Raising Healthy Eaters - Oral Motor Skill Development in Babies

Oral motor skill development in babies refers to the coordination and control of the muscles involved in speech and swallowing. These skills are essential for a child's ability to eat, drink, and eventually speak.

Key oral motor skills include: The oral motor patterns required for eating and swallowing solids include tongue lateralization, tongue elevation, and munching/chewing, and unlike the suck-swallow-breathe sequence, coordination of these oral motor patterns is learned, not reflexive (Morris & Dunn Klein, 2000). 

• Sucking and swallowing: The ability to suck and swallow efficiently is crucial for feeding. This reflexive way of eating allows infants to feed from birth (from a breast or bottle) while protecting their airway and meeting their nutritional needs (Case-Smith & Humphry, in Case-Smith, 2005).
• Lip closure: The ability to close the lips tightly is necessary for clear speech production.
• Tongue movement: The tongue plays a vital role in speech and swallowing. It must be able to move in various directions and make different shapes.
• Jaw movement: The jaw must be able to open and close appropriately for chewing and speaking.

Oral motor skills begin to develop in infancy as babies learn to suck, swallow, and eventually chew. These skills continue to refine throughout childhood and adolescence as children learn to speak and articulate different sounds.

• When an infant is offered a spoon of puree, the practiced or familiar oral motor pattern is sucking.
• As purees are thicker than formula or breastmilk, puree is sucked off of a presented spoon and moved in the mouth in a similar fashion as liquid.
• This is generally looked at as a part of the process of introducing solid foods and parents are often encouraged to push past this.
• Conversely, current research supports that early negative experiences with eating leads to poor food acceptance in later years (Courtland, Harris, & Emmett,2009).
• The food bolus will trigger a gag response first and be expelled before it hits the laryngeal vestibule. Infants therefore utilize the gag reflex for learning three important concepts: the borders of their mouth, desensitizing their gag reflex, and how to protect their airway when volitionally swallowing solid foods (Rapley & Murkett, 2008).

Oral motor development would suggest that if an infant does not learn how to manage a bolus intra-orally and time their swallow, more choking would occur after the age of one, when traditionally more solid foods are added to the child’s diet (Morris & Dunn-Klein, 2000).

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is intended for general knowledge and educational purposes. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Every baby is unique, and what works for one may not be suitable for another. We strongly encourage parents to consult with their pediatrician or a qualified healthcare professional before making any decisions about their baby's feeding approach or introducing new foods.