B2556 - Is Pacifier Use Associated with Speech and Language Disorders
In Western countries, 75-85% of children use pacifiers to calm and comfort themselves. Pacifier use often overlaps with a period of development where language is emerging. Thus time spent with a pacifier in the mouth could be time not spent practicing coordinating the speech apparatus, babbling, imitating sounds and engaging in conversations. There is a risk that extended and intensive use of pacifiers could have a detrimental effect on language development. At the moment, we simply do not know whether this risk is significant. Previous studies have examined the link between pacifier use and various health outcomes but they are all undermined by the use of unreliable retrospective parental reports. This study utilises the latest technology in digital pacifiers to provide an objective measure of use. Digital dummies can be used to wirelessly transfer continuous data on dummy use to a central database. Such data would be used in combination with developmental tests of language ability to establish whether dummy use has a detrimental effect on language development. The aim of the study is to pilot the use of this technology to provide proof that the concept works and would allow to answer the research question with a larger sample.