PEDIATRICS, LOGOPEDICS AND THE FEEDING BOTTLE

(This article has been publicated in

LA VANGUARDIA. CIENCIA Y SALUD N.62. 12.07.97)

Most people today tend to use the feeding bottle well over the reasonable time. Usually, mothers do so, for their own convenience in the belief that the child will "take less time to feed" or with the intention of "fattening him/her up". However, this is always done through the lack of adequate information. The mother should be made aware that she is running logopedic risks by overusing the feeding bottle. The age recommended to stop using the feeding bottle is around eight months. It is not advisable to go over twelve months. A very important reason is that by stopping the bottle, the suction function is inhibited and automatically replaced by a deglution or swallowing one. An evolution fact explains: if the primary reflex (suction) is not invited, a secondary one (deglution) which is more complex on a mental level, will never establish itself totally. "Why is it so important then, from a logopedic point of view, to inhibit the primary reflex at the right time? The reason is that sucking (suction) is a simple movement that has evolved little and, what is more important, does not condition the future articular movements of tongue, which are necessary for speaking. Suction consists only of keeping a relaxed tongue at the base of the mouth, producing a light front/rear movement at the same time. This is such a primary function, that even a new born baby can do it, even though he/she is considered neurologically immature. On the other hand, deglution or swallowing requires a different, more evolved type of tongue function, which by itself conditions future tongue movements for good phonetic production. In our daily practice at the clinic, we find children who restrict themselves to only front/rear tongue movements and vowel curves, because they did not inhibit the suction reflex at the right time. For example, the front/rear movements are K-G-J, which the child pronounces "Gojako" for tomato. And in the case of vowel curves, they pronounce E_O_A for "Pelota". Consequently, he/she articulates a deformed speech pattern, which is unintelligible in his/her social environment. This, in turn, brings on communication problems, enabling only his/her mother to understand what he/she says. This pathology can be avoided, if mothers, or persons acting as mothers, stop using feeding bottles over the correct age. The risk can be avoided by the proper use of the feeding bottle,

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