessofbreastfeeding)is gaininggroundthroughoutthesocialscale.