By Magic Words Speech and Language Therapist, Rabab Sehr

Pacifiers or dummies are amazing tools for soothing children! They can provide real comfort to babies and young children. While they have that soothing ability it is wise to know when the use of a dummy or pacifier becomes damaging and no longer a useful tool to comfort young children. As Speech and Language Therapists we very often encounter children with unexplained speech sound disorders associated with structural impairments such as high arch palate or drooling without any noticeable muscle weakness. In these instances it is vital to find out if the child is still being given a dummy. Below are 5 reasons why we should be discouraging parents from giving dummies to children once they reach their first birthday:

1. Structural changes

So, what happens in the mouth when a child is sucking a dummy? Well the tongue cups the nipple of the dummy and depending on how often and hard the child is sucking; it pushes the dummy’s nipple against the child’s palate. This can cause permanent changes in the muscles and bones that can result in high arch palate.

2. Feeding delays

Remember all typical children go through the phase of ‘mouthing’, so when a child is sucking a dummy for a prolonged period, they are less likely to try new foods which can cause a delay in feeding development.

3. Reverse swallow pattern

Dummy sucking can encourage a reverse swallow pattern to develop. In simple terms it reinforces the front and back movement of the tongue as opposed to mature rotatory movement of tongue. This may result in poor chewing and digestive problems.

4. Drooling

During dummy use, the tongue is restricted from following a front - back movement pattern and the lips stay in a sealed posture around the dummy’s nipple. Very often when these dummy using children are not using a dummy they end up drooling because they are are un-practiced at the physical action of putting their lips into a sealed posture without their dummy. This means that they often have an ‘open mouthed posture’, causing them to drool.

5. Speech and language delays

Prolonged dummy use can impact speech and language development due to the child experiencing a lack of opportunities to speak to those around them, because they have a dummy in their mouth.

If you are a parent who would like advice on whether using a dummy with your child is a good idea or not please contact us.