Re: Infant sucking habits may affect how baby talks

[Guest guest]

This is certainly the case for our 4th child, special needs boy, ny. He was

breastfed 1 year but then sucked his fingers constantly after that. No bottles

but lots of finger sucking. He is non-verbal (age almost 12). Our oldest child

(now age 30) was a late talker and a thumb sucker but he made up for the loss

and became a very good talker! Speaks 4 languages today! I think our special

needs son's lack of speech is a brain thing - not a problem with his mouth

deformity (which he has) or his finger sucking.

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http://www.cnsfoundation.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle & id=8915 & security=1 & news\

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> Persistent pacifier, bottle and finger sucking may hamper a child's speech

development

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> October 21, 2009

> Source: University of Washington   

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> Pacifier, baby bottle or finger sucking may hamper a child's speech

development if the habit goes on too long.

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> In a study that took place in Patagonia, Chile, researchers associated the

persistence of these sucking habits with an increased risk of speech disorders

in preschool children. The children were more likely to have difficulty

producing certain word sounds and to simplify their pronunciation.

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> The results were published Wednesday, Oct. 21, in BMC Pediatrics, an online,

open-access medical journal.

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> A team led by Clarita Barbosa from Corporacion de Rehabilitacion Club De

Leones Cruz Del Sur conducted the study, along with collaborators from the

University of Washington (UW) Multidisciplinary International Research Training

(MIRT) Program in the School of Public Health, the Department of Epidemiology,

and the Department of Global Health.

> Looking at a group of 128 children age 3 years to 5 years, the researchers

gathered parents' reports of each child's feeding and sucking behaviors during

infancy and evaluated the child's speech. The researchers found that delaying

giving a baby bottle until the child was at least 9 months old reduced the risk

of later developing speech disorders, while children who sucked their fingers or

who used a pacifier for more than 3 years were three times more likely to

develop speech impediments.

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> " These results suggest extended sucking outside of breast-feeding may have

detrimental effects on speech development in young children, " according to

Barbosa. This finding is particularly relevant, as the use of baby bottles and

pacifiers has increased over the past few decades. However, Barbosa is careful

to note, " Although results of this study provide further evidence for the

benefits of longer duration of breast feeding of infants, they should be

interpreted with caution as these data are observational. "

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> Earlier studies by other researchers have suggested that babies', toddlers'

and pre-schoolers' sucking habits may influence their mouth, jaw and dental

anatomy. Previous research also has suggested that breast feeding may be

beneficial to developing coordinated breathing, swallowing and speech

articulation.

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> Love, Gabby. :0)

> http://stemcellforautism.blogspot.com/

> http://www.facebook.com/gabby911

> http://twitter.com/stemcell4autism

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> " I know of nobody who is purely Autistic or purely neurotypical. Even God had

some Autistic moments, which is why the planets all spin. " ~ Jerry Newport  

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[Guest guest]

Hey, no feeling guilty!

My child has apraxia but never took a pacifier, finger sucked or even really

liked a bottle. While breastfeeding, he would finish in about 10 minutes and be

done, so no long lingering over his meal. So, I don't think this has to do with

speech. Sorry, but I don't.

However, this brings up something I was pondering the other day ... my son's

nursing used to hurt me (until my nipple got tougher). I now wonder if that was

a sign of speech/motor problems. He was my second child and so I knew how to

latch him on ... everything I tried just didn't solve the problem ... but

thinking about that now? I do wonder if that was an early sign. Of course, he

also had horrid ear infections and acid reflux ... again I wonder if that was

all 'signs' of his problem now.

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> my son used a sippy cup with a silicone spout when he was around 12 months old

and I used to let him have it all the time. he would carry it around his

mouth.  I got rid of it but then his grandmother gave it to him one time

because he wouldn't take a nap.  Now, he is 3 years old and I still let him

sleep with it at night but ONLY at night.  I know that its really bad and I'm

going to get rid of it when I'm on holiday break but this article really makes

me feel horrible. 

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> While I think it has contributed to his overbite and placement of the tongue,

I'm not convinced that it has anything to do with his articulation.  I've had

several speech pathologists tell me that he can still make certain sounds even

though he has a big overbite.  When I asked a speech pathologist if I should

get rid of the sippy cup, she told me to try and take it away from him but to

not get in a power struggle over it.  I think I'm going to have to take it away

cold turkey and it won't be pretty.

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