OPTIMIZING ORAL DEVELOPMENT FOR THRIVING KIDS: ORAL MOTOR MILESTONES

Oral motor milestones refer to the stages of development and growth that a child goes through as they learn to use their mouth, tongue, and lips to speak, eat, and communicate effectively. It's a process that begins in the womb and is fully developed at established by 3-years of age. Oral motor milestones are critical for setting kids up with a strong foundation to life-long airway health and development.

Like many other skills we learn, oral motor development is supported by primitive reflexes, postural control and other physiological milestones developing in synchrony. However, these milestones are a bit trickier to track as they can’t be seen as easily as gross or fine motor skills --- such as walking or mastering a pincer grip. And what is functional versus dysfunctional can be even more difficult to distinguish.

ORAL MOTOR SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

The framework for oral motor skills are developed in the womb as primitive reflexes. In the early stages, primitive reflexes play a crucial role in a newborn’s ability to feed. As reflexes become integrated, feeding becomes more of a conscious effort.

Early functional evaluations can help determine if these reflexes and oral motor skills are happening the way they are meant to and ensure no dysfunction is present. Oral restrictions (like tongue tie, lip tie or buccal ties), fascial strain/tension and other factors can affect the coordination of the reflexes and impact oral motor function. Regardless of the feeding method, breast, bottle or other, it is very important for all infants to have access to this screening.

In some cases, highly trained international board-certified lactation consultants, who take a whole body approach and are mindful of airway development, can help assess these feeding mechanics and give parents the tools and information they need to continue optimizing development at home. In other cases, the help of an SLP or OT may also be needed to optimize oral motor function.

Some oral motor milestones include:

• Sucking and swallowing (0-3 months)

• Steady head control achieved (2-4 months)

• Opens mouth when spoon approaches/touches the lips (2-6 months)

• Tongue cupping; lateral side-to-side jaw and tongue movements (2-6 months)

• Able to use tongue to move purees to back of mouth for swallowing (2-6 months)

• Tongue thrusting (4-6 months)

• Full lip closure and sucking (6-8 months)

• Able to bring upper lip down to draw food off the spoon (7-8 months)

• Tongue lateralization (8-12 months)

• Chewing, munching, and swallowing solid foods (8-12 months)

• Licking food off lips and more controlled biting (10-12 months)

• Chews foods that produce juice and able to keep most bites in moth during chewing (12-14 months)

• Articulation of sounds (12-24 months)

• Increased tongue movement and coordination (2-3 years)

• Improved articulation and speech clarity (3-5 years)
  

Parents can do a lot at home to support their child’s oral motor function and airway development.

• Tummy time!

  • Tummy time is vital to so many aspects of development

    • Helps strengthen the muscles of the airway to help keep open during sleep

    • Encouraging oral play and other activities into tummy time

    • Rolling in & out of tummy time

• Lots of chewing

  • Strengthens the oral muscles and helps grow the airway

    • Various types of teethers & toys

      • Myo Munchee

      • Teethers that can reach the back molar

      • Toys that encourage tongue movement

  • Baby led weaning

    • Implementing “food tethers”/ resistive foods

    • Letting the tongue move!

• Proper use of bottles, cups, pacifiers and more is very important to be mindful of on the airway health & development journey!

  • Valved straws and spouted sippy cups can be skipped as these do not allow for proper oral function

    • Nasal hygiene

• Keeping the nose clean and clear helps support nasal breathing day & night!

  • Keep an eye on sleep and listen for noisy breathing or snoring

• Monitor your child’s sleep to ensure they are nasal breathing with the mouth closed

  • Try the “Sleeping Tongue Posture Hold” to help strengthen muscles

SPOTLIGHT BOOK RESOURCE FOR PARENTS

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Ten years ago, Baby-Led Weaning ended the myth that babies need to be spoon-fed purées. In fact, at about six months, most babies are ready to discover solid food for themselves.

Today, baby-led weaning (BLW) is a global phenomenon―and this tenth anniversary edition of the definitive guide explains all its benefits:

• Baby participates in family meals right from the start, and learns to love a variety of foods.

• Nutritious milk feedings continue while Baby transitions to solids at his or her own pace.

• By self-feeding, Baby develops hand-eye coordination, chewing skills―and confidence!

Plus, this edition is updated with the latest research on allergy prevention and feeding baby safely, a guide to using BLW at daycare, and much more. Here is everything you need to know about teaching your child healthy eating habits that will last a lifetime.