We use to think that as long as a child broke the thumb sucking habit by the time permanent teeth where erupting, there wouldn’t be lingering negative effects. Now we are learning this may not be the case. A joint research project with US and Chile found ” children who sucked their fingers, or used a pacifier for more than 3 years were three times more likely to develop speech impediments”. http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/10/21/prolonged.thumb.sucking.infants.may.lead.speech.impediments
Childhood thumb sucking or use of pacifier can have long term impacts on speech and language development as well as on physical development in the oral cavity.
Let’s look at three specific areas: Language development, Speech Development, and Dental/ Oral Structure.
Language:
Children develop meaningful communication in stages, beginning with vocal play, sounds, words and then phrases. To practice these vocal skills, children need to use their lips, tongue, and oral cavity. They frequently engage in vocal play while they are alone – we all recall hearing our infants babbling and cooing in their beds, perhaps while looking at favorite mobile or toy. This is an important developmental activity requiring they not have something in their mouths. And this very babbling and cooing draws us towards our children, so that we can respond with similar vocal play. This is the beginning of communication and interaction! They initiate and we respond – and then we expand their vocabulary by commenting on the object of interest! “Bird!” Or, we simply reinforce that we love to interact with them which typically leads to more vocal play, smiles and great eye contact. All critical foundational communication skills. If a baby or toddler has a pacifier or thumb in their mouth a good deal of the time they are not engaging in independent or interactive vocal play. For children who become so dependent on their thumb or pacifier that you can’t get them to remove it without a battle, it is difficult to engage them in interactions that encourage language use and understanding. Language is all about interaction and there is the social aspect of communication that suffers when a child is dependent on thumb sucking for comfort. It can become isolating in play situations and latter, lead to teasing from others.
Speech:
Similar to language development, infants and toddlers need to practice sounds and oral motor movements to develop the correct use of the tongue, lips and resonance (air flow in the oral cavity). These are important for developing the sounds needed for speech production. In addition to decreasing oral motor practice, prolonged thumb sucking or use of the pacifier can lead to changes in teeth placement, oral structure and tongue placement which can impact articulation. Some sounds that may be distorted as a result include: s, z, t, d, l, n, and dz. A lisp, which is a distortion caused by the tongue protruding between the teeth, may also result. Without treatment from a speech pathologist a lips can extend into adulthood, frequently leading to teasing from peers or a reticence to communicate.
Dental/Oral Structure
Obviously, as we have seen, the dental/oral structure is important for speech and language development. However, dental/oral structure is important for other reasons as well because it impacts the way we look, how we eat, and the long term health of our teeth. Prolonged use of a pacifier or thumb sucking beyond age three is more likely to have long term impact of the dental/oral structure by leading to malocclusion (teeth are misaligned), incorrect resting tongue placement and movement (resulting in tongue thrust), or teeth pushed outward in an overbite. These kinds of miss-use or reshaping of important oral features can result in poor chewing, difficulty with jaw placement, and possibly a need for orthodontic work. Another often overlooked concern with prolonged dependence on a pacifier or thumb sucking is that it leaves a child vulnerable to more germs. We pick up germs on our hands constantly so the last place we need to put them are in our mouths. And how often have we seen a parent pick up a pacifier, give it a little wipe and put it right back in an infant’s mouth to keep them calm? I am not sure the “5 second rule” should apply when you are talking about something covered in warm saliva.
How Do You Stop Thumb sucking?
The best thing to do is to start early. For children who show a tendency towards needing something in their mouths, it will be important to come up with replacement activities that can keep them occupied. This will mean more one on one time, perhaps playing with bubbles, looking at books, or doing pat a cake. Part of the trick is to not comment on the behavior but to anticipate and introduce something more appropriate before it starts. So if you see a little hand moving towards the mouth, take that little hand and do one little two little three little Indians! Or take their hands and do ring around the rosy or peek a boo. And of course, encouraging interactions so their mouths are busy producing sounds.
There obviously isn’t always a simple solution, but knowing the possible short and long-term consequences will motivate us to keep these habits confined to those under age three years and also limit this behavior throughout the day.
For more information about thumb sucking, visit
http://endthumbsucking.com/the-negative-impact-of-thumb-sucking-on-speech-development/ or http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/10/21/prolonged.thumb.sucking.infants.may.lead.speech.impediments
If you suspect that your child is falling behind in speech development or has developed a tongue thrust, contact Speech & Occupational Therapy of North Texas at 972-424-0148. We will be happy to answer your questions and determine if your child would benefit from an evaluation. Speech and language evaluations are typically a covered benefit under most insurance plans.
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