There is research showing that breastfeeding promotes correct speech 
development, particularly in boys.  I did a quick lit search a while 
ago and found some refs.  Here's one:

"Early weaning: implications to oral motor development." Jornal de 
Pediatria (Brazil) 2003; 79(1):7-12. 
<http://www.jped.com.br/conteudo/03-79-01-07/ing.pdf>  This is a 
review article with 64 references though many are not in English. 
"Conclusions:  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."

My impression is that the speech therapy field has its 'received 
wisdom' that extended suckling is detrimental, but this is of course 
based on artificial feeding and pacifier use, and not breastfeeding. 
Some researchers & therapists have made inroads on changing this 
dogma.

Also, the issue of how to define 'breastfeeding' is a problem in some 
studies.  'Breastfed' babies may have received pacifiers and bottles, 
and may not have breastfed exclusively or for very long.  This leads 
to conflicting results, with some studies showing no effect of 
breastfeeding on speech development while others show a positive 
effect.  I didn't find any studies showing that breastfeeding 
negatively affected speech development.

I remember a post in the Lactnet archives by Kathy Dettwyler on the 
question of breastfeeding and speech development.  She said 
(paraphrasing here) that if bf were detrimental to speech development 
then much of the world wouldn't be able to talk correctly, or speak 
several languages/dialects as many do, or master the complex phonemes 
used in many languages.

Warmly,
Margaret Bickmore
mom of 3, LLLL, APL
Longmont, CO

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