dummies

[Sbhxox]

do you think children having constant access to dummies will affect their speech and language development?

What makes you ask this?

it is just something i worry about with my child, will her having a dummy delay her language development

It can do, I've seen children who constantly had a dummy in past the age of three who had very hard to understand speech, however it doesn't seem to affect others. I think it's best to limit them to bedtime.

Both my children had dummies until 2. Neither had problems. Spoke perfectly and we're easier to understand than a lot of their peers.

thank you.
do you think it will prevent their willingness to want to talk. for example if they always have a dummy are they less likely to want to talk

Up to 6 months I let my dc have their dummies whenever they wanted. After that they are for sleep only. My ds was late to talk and the SALT said that dummies were fine as long as they were just used for sleeping.

My two were both eager talkers. No more pointing at things and head nodding instead of talking than little ones who didn't have a dummy.(In fact my daughter rarely did this at all. She was very verbal). If they ever spoke with their dummy hanging out slurring which was rare I would not interact. They quickly caught-,on. They were both really good talkers and certainly not late.

The reason I ask is because some people are more concerned about talking- but for me it’s the palet developing ad the shape of the teeth that are affected more by constant use. Ds had one constantly and no issues with speech but numerous dental treatments. HTH

DS had one until 2.9 to, although from about 1yo+ it was only for sleeping/illness. If it fell out at night he never fried for it, we were lucky.

No problem with regards to teeth or speech. He is 7yo now, talking well (in 3 languages of course, this being MN ) , teeth are fine.

I think it's when children gave them 24/7 and try and speak with them in that stunts speech and screws up teeth, but no one I know has had this problem, so... anecdata

I gave my EBF DD a dummy. (She was very sucky and it was destroying my nipples!)
I would only give it to her at nap times and if she woke in the night (and didn't need milk. I did feed to sleep for years).

It definitely did not hinder her speech development - she has always been a very good speaker with excellent diction and vocabulary. She's 4 now and her teacher asked me if she had older siblings because she speaks so clearly and well.

From 1st birthday it was for naps /bed only.
Binned around 3 with dc's full cooperation!

My DD had a dummy till 3.5. Until 18 months I let her have it whenever she wanted it or was upset. After that only for sleep. She is 5 now and has always been an excellent talker. My youngest is 15 months now. I’m taking the same approach with him and will probably start to slightly restrict his usage in the next few months. He can’t talk properly yet but is very “vocal” and can say about 10 words so seems to shaping up ok on the talking front.

How old is your little one Sbhxox ?

I'd say a general rule of thumb is, once they are walking, they should only have their dummy to go to sleep.

There will always be exceptions - in the same way people will know someone who smoked 50 cigarettes a day and lived to 96 without getting lung cancer or any respiratory diseases - but generally, a child whose speech is just developing, is not going to be helped by having a great big stopper in their mouth preventing them forming the speech sounds.

I disagree my son is 18.5 and has a dummy and says alot of words and can nearly say a sentence. He has dummy for naps and bed only really I take it out during day unless he asks and needs it

It's like everything that can be bad for you. some people it will not effect at all while others the effect can be quite severe.

A dummy is a gag as well as a soother. If the babies mouth is full they won't make vocalisations. This holds back their speech development.

If you have a dummy for too long the jaw may form round the shape of the dummy which can cause speech impairment. Excess dribbling. Disformed jaw visually as well as physically. Dental issues which may result in jaw realignment surgery.

It doesn't happen to every child that has a dummy so you'll get people saying mine had a dummy and were fine. They were lucky. Others have not been so lucky.

It's everything in moderation. As a soother to go to sleep is fine. Sat with it in all day is heightening your chance of there being a difficulty.

Exactly what Cushioncuddle said.