The Relationship between Breastfeeding and Speech Development

By Jasna Cameron

Nothing matches breastmilk as an infant food source. It provides essential growth nutrients and antibodies for building the baby's immune system, which may protect him for the rest of his life.

The World Health Organization stresses its importance not just for the early months but recommends breastfeeding up until 12 months because the benefits of breastmilk continue long past infancy, and several studies have shown that breastfeeding enhances speech development and clarity.

Toward the end of the 20th century, many mothers chose not to breastfeed or were terminating it very early.

Fortunately for new mothers today, there is an increased awareness regarding breastfeeding because of numerous public health campaigns. This is especially true in America, where the rates of breastfed babies have risen steadily over the last 20 years to over 83%, as indicated by recent data.

This article will point out another less evident benefit of breastfeeding.

Is there a relationship between breastfeeding and speech development?

Breastfeeding assists with normal oral and facial growth, including dental development. Studies have found differences in the development of children's speech depending on whether they were breastfed or bottle-fed.

Researchers studied a group of 128 children aged three to five years and gathered parents' reports of each child's feeding and sucking behaviors during infancy. They then evaluated the child's speech. The researchers found that delaying giving a baby bottle until the child was at least nine months old reduced the risk of later developing speech disorders, and those who sucked their fingers or who used a pacifier for more than 3 years were three times more likely to develop speech impediments.

"These results suggest extended sucking outside of breastfeeding may have detrimental effects on speech development in young children," according to Barbosa. This finding is particularly relevant as the use of baby bottles and pacifiers has increased over the past few decades 

How does breastfeeding assist speech development?

The ongoing latching and sucking help babies master coordination of their mouth, lips, tongue, and jaw muscles. It allows the baby to naturally exercise and strengthen the tongue, lips, and jaw to facilitate and promote speech.

Babies are born with reflexes that help them survive but fall away over time. For example, if you have seen a newborn search for its mother's nipple the moment he is placed on her chest, you will understand how powerful these natural instincts are. The baby knows what to do as soon as it finds the nipple (even though it may need some additional assistance) and happily sucks and swallows without ever having done that before.  

This innate reflex to suck and swallow is initially the primary purpose of the baby's lips, tongue, soft palate, hard palate, and jaw. As the baby nurses continuously, the sucking process enables him to exercise his tongue by repeatedly contracting it. Later on, this plays a crucial role in articulating specific speech sounds.

By engaging in its most natural primary reflex to feed off his mother's breast, the baby actively strengthens the sound-forming muscles in his face and initiates the development of his speech and language skills.

The orbicular muscles of his lips which latch onto the breast to keep it in place before squeezing the nipple to get the milk, enable proper pronunciation of labial sounds such as "p," "m," and "b."

What does the research say? 

Although the research on this topic is mixed, many experts support the critical role of breastfeeding in speech development.

"Early language development was defined as the ability to babble in polysyllables. The proportion of infants who mastered the specific milestones increased consistently with increasing duration of breastfeeding."

One specific study reported higher receptive and expressive language abilities amongst exclusively breastfed children compared to their non-breastfed counterparts. Another cross-sectional study even suggested that extended breastfeeding may have a positive influence by preventing delays in young children's language development.

Some research looked at breastfeeding mothers and their first-hand experience and interpretation of the relationship between breastfeeding and speech development.

It seems that breastfeeding mothers were less worried when it came to the development of their child's expressive and receptive language. 

The psychological impact of breastfeeding on speech development

Breastfeeding also influences speech development from a psychological perspective.

The closeness and intimacy that grows between the mother and her child with ongoing breastfeeding stimulates the development of the baby's limbic system and cortical connection. These are crucial to early language development in young children.

Conclusion

Several different biological and environmental factors affect your child's oral development, but it is clear that breastfeeding plays a significant role in early language development.