Not Wanting Pacifier or Bottle as infant...now Having Speech Delay as Toddler?

I don't think those things are related at all. My son is still breastfeeding, he never liked a paci or a bottle either, and his speech is fine. You are doing a great thing by still nursing him, it's great for the development of his mouth and he probably will never need braces. If he doesn't like Toddler Meals, so what? It's great that he already eats like a big boy. Not every child has to go through the phase of toddler food.

Even if he needs some speech therapy, he'll be fine. They usually figure out what his difficulty is with certain sounds really quick and can work on that with him. He'll talk like a champ in a little while :) Don't worry so much, keep on doing what you are doing, he'll be just fine. Good luck :)

Best,
D.
D.'s momsense http://DagmarBleasdale.com

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Since he does eat regular food I would say he is fine. Just needs some
early intervention speech therapy. Toddler meals, imo, is confusing
you have lumps and creamy food. Do you chew or just swallow? I get
the feeling he will be fine. Kudos to you for picking up on his speech
delay. Good luck.

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It has nothing to do with pacifiers or bottles. Pacifiers are evil to begin with and can cause tooth problems if used for a long time. Speech delay has to do with the brain and how it developes. My son never took a pacifier either and was an early talker. Now, you can't get him to be quite! Food preference also has nothing to do with delayed speech. It's just a preference. Regular food tastes a lot better that that toddler pre-made food. He's 2 years old, so you may want to try him on a sippy cup. Also have him sing more, which will help with speech.

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Congratulations for having your son evaluated at Early Intervention. Write down all your observations and questions, and share them before the evaluation. If they cannot answer some of your questions, they will be able to direct you to others who may help. Please update us after your appointment on Wednesday.

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I wouldn't worry too much. They all develop at different stages. My son didn't speak more than few words untill he was 27 months and than all of a sudden he started more and more and he was saying stuff that we did months ago that he probably recorded. Anyways he is billingual so I thought it might take him a bit longer to process both languages. His cousin who is not billingual didn't speak much till she was 2.5 also and now she is going full speed. It's good that you have him evaluated but I wouldn't worry too much. Good luck!

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I'll be honest, I don't see how the two are related. Someone said to have him evaluated for his eating issues. What eating issues? He's 2 now, so he doesn't want a bottle or pacifier, so what? And, you are breastfeeding, and he didn't want a bottle as a baby, so what? Neither one of my kids took a pacifier and I was happy about it. My son does have a minor speech delay, but it has nothing to do with not wanting a pacifier. And, my daughter is above average for a 3 year old in speech. Just my opinion, but I just don't see how they are related.

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Dear B., You are doing the right thing by having him evaluated (EI) it is free. Most likely there is nothing wrong and for sure you cannot worry about his not taking a pacifier or a bottle. I have 5 and never used one. Some just start later than others. Try not to compare with other children this will only make you worry needlessly. One day he will start talking and you will wish he would slow down. Love your baby, Grandma Mary

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My son never cared for a pacifier. He only took ones with food attached (breast, bottle). He had a fall at 9 months and lost 6 baby teeth though - he was in our districts preschool special ed for 1 1/2 years and received speech therapy for another year of pre-k. He's now in first grade with no problems (even in an enrichment class) and quite verbal/vocal - sometimes TOO much!

I absolutley agree with everyone's comments. I do believe that the eating issues should be addressed now. Childrens Hospital outpatient center has a food evaluation team. Even though you are getting EI for speech I would still check with them. 888-childrens. I used to take my daughter to the location in Hamilton. They have other locations the ones
i can reall are in New Brunswick & Mountainside. Don't be discouraged from the name of the place it's not a "hospital" Good luck!

My child NEVER took a pacifier or a bottle as a baby. Breast only. And she is very verbal. Her vocabulary was large at 12 months, and was putting words together to form sentences by 20 months. I don't think your child not wanting a bottle or paci led to a speech delay. Every child is different and talk at their own rate. You are doing the right thing to have him evaluated, but I think it's just something that happens and it can't be blamed on anything you did or didn't do. Good luck to you both!

My daughter is almost 2 1/2 years old, and she also never wanted a bottle. Nursed until 25 months. Never put toys in her mouth. I eventually did force her to take a pacifier at 4 months, but she self-weaned from her paci before 1 year old. She had a LOT of trouble transitioning from pureed food to soft adult table foods. Turns out she had a mild form of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), most obviously manifest in oral defensiveness, but the more I learned about the disorder, the more I could see other symptoms (which I had otherwise attributed to her personality of wanting things to be "just so"). She didn't qualify for EI at 15 months old because there was not enough "delay", but she did at 19 months. In between that time, we started her with therapy through insurance at the NYU Swallowing Disorders Center. They did wonders there with her eating (and now for a toddler she eats an impressive variety of foods--all colors, textures, and food groups), but the most important thing is to target the root cause of her problem, which was sensory integration. She works with an amazingly skillful and talented Occupational Therapist through EI who has done a lot for her, and she is so much more easy going now. I honestly believe that only after therapy did she develop the self-soothing skills to be able to wean from the breast without drama. She almost doesn't need therapy anymore and can pretty soon be considered "recovered" from this disorder--which some people suffer from their whole lives if it is never treated or is very severe. She also gets speech therapy, but honestly, I never believed she truly needed it. But, it has given her a big boost in her language and play skills, so I have embraced it. Speech delay is one of the big concerns when toddlers have eating/chewing/texture issues.

My grandson had a speech problem and around age 2 we decided he was not sounding his words clearly enough. We luckily realized it and he was diagnosed with a speech problem (apraxia). I know another child in this area who sounds so much like Landen when he speaks and that child has had speech therapy too. I would think it of interest to you to look up apraxia and see if your son has any of the signs. Maybe discuss with a speech specialist. Thought maybe this is a common problem in some kids!!
Good luck and God bless!

My daughter had serious reflux issues and laryngomalacia as a baby. Although she did okay with bottles and loved her pacifier, she had an over-sensitive gag reflex and did not do well with the chunky foods/mixed texture. She went right from pureed to finger foods. She did not babble much and did not say her first words until about 22 months. She was already getting physical therapy (for other reasons) from Birth to Three, so we added on speech therapy. The speech therapist did feel that the feeding issues were related to her speech delay. She addressed the feeding issues first (desensitizing her gag reflex, oral exercises) and very quickly she began to speak in full, clear sentences. For her, the feeding problems and speech were absolutely related. Her oral muscles needed to be more developed. She is four now and speaks beautifully.

Have you had his ears checked? My daughter is 22 months. We had the state program come & evaluate her. She doesn't qualify for the program because she is very advanced in everything except speech. And the speech is only a couple months behind. But they want to re-test in May. However they sent her to a hearing test & she missed some sounds. Come to find out she had fluid in her ear which would make it sound like we were all under water. The doctor has her on anti-biotics to clear it up. If it doesn't then she'll probably have tubes. I have noticed after doing the medicine she has picked up a few more words so I think it may have cleared it up. Could just be something simple with his ears.

Hi B.,

Yes, this oral defensiveness could be associated with his speech delay. What I am saying is that the same reason he has oral defensive issues and feeding issues is possibly the same reason he is having trouble with his speech.

The evaluation is timely and will help you get the services you need. Make sure your SLP has experience with feeding and oral sensory/defensive issues, in addition to helping your son with speech and language. An Occupational Therapist can also help.

My own son had 7 years of speech therapy, including help with sensory integration from an OT. Though he didn't have the oral problems your son has, we did a lot of work with his oral musculature to help him stop drooling so much and to help his lip muscles get stronger so that his sounds would be clearer. Your SLP will help with that too.

Just one more thing - you may want to take your son to an ENT and ask for a nasal endoscopy to make sure he doesn't have a submucous cleft palate. Sometimes not sucking well can be caused by that (my son has this problem). We didn't find out for 4 years that his severe speech issues were caused by a cleft. Don't let someone tell you that you can always tell with a simple oral exam - it's not true, and not all submucous clefts have that tell-tale bi-fid uvula (a split in that thing that hangs down from the back of the throat.) Another good reason to know if there is a birth defect, like a submucous cleft, is that you can get more help with insurance for additional and private services.

Best of luck,
D.

Both my boys LOVED their pacifiers-one has a speech delay, the other MAY have a speech delay. My son (age 3 with a diagnosed speech delay) never really put a lot of stuff into his mouth as a baby and had eating troubles as a toddler (only wanted smooth-textured foods). My other son, who is 22 months old, has about 20-30 words (some have dropped sounds or are not really clear) and STILL puts everything into his mouth! We are close to contacting EI for him, but we haven't decided yet if we are going to.

How many words does your son use?

My 6 year old put everything in his mouth when he was younger and still does but my 3 year old never puts anything in his mouth. Completely opposites and both with speech delays. With my youngest his big issues was his ears and when he had tubes put in he started hearing better and talking a bit more. He is still very delayed but it helped.

Hi,
It is always good to look at all aspects of a child, even ones that may not seem to be direct. Although, my daughter only ate food from my plate and nursed. She never had a bottle or pacifier and started talking early, clearly, and with many more words than the doctor recommended. That being said, she never crawled and did not walk until 19 months old. They/We all grow and learn differently and with different paces.
I would not worry or have him evaluated (just my opinion). I have seen children at 24 months or older who don't enunciate well. This changes as the parents/caregivers respond with gentle corrections (as in, repeating what the child said back to them stressing the proper enunciation) or correcting their enunciation. In a few instances, the child had a hearing issue; where they were speaking the way they heard (which wasn't clear) and since they were not understood verbally, they did not use that form of communication often and had few words.

I hope this helps.
P.

Both of my boys have speech issues....and they are doing extremely well with therapy...my older son never used a pacifier...and they tell me that his jaw is weak and is tongue is flat. My 2nd son used the pacifier day and night for almost 3 years, and now after 2 years of therapy is speaking better than my older one. When your child is evaluated the first thing they ask you is if your child used a pacifier or not. My kids didn't like those toddler meals - they are gross! LOL..They smell so bad can you blame them? If he eats food he's fine. Straws are a wonderful tool to keep the jaw strong.

Whether the use of pacifiers or bottles are related or not doesn't matter....you are doing the right thing having him evaluated..doing what's best for your child!

My 23 month old nursed until he was 14 months and had a bottle with breastmilk maybe once every two weeks (so very very rarely in his first year). He also never took a pacifier nor did he suck his thumb ever. But he has GREAT speech. Not everything is perfectly understandable (except by me), but I think that's normal for his age. But as far as talking, I can't get this kid to stop talking! So no, I do not think there is a relation with talking well and not taking a bottle/pacifer.