Do Pacifiers and Sippy Cups Cause Speech Delay?
Posted by Heidi | Filed under Early Language Development
People often ask me, “Should I use a pacifier with my child?”
As a speech pathologist and a new mom to my first child, I had resolved to never use a pacifier with my son. I didn’t want to have to worry about weening him off of it knowing the effects pacifiers can have on speech development. A few weeks after he was born he became a very fussy baby. He cried around the clock. All resolutions I had made previously were out the window. I just wanted some sleep! I tried everything, even pacifiers. I was so desperate to calm him. Unfortunately for me, they didn’t work either. It did however give me a new perspective on what mothers go through and how at times it’s just about survival.
Understand that pacifiers are perfectly appropriate for infants the first year of their life. They can also make life a lot easier on mom and dad at first. Don’t feel guilty if your baby loves the “binki”. Do however try to limit his or her use of the pacifier after 6 months of age and work toward weening them completely off the pacifier by 12 months. When you give your baby the pacifier try to always give a soft toy or blanket with it. This helps when it comes time to ween the baby off the pacifier. Your baby girl or boy will still have the comfort of the toy or blanket when the pacifier is taken away.
What about sippy cups?
I don’t recommend sippy cups because sippy cups can prevent the tongue from moving into a more natural position for speech development. Children suckle the sippy cup just like they would a pacifier or bottle. When it comes time to ween off the bottle try moving to a straw cup instead.
Why a straw cup?
As a mother I know we all like the spill proof cups so I recommend the spill proof straw cup as a transition cup from the bottle or nursing. This will help position your children’s tongue correctly for speech and give them the strength necessary to be more successful communicators. Of course before you introduce a straw cup you need to make sure your child can drink from a straw.
How do I teach my child to drink from a straw?
If your child is having difficulty learning to drink from a straw try using a Capri Sun or juice box to teach your child the concept of straw drinking. With a Capri Sun you can squeeze the juice up the straw to teach your child that this new tool is used for drinking. Before you know it your child will be suckling the straw and drinking on his/her own. The downfall with this approach is that you will have to hold the Capri Sun the whole time unless you are o.k. with juice everywhere. Another less messy method would be to use a honey bear with a reusable plastic straw.
What straw cup do you like best?
My favorite cups are the “Munchkin” cups (shown above), which are sold at stores like Wal-Mart or Costco. You can also get these from Amazon.com.
I like these cups the best because of the shape of the straw and the location of the anti-spill mechanism. The shape of the straw promotes good lip rounding which is beneficial for the /w/ and “oo” sounds. The anti-spill mechanism is located inside the cup rather than in the straw itself so when you begin cutting the straw down, which I’ll explain below, you won’t cut it off.
If children learn to drink from a straw by suckling how is it different from a sippy cup?
A straw cup can be used as a tool to train the tongue into the right position. These are the steps you will want to follow.
Once you have purchased a straw cup allow your child several weeks to get used to the new cup. Keep in mind they are now drinking all their liquids from this cup. After the child is really comfortable with the new cup cut 1/4″ off the top of the straw. This will make it so the child will have less straw to put in their mouth while drinking. A few weeks later, when your child is really comfortable drinking from this cup cut another 1/4″ off the top of the straw. Every few weeks repeat this step until your child only has about 1/4″ of straw left they can put in their mouth. This assures that they cannot suckle the straw and their tongues will be in the proper position for good speech development.
“Why have my other children done just fine on sippy cups?”
There are many children out there that can drink from sippy cups without affecting their speech. But, if you can set your children up for success from the beginning why wouldn’t you? If you have already gone the route of sippy cups and your child substitutes /t/ for /k/, /d/ for /g/, -th- for /s/ or /z/, or has a lateral lisp your child will benefit from moving their tongue back with the help of a straw cup. Excessive drooling can also be an indicator that your child needs the strengthening that can come from drinking through straws. As a rule, my children only use straw cups as opposed to sippy cups and I encourage my clients to do the same.
“What about drinking from a normal cup?”
Drinking from a normal cup will also promote appropriate tongue positioning. Introduce normal cups as soon as you feel your child is ready. If you want to teach your child to drink from a normal cup make sure they are not supporting the cup with their tongue. If they seem to lose a lot of fluid while drinking help them practice by giving them single sips while you hold the cup.
Here are some other articles on pacifiers I found interesting:
A Hard habit to Break – Toddlers Today.com
When should My Baby Stop Using a Pacifier – Baby Center.com
Pacifier Use – Answers.com
12 Responses to “Do Pacifiers and Sippy Cups Cause Speech Delay?”
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I am a licensed Speech Language Pathologist and have been working in this field for 10 years. I am also a mother to three fabulous kids who keep me busier than ever! I put together this blog to share some of the tips and tricks that have worked for me over the years in teaching kids to improve their speech and more effectively communicate. Thanks for reading and remember it takes time and patience with this stuff but it is so worth it!
Hi,
Our two-year old has Down Syndreom and uses a bear cup with a straw. He has been drinking from this straw cup for a long time. He is usually pretty about keeping his tongue in his mouth, but does not retract his tongue when he drinks and the straw sits between his tongue and upper lip. Should I worry about this? If so, how can I encourage him to retract his tongue?
Ellen,
It sounds like you are on the right road to tongue retraction already. What you want to do now is try to move him from the bear cup to a straw cup. Once he is on the straw cup you will be able to work toward tongue retraction by cutting the straw down little by little. In the beginning he will still wrap his tongue around the straw and that is o.k.. As you cut the straw down he will be using less and less of his tongue until eventually the straw is so short, he can only use his lips and his tongue will be retracted.
The important thing to remember is that this is a process and he needs to build up his tongue strength in between intervals of cutting the straw. If you cut the straw too short too soon he will reject the straw cup, so it is always better to move a little slower rather than faster.
Best of luck,
Heidi
Thanks so much, Heidi! This is very helpful.
My son has a condition called Congenital Myopathy. He has low muscle tone all over his body, including his mouth. When I first read this blog, he was 21 months old and was still using a pacifier and drinking from a sippy cup. After reading your blog, I got rid of the pacifier and moved him to a straw cup. Since I’ve done this, his speech has taken off! The blog on bubbles helped as well. The muscle tone in his mouth has increased greatly from these exercises. Thank you for your advice. I know this has helped tremendously.
When do you recommend transitioning to a straw cup? My 10 1/2 month old son is taking a bottle full time right now. He will take a little from a straw, but gets frustrated because it’s a lot more work than his bottle!
Mckenna,
Now is the time to start transitioning him to the straw cup. A good goal would be to have him completely off the bottle by twelve months. I know it’s hard, especially when they throw their fits, but trust me, it’s worth it.
A few ideas for transitioning to the straw cup that have worked for other parents include letting your child help pick out cool new cups, put delicious drinks in the straw cup like strawberry milk or lemonade, try to limit the bottle to bedtime only, or simply throw the bottles out so you’re not tempted to use them when he throws a tantrum. Hopefully you will find something here that will help.
You can do it,
Heidi
Thanks! Send me some good “transition vibes” to Texas please! My daughter was tube fed for two years and still doesn’t know how to suck at age three, so I feel like I don’t have a clue when it comes to teaching a typically developing child how to eat and drink! :) Give me a kid with a g-tube and I feel like I know what I’m doing…but give me a kid who naturally eats and drinks and I freak out! LOL! Love the site!
Hello Heidi,
My 3 year old daughter’s teeth were definitely affected by her pacifier and sippy cup. She was a heavy pacifier user and has developed a lateral lisp. We went ‘cold turkey’ from both items in October ‘07 and already we can see a major difference in the position of her teeth. The ‘open bite’ seems to have corrected itself. She was upset for two or three days when we weaned her, but not half as upset as we thought she would be. Lots of extra attention and affection got her through. Now she proudly shows her ‘new teeth’ to anyone who’ll look.
We’re planning to start speech therapy as soon as we find a private SLP to take her. Waiting lists for state funded therapy in Ireland are very long, as we want to help her as early as possible.
We’re using the straw & bubbles to help her learn the correct tongue position, and through games we have tried to gently introduce the idea of holding the tongue back when making the ’s’ and ‘z’ sounds. She seems recpetive enough, so hopefully she’ll be able concentrate for long enough to be a suitable candidate for speech therapy, even though she is very young. We’re also very aware that we don’t want to make her selfconscious when she speaks, as that could be so detrimental to her confidence.
I’d be very grateful of any advice you could give me as I’m really worried that she’ll be teased as she gets older, if we can’t eliminate the lisp. What are the chances of her losing it completely through therapy?
Miriam.
Miriam,
What a fantastic mom you are! You are doing all the right things to set your daughter up for success. The straws and bubbles will be a great help to her. Getting her into therapy young will allow her to make the change more quickly before it becomes a tough habit to break.
Don’t worry about her getting teased either, with a little therapy I’m sure she will make the change long before kids ever notice.
Thanks for replying Heidi !
It’s nice to get some positive feedback. Your website is really helpful, full of great advice and your speedy reply has calmed me down ! We’ll start speech therapy as soon as possible. A couple of SLPs have told me to wait until she’s older, but my instinct was very strong that she needed early intervention. You’ve given me the confidence to push a little harder.
Keep up the good work.
Miriam.
Hi Heidi! I am an SLP working in EI right now. I love your suggestion about cutting the straw back…I cannot wait to try it with several of my kids. I also have had success using the Playtex Coolster Sipster which is “spoutless” but spill-proof as an alternative transition from the bottle to inhibit suckling. Just thought I’d share!! I am thrilled to have stumbled upon your site…thanks for all your work!
Hello!
I just wanted to put in my two cents! My daughter has been in speech therapy since she was 2 (she’s 3 now) and her speech therapist told me that sippy cups were the worst things in the world for kids who had speech problems. Actually she said sippy cups are just bad in general. She suggested a straw cup instead if my daughter wasn’t ready for an open cup. A friend of mine got me hooked on these really neat straw cups called Lil’ Chillers. They used to be at Target but they quit selling them. I found them online at http://www.lilchillers.com . I like them because they are easy for my daughter told hold and the straw won’t come out.