Harper had a dummy ‘ because she was ill’
DAVID Beckham said yesterday he had given his four-year-old daughter Harper a dummy because she had a fever and it was a comfort to her.
The former England footballer said those who judged him for handing a pacifier to his youngest child had ‘no right’ to do so.
Taking to his Instagram page, Beckham, 40, told his 10.1million followers on the imagesharing and social networking site: ‘Why do people feel they have the right to criticise a parent about their own children without having any facts?
‘Everybody who has children knows that when they aren’t feeling well or have a fever, you do what comforts them best and most of the time it’s a pacifier. So those who criticise, think twice about what you say about other people’s children because you have no right to criticise me as a parent.’
Beckham, who has three other children with his fashion designer wife Victoria – Brooklyn 16, Romeo, 12, and Cruz, ten – was pictured larking around with his daughter and eldest son in West Hollywood, California.
The images displayed a happy family outing, but it was Harper’s use of a dummy that led to some concern. She was last seen with one in October last year.
Health service guidelines recommend to parents that they ‘avoid using dummies’ after their child reaches the age of one. Some experts said they felt that Beckham and former Spice Girl Victoria, 41, may have risked stunting their daughter’s speech development and damaging her teeth.
Parenting specialist Sue Atkins explained that dummies i mpair children’s l anguage development because they don’t have to talk.
Former midwife Clare Byam-Cook said that ‘dentists will agree that dummy use at this age really is not good’.
However, Judy Reith, of Parenting People, which offers workshops for parents, sided with Beckham in the debate.
She explained that Harper may need a dummy to keep her calm in potentially stressful public situations and that it is ‘up to the parents – famous or not’.