Parents are no dummies

Parents have been proving they are no dummies when it comes to caring for their children.

They have been working with speech and language therapist Lynsey Micklewright, from Oldham Community Health Services, at Stanley Road Children’s Centre, Chadderton, and Heathcot Pre School and Ambrose Nook Nursery, Oldham, on dummies and communication.

Lynsey said: “The aim of the scheme is to help young children to enjoy learning language and help them become skilled and confident with communicating.

“If children use a dummy too much, it can cause speech and language problems for a number of reasons. As babies, they have fewer opportunities to babble, which is a key stage of speech development. As toddlers, the dummy can discourage spontaneous chat which is vital for developing language and communication.”

Over the past year, Lynsey has been training staff in nurseries, a children’s centre and child minders on aspects of early speech and language development through the national Every Child a Talker scheme.