Did you know that sippy cups can be harmful? Bottles and pacifiers too! Here is a story you won’t want to forget!
Tommy raced across the courtyard and into our office, cheeks flushed and eyes wide with excitement. He was out of breath, panting with his mouth wide open. Down his chin was a steady stream of drool. His shirt was soaked, and his hands were covered in drool, too.
Tommy was a talker! He tried to tell us about racing the train. But Tommy’s speech was garbled and mushy – it was difficult to understand. He rested his tongue right between his teeth. He produced many of his sounds like “th”; “dog” was “thog”, “toy” was “thoy”. His tongue was weak, so he was incapable of producing the sounds that usually emerge at age 4 – the ‘l’s and the ‘r’s. Tommy turned all of his ‘l’s and ‘r’s into ‘w’s, so, like Elmer Fudd, he “woved pwaying wif thiwwy wabbiths”.
It wasn’t just his speech that was all messed up. Tommy’s tongue position was keeping his teeth from coming together. He had an open bite, and there was nothing dentists could do to correct it until Tommy got his tongue back where it belonged – behind his teeth and suctioned up onto his palate. If Tommy continued to position his tongue between his teeth, it would be impossible to permanently close his bite, even with braces.
Speech Development Starts with Feeding
As part of our evaluation, we always take a feeding history. Tommy had breastfed up until two years of age. There is no doubt that breastfeeding is best for our babies. Not only do they get the nutrients necessary to build their immune systems and keep them healthy, but the mother is in tune with her baby’s suckling and reacts proactively if the baby sucks too hard or too little.
The nipple of the bottle is not so sensitive. A child can bite or suck too hard on the bottle nipple with no repercussions. The bottle nipple is also rigid, not pliable like a human nipple. So the bottle nipple can shape the baby’s palate into a high, narrow formation. This high palatal vault prolongs a forward tongue rest position and tongue thrust swallow. A tongue cannot fit into a high narrow palate. It would be like putting a mango inside a banana peel – it simply wouldn’t fit!
By age 1, toddlers must learn to drink from cups. Cup drinking encourages healthy swallows, because toddlers are no longer suckling the cup like they do the breast.
The difference is mainly the position of the tongue; suckling is done with the tongue below the nipple or nozzle, whereas sucking is done with the tongue on top. Suckling too long will lead to a prolonged tongue thrust swallow – guaranteed!
The importance of eating solid foods is a no-brainer. Toddlers need the nutrition gained from a varied diet, but they also need to develop their chewing muscles, the masseters. Once they get their molars, it is wise to introduce solid foods. Meltables like cereal and crackers are
first, then chewier foods like cheeses and proteins. These are the foods that force us to chew and work those masseter muscles. These are the muscles that make our cheeks look toned and mature. As we learn to keep our lips closed and swallow with our tongues pulled back, we tone our lips and tongues as well.
How are Speech and Feeding Connected?
The chewing muscles are the same muscles needed to produce speech. Once we have strong lips, we can produce clear ‘m’, ‘b’ and ‘p’ sounds. Strong front tongue muscles enable us to produce ‘t’, ‘d’, s’, z’, and ‘n’. Strong back tongue muscles enable us to produce ‘k’, g’, and ‘ng”.
And only the muscles of a steak or bagel eater will enable a preschooler to produce those high level sounds ‘l’ and ‘r’.
After Tommy’s mom weaned him off the breast, she used bottles at night and sippy cups during the day, so Tommy wouldn’t spill all over the carpet. But he was still suckling those bottles/cups with his tongue positioned beneath the nipple. Whenever Tommy had a meltdown, his mom popped a soothing pacifier into his mouth. There were no more tears, but, unfortunately, a lot more suckling, which prolonged Tommy’s open-mouth breathing and his river of drool.
Nasal Breathing is Better for SO Many Reasons
If your lips are closed, the air is forced to go through your nose. And your nasal cavity warms, cleans and humidifies the air before it enters your lungs. Therefore, closed-lip, nasal breathing reduces your chances of airborne illnesses including serious respiratory conditions like asthma and allergies. In addition, closed lips are Mother Nature’s retainer for your teeth. Closed lips exert gentle pressure on your teeth and keep them in better alignment. Closed lips also make you LOOK better than open ones.
Tommy’s therapy targets his speech delay – his ‘l’, ‘r’, ‘t’ and ‘d’ sounds. Tommy does exercises to get his tongue strong enough for those higher level sounds. He is also strengthening his lips, so he can keep them closed, breathe through his nose and stop drooling.
If we can get Tommy’s lips closed, maybe he will correct his own tongue thrust; and then maybe he won’t be pulled out of his classroom and miss reading group for speech therapy as a 2nd grader. Maybe he won’t need to come to us for tongue thrust therapy as a third grader. And maybe he won’t even need braces!
Anything is possible if you correct your breathing, eating and speech problems at age 4. If you know a child who has issues with feeding, breathing or speech at any age, please call us at 858.509.1131 or contact us via our form. It is never too early or too late to begin!