Do pacifiers delay speech?
Yes, it’s possible that excessive pacifier use after the age of one can have a detrimental effect on toddler speech and language development. There are a few ways this can happen. Firstly, articulation errors can emerge and persist when a child tries to talk with the pacifier in their mouth. Secondly, excessive use of pacifiers can result in increased middle ear infections which can impact speech development. Finally, pacifiers can also create issues with jaw and teeth alignment which can lead to issues with speech and language development.