Can Dummies Impact Speech Development
For years there has been a ‘dummy debate’ over whether parents should provide their child with a dummy for soothing purposes. There have been strong arguments for both sides, resulting in confusing advice on the benefits and risks of dummy use in early years.
What is the Purpose of Dummy use?
Dummies can be incredibly useful for settling young babies, particularly when they are distressed or trying to go to sleep.
However, despite common use for encouraging strong sucking patterns, dummies can act as a barrier to breast feeding. The different shapes and firmer feel of a dummy can confuse babies over how to effectively suck for feeding versus comfort.
After six to twelve months of age, a dummy’s specific usefulness declines when weighed against the potential risks of contributing to developmental challenges.
What are the Average Speech Development Milestones?
There is a typical pathway of speech development milestones that occur across a young child’s journey towards using the correct speech sounds when talking:
- At one year, babies start saying their first words.
- By two years, many children start combining words and can be understood around 50% of the time by strangers.
- By four years, most children are using full sentences. Their speech clarity has significantly improved such that, although they still often have some slight sound errors, strangers can understand their overall speech 100% of the time.
In their speech, children use predictable patterns of errors (also known as phonological processes) that make sounds easier to say while they are learning to say them correctly. For example, you may have heard your child say “wing” instead of “ring” or “nana” for “banana”.
- By five years, most of these speech sound error patterns should be eliminated.
- By seven years, a child usually has no errors left.
Delays in reaching these milestones might indicate a speech sound disorder or phonological impairment. If this is the case, your child will need help from a speech pathologist to help them learn how to say certain sounds correctly.
What are Common Signs Your Child’s Speech Development Could be Falling Behind?
Signs include:
- Difficulty producing speech sounds correctly.
- Difficulty learning new sounds.
- Difficulty being understood by others.
- Needing a familiar person to translate for them.
- Anxiety about or unwillingness to talk.
Is There a Legitimate Concern About the Potential Impact of Dummies on Speech Development?
Like thumb sucking, prolonged use of dummies has consistently been shown to increase the risk of a child developing a speech sound disorder or phonological impairment.
Babies and young children are less likely to try to babble or talk when they have a dummy in their mouth. This decreases their practice in learning to use words to communicate and say words correctly.
Dummy and pacifier use can also present an increased risk of a child experiencing middle ear infections (also known as otitis media) which can negatively impact their hearing. If a child can’t hear sounds correctly when listening to other people speak, they are unable to learn and imitate them in their speech.
How can Prolonged Dummy use Impact Speech Clarity?
Prolonged dummy use, beyond the developmental age when children naturally outgrow sucking behaviours, can often impact the clarity of children’s speech articulation.
Not only can using a dummy delay a child from using sounds to communicate, but its physical presence in the mouth can also restrict the child’s tongue from exploring the full range of movement required to make all the different speech sounds.
Over time, dummy use can lead to oral health problems as the constant pressure of the dummy in the mouth pushes the child’s front teeth forward leading to an open bite where the front top and bottom teeth do not align properly.
This then affects the child’s development of speech as they cannot coordinate the placement of their tongue and teeth to produce certain sounds. This is particularly noticeable for s and th sounds, where a gap in the front teeth causes the child’s tongue to protrude between them, resulting in a th sound, known as an interdental lisp.
What do Speech Experts Recommend?
Speech pathologists often advise balancing dummy use for comfort and soothing with the need for speech and language outcomes in the child’s early years. They encourage parents to be mindful of the duration and frequency of dummy sucking particularly after 12 months of age when children are starting to use words.
Parents should be careful of abruptly stopping dummy use as children may then develop a similar dependency on similar oral sucking behaviours such as thumb sucking or finger sucking. Instead, a gradual transition away from the child’s dummy habit is typically more effective where a dummy is provided only at specific limited periods, such as bedtime.
How can I comfort my child and support their speech development?
Adopting a balanced approach to dummy use involves ongoing consideration of how your child’s speech and language development is progressing compared to the average milestones.
Encouraging other forms of comfort, such as a soft toy or blanket, can also help reduce dependency on dummies while still providing your child with an effective method of self-soothing.
If you are finding your child still wants to suck their dummy most of the time throughout the day, encouraging crunchy or chewy snacks can help provide alternative enjoyable sensory stimulation to their mouth.
Should I reach out to a speech pathologist?
If you’re concerned about your child’s speech or language skills, consulting with a speech pathologist is always an important first step. They can provide an assessment of any speech impairment and discuss potential contributing factors in your child’s history, including dummy use. A speech pathologist can then work with you and your child to develop individualised therapy goals and strategies to address any speech disorder concerns.