Mothering Forum banner

X posted : speech and BF

701 views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  khaoskat 
#1 ·
I am the the mother of two boys, ages 4.5 y and 1.5 y,
My oldest son still nurses, our start was bumpy and rough, thrush, bad latch, so on so on..
We overcame all of this and when I got pregnant, he still nursed and now together with his brother.
The oldest nurses at waking and when he goes to bed and maybe 1 or 2 times during the day.
The youghest, well, I do not know, maybe 100 times?

Anyway, the oldest has Verbal dyspraxia of speech and a light form of Sensoric integration disorder.
We saw a speech therapist when he was 11 month old, because he always vomitted and choked when trying solids.
He had a strong gag-reflex, very in the front of his mouth.

When he was 2 he spoke no more than 3 words. We saw again a ST and it helped a bit.
He still talked not much when he was 3 and very bad (his speech was very bad ) so again a ST but this one thought he was autistic and we left, because I could not imagine such a diagnosis.
Finally, we found aSpeech therapist / Sensoric Integration therapist (occupational therapist) and she said Verbal dyspraxia and it fits!!

He speaks better when in movement, esp when we are there, once a week.

I never told her about the BF, I just asumed, she knew, because the previoust therapist knew.
But I found out she did not, so I told her (via mail) and the very nex session, she said it would be better to stop nursing him.

She said:
- the nursing, continued and daily, puts him back in a bad movement with his tongue (lazy, low in the mouth)
he has difficulty raising and moving his tongue around on demand.
(letters like L, R, N, M, etc etc)

- she said, she did not really think it caused his bad speech abillity, but most likely contributed to it and it would be wise to make him experience more, better and more stimulating impulses, than nursing at the breast, that is she said a low tongue mechanism and not good for him
He never used a bottle or a pacifier, only 1 week in his live and he never used a sippy cup, he drank from a regular cup at 9 mo old. he now uses regular cups and straws.
-

I really want to help him, really, but is she really right? Because my son is nowwhere near weaning, he just started kindergarten and is such a sensitive boy, he really needs his nursingtime with me.
He and his brother are bonding so good now!
And I am fearfull, he will turn to other - bad - mouth things, I was a very sensitive bottlefed girl and I thumbsucked untill my 10the year, only stopped after a bicylce accident, forcing me to stop because of the braces I got.
I also snore ..

I sometimes think, me nursing him for so long (and in a babycarrier a lot when he was a baby) made him cope with his sensitiviy better and that is made him come out better then if he had been on the bottle or pacifier?..

I really hope you can answer my questions, or if you know someone who can?
 
See less See more
#2 ·
This sounds like nonsense to me. First of all, the sounds she listed make no sense, since M doesn't require use of the tongue (just lips) and R and L errors are typical/not unusual for his age. Also, non-speech oral motor exercises like tongue lifts or other exercises have never been shown to help speech - so her idea that more tongue movements would help has no support from research. Kids with apraxia have particular trouble with the finely graded, rapid movements required for speech and using their tongues/mouths for other things, like eating or blowing whistles has never been shown to generalize to better speech.

Is his therapist a SLP or an OT? Sorry, I was a little confused from the post! I would suggest contacting his school and initiating an eval through them. If you are in the US, they are mandated to assess him if you request it in writing, and to provide services if he qualifies. Some schools provide much better therapy services than others, but it may be worth a shot.
 
#3 ·
That sounds like B.S. to me too. I'd love to see some research backing her theory. Breastfeeding requires a lot more of the tongue than bottle feeding. I would think prolonged breast feeding could have only done positive things for your ds, both through strengthening his tongue and emotionally.
 
#4 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Moonchild77 View Post
I sometimes think, me nursing him for so long (and in a babycarrier a lot when he was a baby) made him cope with his sensitiviy better and that is made him come out better then if he had been on the bottle or pacifier?..
Hell yes.


I know my ds used physical contact with me and nursing to deal with his mild sensory issues. I hate to think how much harder of a time he would have had if he were denied those things. Plus, it was reassuring to me that he was at least getting wholesome breastmilk when his gag reflex and sensory issues made him avoid so many foods.
 
#6 ·
Do not have the ability this minute to post links, but I would call the BS flag...

Nursing actually causes a child to use the correct muscles for speech, whereas bottle and pacifiers do not.

I will see if I can find the links. I had a disagreement with DS2's early childhood intervention program about it when he transitioned from early intervention into preschool....they wanted him weaned before he started preschool...i refused...
 
#7 ·
Ok - here are a few links...(with reference website posted afterwards)

Better speech development
Tongue thrust problems often develop among bottle-fed babies as they try to slow down the flow of milk coming from an artificial nipple. This can lead to speech problems later on. "Early weaning may lead to the interruption of proper oral motor development provoking alterations to the posture and strength of the speech organs and harming the functions of chewing, swallowing, breathing, and articulation of speech sounds. The lack of physiological sucking on the breast may interfere in the oral motor development, possibly causing malocclusion, oral respiration and oral motor disorders."

Neiva et al, J Pediatr (Rio J) 2003;79(1):07-12

http://www.promom.org/101/

Breastfeeding and Speech Development

Breastfeeding...

Promotes normal oral-facial development
Improves coordination of the mouth, lips, tongue and jaw muscles
Since breastfeeding promotes normal development of the face and mouth, it would make sense that breastfeeding would enhance speech development and help to prevent speech problems. The research on this topic is mixed. Several studies have shown breastfeeding to enhance speech development and speech clarity, and others have shown no speech differences between breastfeeding and bottle-feeding.

(This one has several links to further research - non showing bf'ing makes speech worse)..

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/sp...velopment.html

Article linking prolonged pacifier use to speech problems...

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/ma...iclekey=106760
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top