Dummies and language
Some children find comfort and are soothed by a dummy. A child generally stops sucking on a dummy between the ages of two and four years.
A common question is: Does a dummy affect the development of language?
it is not as clear cut as a yes or no answer.
Whilst the constant use of a dummy may have the capacity to hinder one child’s language the general impact of a child using a dummy can not be quantified with a definitive yes or no.
There are too many variables to the question.
Primarily the biggest variable is a child’s age as well as their dependence on the dummy.
If a child is trying to speak with a dummy in their mouth most of the time then generally their language will be impacted in some way.
In this instance having a dummy in their mouth may impede the child’s ability to make, or practice making noises, sounds or attempting to speak if it is constantly in their mouth.
It is important to be mindful of the reason you first used a dummy. A dummy should be for comfort. Ideally it should not become a habit.
Being able to practice making sound and noises is vital for the later speech development.
If a child was to be consistently having a dummy in their mouth by 12 months of age they may be more susceptible to struggle to develop speech sounds made the front of the mouth including p, b, t , d, s.
Alternatively, recent studies have suggested that dummies are not associated with the majority of speech problems in children and that there is no direct correlation between a dummy and speech problems.
The information seems conflicting and even controversial between experts.
A gauge to identify if your child has been impacted by the use of a dummy is to use this quick chart per age of the child:
- 24 months- 50% of speech should be intelligible.
- 36 months- 75% of speech should be intelligible.
- 48 months- 100% of speech should be intelligible.
