Babies who are put to bed with a dummy in their mouth have a significantly lower risk of falling victim to cot death, according to research published today.

The benefits are greatest among babies who are considered to be at the highest risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (Sids), such as those sleeping on their stomachs, or whose mothers smoke or share a bed with them. Experts said parents should be encouraged to use dummies, but some campaign groups urged caution.

More than 300 babies, mostly under 12 months old, die every year in the UK from cot death, which is the most common cause of infant mortality. The death toll has fallen steeply since parents were advised always to put their baby to bed on their backs, but there is still much confusion about the causes of cot death, and the best ways of preventing it.

The study is published in the British Medical Journal. Researchers from the Kaiser Permanente research foundation in California interviewed the mothers of 185 babies who had died of Sids and compared their experiences with 312 'control' parents whose children were healthy.

When other risk factors, such as the age of the mother, socio- economic status and smoking habits, were taken into account, babies who slept with a dummy were 90 per cent less likely to be a victim of cot death, the researchers found. The reduced risk was strongest when the baby was in what the researchers called 'adverse sleep environments'.

The experts believe that dummies may help to prevent cot death by changing the configuration of the airway passage surrounding the nose and mouth in a way that can stop babies from suffocating in their sleep. Sucking on a dummy may also help to boost development of the upper airways.

Use of a dummy seems to reduce the risk of Sids and possibly reduces the influence of known risk factors ... It is important that these findings be confirmed as they provide new insight into the underlying mechanisms of the protective effect of dummies.

Dummy use among higher-risk babies was comparable with those in the low-risk groups in his study. Advocating the use of dummies for infants in high-risk populations may have the potential to further reduce the incidence of Sids.

While the number of cot deaths has fallen by 75 per cent since a Government awareness campaign was launched in 1991, the children of young single mothers and those from poorer families have a much greater chance of falling victim to the syndrome. A recent survey by the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths found a third of new parents had had no information on prevention.

There is no reason for parents not to use a dummy, but if they do they must use it every time the baby sleeps, and never forget to give the baby the dummy.

Cot deaths have fallen by 75 per cent since a 1991 campaign telling parents to always put their babies to sleep on their backs, as leaving them on their fronts could lead to them suffocating. But research published last year said babies who never sleep on their stomach may not learn the survival instincts that make them move their heads when lying prone.

Early research suggested cot death may occur when babies are too tightly tucked up. But new theories are emerging that the age-old practice of swaddling babies may actually help to reduce cot death as the tight wrapping stops them from rolling on to their fronts and reminds them of the womb.

Claims were made in the 1990s that babies who slept in the same bed as their parents were less stressed and less likely to fall victim to cot death. Now experts are strongly opposed to 'co- sleeping', warning that parents risk rolling onto their babies.

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