![]() ![]() Finally, breastmilk is delivered to the back of the mouth rather than milk pooling around the front teeth meaning a lower risk of cavities. Nipples are also not kept in the mouth for extended periods. There is a lot of difference in pliability between a nipple and a dummy or bottle, meaning less impact on jaw and tooth development. The same does not apply to breastfed babies. ![]() Bottles can also have a similar impact to dummies on speech development and teeth. ![]() When a baby sucks on a bottle the milk pools around their teeth and can cause cavities. ![]() But babies should be slowly weaned off them once they are eating solid foods and stopped by 12 months. Bottles are naturally associated with comfort due to the combination of food, sucking and being held close. CroMary/ShutterstockĪllowing children to have a bottle for comfort is also a bad idea. Speech development can also be delayed as babies miss out on early speech practice and mispronounce words as a dummy is in the way.ĭummies can cause problems with teeth. They can also increase the risk of ear infections, and even affect how teeth come through. Aside from the challenge of weaning an older baby, dummies can introduce harmful bacteria into the mouth. Sucking can also sometimes help a baby with colic.īut experts recommend babies should be weaned from dummies after six months. If used carefully, they can have some benefits for young babies and are recommended at night as they may reduce risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, possibly because they stop a baby sleeping too deeply. The subject of whether to give a baby a dummy or not can be divisive. Sometimes breastfeeding mums use them, but if a baby meets its sucking needs elsewhere, this can reduce milk supply, so they aren’t recommended in the first six weeks. Dummies can help bottle-fed babies to suck and calm themselves. When breastfeeding, sucking feeds them, calms them and increases the mother’s milk supply. Similarly, although babies thumb suck in the womb, if this habit is carried on past a year, problems can arise.īabies are born with an innate need to suck. The evidence for using dummies (pacifiers) or bottles past 12 months is less positive. Some comfort objects, however, are better than others. While there is nothing wrong with keeping a comfort blanket for the fond memories it brings, still needing it on a day to day basis as a teenager, or indeed as an adult, could be a sign that something is wrong. The same study showed that teens who still hold a strong attachment to a transitional object have poorer mental health. Monkey Business Images/Shutterstockīut this effect starts to reverse as children get older. This helps them build feelings of secure attachment to a parent and confidence to go out into the world.Ĭomfort items are linked to secure attachment. They spend months cuddled and swayed, knowing someone will help soothe their needs. Babies are born wanting to be held close. How many get comfort from a favourite jumper? Or hoard treasured objects from loved ones without second thought? After all, a third of adults admit they can’t bear to part with their own moth-eaten childhood toy.Ī need for comfort is part of being human, and comfort objects remind us of feeling calm, secure and loved. The truth is that even adults have attachment objects. So when should you worry about your child’s reliance on comfort items? And how can you encourage them to let go? The topic of comfort objects is hotly debated, with some arguing that the attachment to objects from babyhood is childish, unnecessary or even harmful. Many parents will feel a twinge of concern if their five-year-old can’t sleep without his dummy or their teenager refuses to throw out the tattered blanket she’s had since she was a baby. ![]()
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