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" New research suggests that infants who are given dummies or who suck their thumb may be more likely to suffer from a speech impediment in childhood. Chilean scientists carried out a study involving 128 children between the ages of three and five years. The youngsters&amp;#039; parents provided information on their feeding and sucking behaviour during infancy and the researchers then evaluated the children&amp;#039;s speech development. They found that children who were not given a baby bottle until they were at least nine months old were less likely to develop speech disorders. Youngsters who sucked their thumbs or used a dummy for more than three years were found to be three times more likely to develop speech impediments. The findings are published in the journal BMC Pediatrics and suggest that &amp;#039;sucking outside of breastfeeding may have detrimental effects on speech development in young children&amp;#039;, according to lead researcher Clarita Barbosa, from the Corporacion de Rehabilitacion Club De Leones Cruz Del Sur. She cautioned that the data are &amp;#039;observational&amp;#039; and should therefore be interpreted with caution. However, the researcher claimed that the results &amp;#039;provide further evidence for the benefits of longer duration of breastfeeding of infants&amp;#039;. Previous research has suggested that prolonged use of dummies may also cause dental problems and increase the risk of ear infections. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/news/a18741/dummies-linked-to-speech-impediments/>