Pacifiers Tied to Speech Disorders (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal

Pacifiers Tied to Speech Disorders

Preschoolers with speech disorders were three times as likely as other children to have used a pacifier for at least three years, according to an observational study in BMC Pediatrics. Out of 128 Chilean 3- to 5-year-olds in the study, 61 scored below normal on a standardized speech test. In addition to the pacifier trend, children in this group were also thrice as likely to have started bottle-feeding before nine months of age. Previous studies have shown that certain sucking behaviors in early childhood are associated with oral and dental deformities, but evidence of these behaviors' effect on speech has been inconsistent, the researchers said.

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Caveat: The infants' sucking behaviors were based on parental recollections rather than direct observation. A larger, randomized trial is needed to validate the findings, the researchers cautioned.