I want to share my experience with you. My son, Jacob, had turned two and was showing no signs of real talking. He made substitute sounds that came mostly through his nose. His lips and cheeks were always tight. Everyone kept telling me that boys didn't really talk until shortly after their second birthday. They told me not to worry, that once he started talking he wouldn't stop. But, still, I knew that something wasn't right.
Through a much drawn out process, we finally started getting help through our state's REACH program which works with children who have developmental or speech delays. During the initial assessments, I was told that I'd better break my son of the pacifier habit because the speech therapist didn't allow them. Jacob only used pacifiers during sleep time but was quite fond of them. I started doing research on the web for ways to help break him of the habit. I knew he was too young to understand the standard "pacifier fairy" tricks. That's when I stumbled upon someone's comments about the problems with sippy cups.
There isn't any research yet that proves that sippy cups cause speech delays. But this person suggested that parents try out their kids' cups to see if they were difficult to use. I did, and it was. So I pulled out the valve that keeps the liquid from dripping out. And two or three days later my husband and I were shocked to notice many understandable words coming from our sons lips. I believe that between the pacifier during sleep and the sippy cups during wakeful times, his muscles were getting too tight and that caused the delay.
Our speech therapist gave us some suggestions to help loosen up Jacob's facial muscles. I started feeding him foods to work those muscles in new ways such as untoasted bagels and fruit strips. We also played games like blowing cottonballs into a cup, blowing bubbles, making silly faces and playing instruments like recorders. I also used a swab-like "spoon" to paint his tongue with yogurt. Jacob still uses the pacifier but his speech is much better. He is catching up quickly to where he should be, although this is by no means a quick process.
I hope that I can help other parents who might be in the same situation.
Wendy, Jacob and Amanda