This campaign encourages families to ‘Be Dummy Aware’ and recognise the possible side-effects of allowing babies and toddlers to use dummies.
As part of the campaign, speech and language therapists have warned that children who use a dummy may be less likely to communicate effectively when they are learning how to speak and that for children over one year, a dummy can cause communication difficulties; feeding and swallowing problems and may also affect the proper development of teeth.
‘Be Dummy Aware’ tips:
- Ask your child to give their dummy to Santa or the ‘Dummy Fairy’
- Swap dummies for a special present
- Tell older children that dummies are only for babies
- Leave dummies at home when you go out
- Ask your child to remove their dummy when talking to you
- Never dip a dummy into anything sweet to avoid tooth decay
- Don’t clean your child’s dummy with your mouth to avoid transmitting germs
Contact the Team on 028 7137 1670 for details of our next Dummy Aware Event.