Understanding Your Baby’s Oral Health

If your baby is having latch issues, making clicking noises, or struggling with a tongue tie, you are not alone. About 10% of all newborn babies have it, and it can cause issues feeding on the breast, on the bottle, and with solids, as well as issues later in life including dental health and sleep. Keep reading to learn more about good oral health for babies, recognizing when there may be an issue, and physical therapist-level exercises you can do right at home with your Innobaby Oral Development Teethers.

source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1949218/

What Is Good Oral Health for Babies?

When it comes to good oral health for babies, physical therapy doctors look for two essential functions: good mobility and strength. The goal of any physical therapy exercise with oral development is to improve tongue function because tongue function affects many areas other than just feeding. These include:

Making sure your baby’s tongue moves well, has good mobility, and has good strength are the essential ingredients to ensure proper breastfeeding or bottle feeding.

What is Proper Tongue Resting Posture?

The tongue drives good oral health, and one of the basics of good oral health is having proper tongue resting posture. While you’re reading this guidebook, pay attention to where your tongue is resting. It should be suctioned up right behind your front teeth on the roof of your mouth. This is proper resting posture.

If the tongue is not in the proper resting posture, this could be for two reasons:

1. The tongue is weak and cannot stay up long enough to maintain suction
2. The tongue is being pulled down by a tongue tie

Improper resting posture can cause issues with eating, breathing, and sleeping, also known as basic functional movements. It may mean that your baby cannot maintain a suction breastfeeding or bottle feeding, may make clicking sounds while feeding, may breathe through their mouth, or might have issues sleeping. If some of these issues are not present yet, they will almost certainly pop up later in life without strength-building exercises or tongue tie surgery.

Recognizing When the Tongue is Weak

Just as you would prevent a back injury by doing core exercises, you would exercise your baby to improve their strength and help avoid any issues with their tongue tie or improper tongue resting posture.

Two ways to recognize that your baby’s tongue is weak and needs strength exercises include:

1. Your baby makes a clicking sound while feeding
2. The tongue does not do all basic movements, such as sticking out, moving side to side, forming into a cup, or pressing onto the roof of the mouth Proper breathing through the nose

Physical Therapy Level Exercises You Can Do At Home

If you are struggling with feeding issues with your baby, there are some simple physical therapy-level exercises you can do right at home with your baby. All you need are Innobaby’s oral development teethers!

EZ Grip Star Teether / Oral Sensory Developmental Toy

This oral development teether is super gentle and is unique from most other teethers. With tons of shapes and textures and an easy-to-hold handle, it will have no problem garnering your child’s curiosity.

If your child suffers from a sensitive gag reflex, grab your Star Teether and gently offer your baby one of the tips on the star. Move their tongue around with it and push it onto their palette, and work their way up to more.

In addition to being great for oral development, these teethers adhere to the highest Safety Standards ASTM F963 and EN71 and use the highest quality TPE available because Innobaby wants the best for your baby, just like you!

EZ Grip Flower Rattle Teether / Oral Sensory Developmental Toy

This adorable teether will have no problem garnering your baby’s attention and curiosity with it’s happy flower shape and gentle rattling noise.

With the same benefits as the Star Teether, this oral development teether offers an extra layer of fun with the rattle noise and flower petals. Give to your baby while in the car on a long drive or during playtime, and watch the natural tongue-strengthening exercises come to life!

All of our teethers are safe and toxin-free. Made of the highest-quality TPE in South Korea, they will not break or crumble. Our products are also BPA-free, Phthalate-free, PVC-free, and lead-free.

Teethin SMART EZ Grip Fruit Teether

One of the most important feeding exercises for a baby to learn, other than strengthening their tongue, is to open up their mouth wide. Some babies simply don’t like doing it, but this can cause issues with getting that deep latch for proper feeding.

Innobaby’s Teethin SMART EZ Grip Fruit Teether is recommended for this very issue. The fruit shape is nice and wide so that baby can practice opening wide and fitting it into their mouth. 

Made in four adorable fruit shapes, start little by little with your baby by turning the teether vertically into their mouth so that they can practice opening wide and cupping their tongue: Two of the great essential movements for proper feeding techniques!