What Should your Baby’s Tongue and Jaw Do?
It is such a silly sounding question, but one that is loaded with a variety of possibilities - most of which providers SHOULD know or at the very least know who to contact in the event that they don’t. If you think about what our tongues and jaws do as adults - they help us speak, they help us chew, they help us drink, kiss, sing - these small areas are vital to our development. So what should your baby’s tongue and be able to do? Find out now!
Jaw Should Open Wide
In order to effectively eat at the breast or at the bottle, your baby needs to have the ability to open their jaw wide and keep it open.
Tongue Should Elevate or Lift
Your baby needs to be able to lift or elevate their tongue at least halfway WHILE their jaw is opened wide. The tongue should move as a whole without a lot of differentiation in the height of the sides of the tongue versus the middle. Watch for the tongue retracting when elevating - that is not good.
When your baby cries do you see these issues?
A common reason for delayed care is a tongue that is “considered lifting fine” by an untrained provider. They see the tongue lift at the edges, or with retraction, and declare this normal. These are actually indicators of oral dysfunction and tension. The tongue should raise like a blade without having to retract to elevate.
Tongue Should Extend
The tongue should extend at least to the lips, and be able to stay extended with the mouth wide open and not retracting with tongue elevation. A tip to assess if your baby can do this is to peek in the corner of the mouth while latched. If you can see the tongue in that corner, it’s likely extending well.
Watch for tension in the middle of the tongue that makes the tongue appear to have a notch at the tip (V-shaped), or the classic heart shaped (W-shaped), restriction that a tie all the way to the tip can create. This is a clear indicator of oral restriction and should be properly evaluated.
Tongue Should Cup
In order to effectively generate and maintain suction, the baby needs to be able to cup their tongue around the breast and nipple. The easiest way to check this is to take your finger and place it pad side up in the baby’s mouth while gently touching the roof of their mouth. Babies younger than 3-4 months should automatically suck on the finger and it should cup the finger like a taco and maintain that contact.
If that is not happening, this is a serious concern for oral function.
Most Importantly, Your Baby Should be able to do ALL of This and do it Simultaneously!
You know why a lot of evaluations for possible tongue ties fall short and miss what other professionals would argue is a fairly obvious restriction in your baby’s tongue? The evaluate this all independently!
They fail to recognize the baby needs to be able to do all of these things independently and simultaneously! Even a minor restriction in one of these areas can result in your baby being unable to coordinate maintaining a wide-open and comfortable latch. They need to be able to do this all, and simultaneously!
If your baby can cup the breast, but opening wide causes them to lose suction, this is a problem.
If your baby’s tongue is tight, they may be able to extend and lift their tongue, but when trying to lift their extended tongue they can’t maintain the position and are forced to either close their mouth tighter or pull their tongue back. Neither results in effective and comfortable nursing.
If your baby’s tongue is held tightly to the floor of their mouth, it’s virtually impossible to hold your mouth wide open and keep contact with the tongue to the breast simultaneously.
This is why if your baby is having trouble feeding at the breast or the bottle, they should be evaluated by a lactation consultant who specializes in oral function - Not the pediatrician! And definitely Not the lactation consultant who took a one week training course with no specialized additional training!
Stop messing around with people who can’t accurately assess and identify why you are struggling, go straight to an expert who can support your baby in reaching your feeding goals.
How do you know if this is the right professional to support you?
Ask them! A professional who is properly prepared to support you is not going to be defensive or offended about these questions. They will understand the impact of oral function on your ability to meet your feeding goals and respect your desire as a parent to find a provider who is the right fit.
