Nursery World - Child development: dummies

Research linking them with preventing cot death has put the use of babies' dummies back under scrutiny. Annette Rawstrone hears both sides of the debate.

For such a small and simple object, dummies cause a lot of controversy. Are they lifesavers - both metaphorically for harassed parents, and literally, according to recent research - or are they damaging to a child's development? While the Department of Health is now backing their use for helping to prevent cot death (see box), other professionals warn that dummies can harm children's speech, teeth and hearing.

'There is some argument for the use of dummies with babies, for example the link with preventing cot death, but there are also many negative associations,' says Gila Falkus, a manager for early years speech and language in west London. 'Of course it is better to give a child a dummy than to have a totally distraught parent. We need to be careful not to be too fingerwagging and to help parents to understand the difficulties associated with an over-use of dummies and to suggest important strategies for helping their child to give up.'

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