Tag Archives: SLP

Babies and Language

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A dear friend of mine is from Ukraine and she and her husband primarily speak Russian in their home. Since her children are close in age to my own (and we enjoy the same vintage of red wine), we have frequent play dates. As a nerdy Speech-Language Pathologist mama, I can’t even begin to tell you how cool it has been to watch my daughter and her son play as they were both learning to communicate. My daughter spoke English and he a mixture of tones and sounds with some words tossed in here and there. As a mom I had no idea what they were “talking” about, but they never seemed to miss a beat in their communication.

As I began to research for this post, I realized how truly remarkable their early communication really was.

An article on LiveScience.com entitled How Bilingual Babies Keep Languages Separate, reported that “bilingual tots use qualities like pitch and duration of sounds to keep two languages separate”.

Studies show that infants and toddlers who grow up in bilingual homes often mix the two languages they hear in their home. Even babbling babies have been noted to babble differently according to the language of their communication partner (Johnstone, 2004). This is called code-switching.

Check out this amazing video of a baby using German with Papa until the moment he sees his Mama and switches to Japanese.

Ganishi (1975) found that 4 to 6-year old children consistently applied the situational rule that they speak the language their listener knew best. Other studies have noted this code-switching as early as 3 years old!

A helpful article in understanding bilingual babies was in The New York Times entitled Hearing Bilingual: How Babies Sort out Language by Perri Klass, M.D.

Here are a few key points from this article:

  • Researchers found that at 6 months, infants who were raised in a single language home could tell the difference between spoken sounds, whether they were spoken in the language the infants were used to hearing or in another language not spoken in their homes. By 10 to 12 months, however, the babies from single language homes were no longer detecting sounds in the second language, only in the language they usually heard.
  • The bilingual infants developed differently. At 6 to 9 months, they did not recognize the differences in spoken sounds in either language, but at 10 to 12 months — they were able to tell the difference between sounds in both languages.
  • “…babies born to bilingual mothers not only prefer both of those languages over others — but are also able to register that the two languages are different.”
  • “bilingual children develop crucial skills in addition to their double vocabularies, learning different ways to solve logic problems or to handle multitasking, skills that are often considered part of the brain’s so-called executive function [i.e. planning, working memory, attention, problem solving, etc].”
  • bilingual babies are “more cognitively flexible”

So what about kids from homes where only one language is spoken?

How can we help our kids stay “cognitively flexible” like the babies from bilingual homes?

Jeanette Vos Ed.D. wrote an excellent, well researched article in Earlychildhood News entitled Can Preschool Children Be Taught a Second Language?

Here are some of the key concepts and quotes from that article:

  • “During the first six months of life, babies babble using 70 sounds that make up all the languages in the world.”
  • “…during the first few years of life, children form their main learning pathways in the brain.”
  • The ideal time to learn a 2nd language is the between ages of 3 and 4
  • Learning a language is natural for children through play and exploration
  • “Children growing up in a well-rounded environment learn to speak at least 2,000 basic words by the time they are four years old.”
  • “…learning a second language [in the preschool years] is as easy as learning the first.”
  • A child’s brain is a “super-sponge” up to the age of 12

The other day I noticed some unfamiliar sounds coming from my daughter’s iPad. When I asked her what she was watching, she replied, “The Little Mermaid”. Baffled, I took a look for myself. Sure enough, she was watching The Little Mermaid…in Russian!

There are tons of resources to expose children to other languages. There are bilingual children’s books, videos, play dates with bilingual families, and even some preschools incorporate an introduction to a second language in their curriculum.

In our home, we practice counting in other languages while friends and family expose my children to other languages and cultures. My mother-in-law is from Vietnam and happily teaches the kids important words and phrases in Vietnamese when she visits. My dad picked up a few words and phrases in German and French while traveling for work and incorporates them into playtime. It’s just that simple.

Learning another language doesn’t need to be a structured daily exercise. When kids are young, their brains are like little sponges. Take advantage of every opportunity provide them a well-rounded environment for learning. Perhaps you may even learn a second language yourself alongside your child! They may not become fluent in a second language by the age of 3, but you will be helping them maintain their “cognitive flexibility” and laying a solid groundwork for them to learn another language when they are ready.

Do you speak more than one language in your home? If not, are you teaching your kids a second language?

References:

Genishi, C. S., (1976). Rules for Code-Switching in Young Spanish-English Speakers: An Exploratory Study of Language Socialization. Dissertation.

 

My 2 cents on Sippy Cups

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I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about sippy cups. So here’s my 2 cents…

As a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP),

I have been taught to avoid sippy cups all together. The reason behind this instruction is based on the forward positioning of the child’s tongue when drinking from a sippy cup. This positioning, over time, may prompt some children to develop sound substitutions or a lateral lisp. This same argument often encourages weaning from the pacifier, bottle, and breast (ugh, I know, but stick with me) around the age of one.

Research suggests that children who use sippy cups may substitute /t/ for /k/, /d/ for /g/, -th- for /s/ or /z/ due to the forward tongue placement used when suckling.
For this reason, many SLPs recommend weaning from the nipple directly to a straw which utilizes a sucking pattern rather than suckling.

As a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC),

I am a believer in extended breastfeeding, WAY beyond the child’s 1st birthday whenever possible. When a child breastfeeds or suckles, his tongue should extend over his lower incisors. This tongue placement is what saves mom from having her nipple chewed off during a good latch. Could this instinctual and natural motor pattern cause speech problems?

Babies all over the world breastfeed to an average age of 4.2 years. The majority of these children do NOT demonstrate lisps or sound substitutions.

As a mom,

I want my child to learn to drink from a cup that doesn’t spill, is easy to clean, and promotes his independence. I also want my child to transition from breast to cup and back to breast until HE is ready to wean.

So… What’s the answer?

First we must understand the difference between suckling and sucking.

In a suckle pattern, the primary movement is extend and retract. The tongue does not extend beyond the lips, remains flat and thin, and does not move laterally. Jaw opening and closing occur in conjunction with tongue movement. It’s rhythmical.

In a sucking pattern, the primary movement is up and down. The tongue is still contained within the mouth and remains flat and thin, but the tip elevates to the anterior hard palate. The movement is rhythmical, up-down cycles.

So where does this leave us in regards to the theory that extended use of the suckling pattern can lead to speech development delays?

  • One study showed that extended use of suckling outside of breastfeeding may have harmful effects on speech development in young children (Barbosa 2009).
  • Another study suggested breastfeeding may protect against language and motor skill delays in young children (Dee 2007).
  • “In addition to several benefits of breastfeeding, it contributes to a proper oral motor development and also avoids speech-language disorders, regarding oral motor system.” (Neiva 2003)
  • In a study at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, early language development was defined as “the ability to babble in polysyllables”. The research found that “the proportion of infants who mastered the specific milestones increased consistently with increasing duration of breastfeeding” (Vestergaard 1999).
  • “A positive correlation was found between duration of breast feeding and performance in tests of vocabulary and visuomotor co-ordination, behaviour score, and measurements of height and head circumference…Breast feeding had no discernable effect on speech problems during the first five years.” (Taylor 1984)
  • “There is another compelling benefit to exclusive breastfeeding: positive effects on the development of an infant’s oral cavity, including improved shaping of the hard palate resulting in proper alignment of teeth and fewer problems with malocclusions. The purpose of this commentary is to stimulate further research as well as to propose the importance of breastfeeding to developing and maintaining the physiologic integrity of the oral cavity…Having in mind that early weaning brings consequences to oral motor development, occlusion, breathing, and to children’s oral motor aspects, we have to emphasize the importance of breastfeeding. The encouragement of this practice and the proper sucking pattern is the basis for the prevention of speech-language disorders, as far as the oral motor system is concerned.” (Palmer 1998)

Now that we’ve ruled out extended breastfeeding as a contributor to speech delays and oral motor deficits, let’s discuss the options for teaching your child to drink from a cup…

Sippy Cup: A cup with a spout on the lid that can be soft or hard. There is usually a valve mechanism to prevent spills that can be removed for cleaning (good luck with that). The issue with these cups is that a child suckles the spout much like they would a pacifier or bottle which can prevent the tongue from moving into a more natural position for speech development (Remember the difference between suckle and suck?).

Straw Cup: A cup, lid, straw set with an anti-spill valve located in the straw or lid. These are a MAJOR pain to clean and are prone to grow all sorts of lovely bacteria. A straw cup promotes sucking, strengthens cheek and lip muscles, and develops a new motor pattern in your little one. The straws are also fun to chew on…BEWARE, this new knowledge may cause some confusion and biting when breastfeeding. Personally, I recommend holding off on introducing a straw to your breastfed child until he is at least 12-18 months old.

Toddler Training Cup/ Rim Cup: A cup with a twists in/on lid. The valve system is in the lid itself to prevent spills. The baby sips on the cup rim with only a minimal amount of sucking required. Drinking from a cup rim promotes appropriate tongue positioning. Just make sure they are not supporting the cup with their tongue. Drinking from a training cup also encourages lip retraction or spreading and there is little to no confusion when returning to the breast. This is the option we use and have found the Sassy Grow Up Cup easy to clean with only 3 pieces.

Cup: As an SLP and CLC, I believe this to be the best possible option. As a mom, it’s a pain in the arse. Easy to clean, but unfortunately not spill proof. Drinking from a cup allows your child to set his own pace (when guided) and promotes an ideal tongue and jaw position and movement during drinking.

In a perfect world, we could take the time to cup train our children without worrying about spills or time restraints…In reality, we must do the best we can.

Babies and children don’t need to drink every moment of every day. In fact, carrying around a cup all day may contribute to early weaning due to your child beginning to seek comfort in the cup rather than breastfeeding. I recommend keeping a spill proof cup in the diaper bag for meals on the go and rehydration during play, but restrict at home drinking to the kitchen from a cup rim whenever possible. Spills happen, but they’re easier to prevent and contain if monitored and restricted to one space.

*These are merely my thoughts on the matter. All children are different and what works for some, may not work for all. Many children develop persistent sound substitutions regardless of our best efforts and require speech therapy. If you are concerned about your child’s speech development, contact your pediatrician for a SLP consult.

References to support my 2 cents…

Huang YY,Gau ML, Huang CM, Lee JT. Supplementation with cup-feeding as a substitute for bottle-feeding to promote breastfeeding. Chang Gung Med J. 2009 Jul-Aug;32(4):423-31.

Barbosa C, Vasquez S, Parada MA, Gonzalez JC, Jackson C, Yanez ND, Gelaye B, Fitzpatrick AL. The relationship of bottle feeding and other sucking behaviors with speech disorder in Patagonian preschoolers. BMC Pediatr. 2009 Oct 21;9:66.

Dee DL, Li R, Lee LC, Grummer-Strawn LM. Associations between breastfeeding practices and young children’s language and motor skill development. Pediatrics. 2007 Feb;119 Suppl 1:S92-8.

Neiva FC, Cattoni DM, Ramos JL, Issler H. Early weaning: implications to oral motor development (Review). J Pediatr (Rio J). 2003 Jan-Feb;79(1):7-12.

Vestergaard M, Obel C, Henriksen TB, Sorensen HT, Skajaa E, Ostergaard J. Duration of breastfeeding and developmental milestones during the latter half of infancy. Acta Paediatr. 1999 Dec;88(12):1327-32.

Taylor B, Wadsworth J. Breast feeding and child development at five years. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1984 Feb;26(1):73-80.

Palmer, B. The Influence of Breastfeeding on the Development of the Oral Cavity: A Commentary. Journal of Human Lactation. 1998;14(2):93-98

A big thanks to kellymom.com for providing a place to easily locate endless research on all things breastfeeding.

 

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How I Adapted to Being a SAHM

This is the true story of how I became a stay at home mom (SAHM).

When I discovered I was pregnant with our 1st child I was working full-time as a part-time and fill in Speech Pathologist. Confusing, right? Basically, I worked 2 days a week for one company and occupied the rest of my days covering for sick leave, vacations, maternity, etc. for another company. My health insurance was covered by my husband’s job so I was free to make my own schedule and the pay was excellent. It was a dream set up! I worked in a variety of settings with a variety of patients and my days were never boring. I was EXCITED to get up and go to work each day. No REALLY, I loved my job!

I continued to work for most of my pregnancy (often retreating to my car to upchuck). Everyone was very understanding and accommodating. My plan was to work as much as possible for as long as possible to build up a good cushion in the bank for my planned 6 week leave after baby arrived…remember the “perk” I mentioned above about being on my hubby’s benefits…that meant no paid leave for yours truly.

Around the 7 month mark my body had had enough. I was beginning to depend on a cane for balance and a wheelchair for long distances…it was time to begin my leave.

I missed my coworkers, my patients, and the joy of helping others. I couldn’t wait to get back to work…

Then my daughter arrived…

When my 6 week “deadline” arrived, I was not ready to leave my baby girl…so I stayed home another few weeks. Things were slow at my part-time gig so I decided to return there first. I had family willing to step up for childcare, so that was a bit of stress I was able to avoid.

My new return day came and off I went, breast pump in hand, back to work. It was good to be back in the “real world” for a few hours…

…I was miserable. I was torn between guilt for leaving my baby and the duty of being a strong role model for her and contributing to the household income. Mix in feelings of responsibility to my patients and for their well being…and…well…I was a disaster…or just a normal hormonal new mom returning to work…

I ended up making a bit of a compromise by transferring to an office closer to home with the the higher paying of the 2 companies and agreeing to work no more than 2-3 days per week. It was still a pay cut, but we adjusted our household budget and were able to still live comfortably.

However, remember how I mentioned above that I was “excited” to go to work each day…well, I had lost that loving feeling, woh-o that loooving feeeeling…now it’s gone, gone, gone woh-o-woh-o-oh

Two years later I found out that I was pregnant with our second. This time, we decided we’d figure out a way to make it primarily on my husband’s income.

We moved to a house in need of less upkeep, got a better mortgage, and I began working from home in direct sales.

The transition from being a “work outside the home mom” to a “network marketing SAHM” was not as easy as I anticipated. However, I decided to choose a company that promoted healthy living so I could feel like I was still perusing my original mission of taking care of people, there was just a lot less paperwork. 😉

The 1st company I chose to work with paid well, but ended up not being as “healthy” as they claimed to be. After a bit of research into their ingredients and my son’s allergic reaction to my breastmilk when I consumed the “safe” products…I resigned.

I was ready to give up on the idea of promoting with a direct sales company all together. And that’s ok. I learned a lot. In the end, it was important to me to promote for a company that shared my values and desire to educate and help others.

Fast forward a few weeks…

As many of you know, my son suffers with severe eczema and an allergy to dairy. A family member introduced me to the Essante Organics line of organic baby products and dairy and soy free organic protein shakes. I tried the products and quickly became a lifelong fan.

I couldn’t wait to try the entire catalog! When I found out Essante was a direct sales company it was a no brainer and I was back in the game.

Our home is now filled with Essante products…stuff for the kids, skin care, nutrition, alkalizing products, essential oils. I really had no idea how many products I had and used every day until I made to video below. I guess Essante is just so integrated into our lives now that it’s just become part of our routine. This was a huge revelation for me as I always feel like our journey to live an organic lifestyle is moving so slowly. I guess we’ve made it a lot further than I thought!

Another thing I love about Essante is that, as a company, we strive to educate others about living a healthy and organic lifestyle 1st. Emphasis on promoting products comes second.

Essante inspired me to follow through with my 4 year dream of bringing this blog to life and provided me with the tools and knowledge to make it successful. Our emphasis on education drove me to obtain my certification as a Lactation Counselor (CLC) (What’s more organic than breastmilk, right?). Essante has given this workaholic SAHM an outlet to help and inspire others while earning a paycheck.

I’m not sure what the future holds for me as a Speech Pathologist or CLC, but for now I have recaptured my excitement to “go to work” each morning as a mom, a blogger, and an Essante executive.

What gets you out of bed each morning?

If you would like more information about Essante, please leave me a comment below or visit www.EssanteMama.com.

Essante Organics