Evaluation for Delayed Speech & bfing - Page 2

[queencarr]

Bottlefeeding, sippy cups, and pacis are cited in studies as causing speech delays, and many SLPs (not all thank goodness) generalize that to bf. IN most coursework, it is simply never covered as a separate dinstinct way to feed. However, bf is very good for jaw and muscle development. I can think of one paper about how "training" a baby with down's syndrome to bf
actually prevents the tongue protrusion that is considered "standard" in babies and toddlers.


My son is a 30w preemie, now 4.5y, and has mild CP and most of his obvious problems are with articulation. I heard the "you need to wean" from one SLP only (ECI, brand new out of school), and was able to defend against that by citing WHO recommendations for bf for 2 years. Everyone else was very encouraging. Our current (male) SLP is a strong advocate for bf, and asked me for advice for his then pg wife on how long should babies nurse. I told him Jimmy still does, and we have had several good conversations about it. He credits it with a lot of Jimmy's progress.

I am also the family liaison for our ECI program, and have been able to use my experience to help train the rest of the staff as well. You have the right to request a different therapist if you do not feel comfortable with the one(s) you are seeing, it may just take making a little noise. As long as your child enjoys the therapy, it certainly won't hurt to do it, and it was fun, to me anyway, to sit back and watch my son interact from an outside perspective. Much of what the therapy will involve will probably be things you do anyway.

Carrie

[jempd]

Thanks all of you. I just read through every post and feel completely sure now that the bfing thing is just plain misinformation. It does shake my confidence in this particular agency, and I plan to be honest about it in the upcoming meeting. We plan to go forward with the intervention but also plan to dismiss the bfing thing. We can use another agency of course, it's just kind of time consuming. Also, a lot is going on in ds's life right now in terms of transitioi (moving out of the family bed, we'll be moving in the next few months) and I don't think it's smart to completely wean at this point.

LiamnEmma, you are absolutel right about the whole evaluation process. Wouldn't you know, the day after the evaluation, ds placed a puzzle piece in the correct shape and during the evaluation it was pointed out to me that he couldn't do it. And since then he's said 'dog' a few times and is now saying "No mama" instead of just 'no' and 'mama'. I read these posts twice, and also had a good talk with my sister who is a wise mother and a social worker who works with children and decided that ultimately, whatever we do, I will not let it interfere with how we are instinctually and happily raising him, which includes breastfeeding. The more I thought about it, the more it didn't make sense. As a couple of you brought up, wouldn't that mean that most children worldwide would be speaking late? As I said I have NEVER once heard this anywhere before and I do keep up with bfing stuff, both pro and con.

Anyway, thanks again, it really makes me feel grounded to get real feedback.

[EllasMama]

Just wanted to add onto the end of the discussion here. My breastfed daughter is now 22 months old, but at 18 months she didn't say that many words, just dada and mama and dog, that sort of thing. By 19 months she could repeat a number of words, but not use more than a handful appropriately. At around 20-21 months, her language skills began to really explode. Now at 22 months, she can make simple sentences and use possessives and things like that. Compared to some of her peers, she was late in her speech development, but I always thought it didn't really matter when I saw other kids "saying" more, but not using words appropriately. A 16 month old who calls anything round "ball" is no more advanced (IMHO) than a child who says nothing till months later but then labels more things correctly. I think it says more about the personality of the child.

I do think it's wise to take note of delays in a child's skills, but not to worry too much about it. I walked at 7 months, but you don't see me in the Olympics! I bet you could find a huge number of Olympians who were "late" crawlers and walkers, though. And a whole lot of scholars who were "late" talkers, too.

Carol

[angelfromalasaka]

oh please !!!!!!!!!!!
i am late but what the hell does bf have to do with it?
my first didnt talk atlot till she was 2. at 18 months she di say thing like me up me down simple things. she self weaned at 15 months.she explode at 2 to 2.5. she speaks great now.
my second is 25 months and speaks almost as well as his 3.5 year old sister. he started at 18 months and I think has 100 0 word voc.he is just a talker and the funny thing is, i read more to her than to him cause he doesnt sit still
he nurses 8 times a day at least.
nuff said.
i hope u get it taken care of but try not to worry dont think its the bf..............
angel