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how to raise a happy healthy eater
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Oral motor issues that affect feeding often also affect feeding and sometimes speech as well! In a perfect world, when we are not speaking or eating, we breath through our nose alone, mouth closed! When this doesn't happen, we say that a person is a mouth breather, meaning they have an open mouth posture at rest and this can happen during the day or a night, or both!
Scientists are discovering that there's a link between mouth breathing and one's ability to focus and pay attention along with a host of other things! Why? Well, mouth breathing brings less oxygen to your brain and we know we need oxygen to do anything well. Nasal breathing is significantly more beneficial to the body and mouth breathing is quite harmful actually. In most cases, mouth breathing is a temporary solution for a child who has blocked nasal passages from a cold or allergies. However, if mouth breathing persists over time, it can be a sign of sleep apnea, a deviated septum, tongue-tie, enlarged tonsils, or sinus polyps. Although snoring and mouth breathing are common now in children, physicians don’t usually screen for sleep-related breathing disorders. Parents should share ALL symptoms with their child's doctor at their next appointment. ADHD and mouth breathing share some common symptoms, including:
How to Tell If Your Child Is Mouth Breathing When they are awake:
Why is ADHD and Mouth Breathing Connected? Mouth breathing brings less oxygen to the brain compared to nasal breathing. Less oxygen, along with poor sleep creates a perfect storm for an unfocused day. One study proved that mouth breathing brings less oxygen to the brain compared to nasal breathing, which adversely affects brain function and gives rise to ADHD symptoms. It also found that, “Children with sleep-disordered breathing were from 40 to 100 percent more likely to develop neurobehavioral problems by age 7, compared with children without breathing problems.” It’s not uncommon for a medical provider to prescribe medication for this condition, but it is not also a condition that warrants medication. It requires a closed mouth! Many countries require a sleep test in children before these medications are given, but the United States is not one of them. It is important to explore all reasons for attention disorders before starting medication that may cause other effects. Why is Mouth Breathing and Feeding Connected? Mouth breathing happen with the jaw is low and usually the tongue comes along with it. When the tongue and the jaw are not doing what they are supposed to do, it indicates weakness, possible restrictions (ties) and instability. When you are that, it means the oral motor skills are generally poor and poor oral motor skills means difficulty moving food around in the mouth. This can create a negative experience with food and lead to children pushing out foods from their diet until they are left with a minimal number of 'safe' foods. What's The Solution? Helping your child stop mouth breathing can be done in a number of ways, depending on your child’s specific needs. It starts with an airway and a myofunctional assessment to determine what is exactly going on. Then, some options include myofunctional therapy to strengthen the tongue, a frenectomy to release a too-tight tongue, or other orthodontic appliances to expand the mouth and airway. If your child has been diagnosed with ADHD or has ADHD symptoms, and if you think they may breathe through their mouth, schedule an evaluation with us! We can asses your child's oral motor status virtually or in person. This will require a team approach though! Usually an ENT and orthodontist are an integral part of this team to remediate fully. Give us a call to schedule today 516-669-0434 If you are struggling to figure out your child's pick eating habits, oral motor may not be an area you have explored enough. In fact, I can almost guarantee you haven't explored this enough! Why? Because most people pay it no mind. I know I didn't for many years until I took more focused training courses. I talk a lot about ties in my podcast and newsletter when I discuss oral motor, it's just bound to come up. It's been so prevalent in my work that it's impossible to ignore. I get into some theories about why ties are becoming so "popular" these days. A tongue or lip tie occurs when the connective tissue under the tongue doesn't recede in utero and attaches further forward than it's supposed to. In infancy, it can impact breastfeeding, and as the child grows, it can impact feeding, speech, sleep, and result in the need for orthodontic treatment. Here are some red flags on a possible tongue and/or lip tie that may need to be addressed:
impacts
If you feel as though your child has some of these red flags, look into getting a myofunctional evaluation with someone who has training and specializes in oral motor issues.
You can also listen to the podcast episode where I break this down further! Click the link here. Getting kids involved in mealtime prep can help get their mind and body ready for food consumption. It prepares them for what they will be seeing when they get to the table and it will start to (hopefully) get them hungry. We encourage you to invite your child to participate in meal prep in whatever way they can! getting out ingredientsThis is a good first step for kids who don't love to be around food. Ask them to help you move ingredients from the pantry to the counter, or to hand you an ingredient that you need when you need it. Sometimes, you may need to plan ahead and create a setting where it just makes sense for them to get the ingredient for you. Like, "Oh hey, I left a box of pasta on the couch. Can you bring it to me please?" prepare the tableAsk your child to set up the table for mealtime. They could help set out plates, utensils, cups, etc. And, if you're serving a family style meal, you could give your child a "job" to help serve each family member different food items. Kids love to help out! go shopping togetherI know shopping may be something you just need to get through quickly, but if you have a few extra minutes, try letting your child explore some different foods at the store! Let them choose out a couple of fruits or veggies as you're walking by. Even if you just buy a small amount of it, your child may be more willing to try it later. help prepare the foodThere are so many different preparation steps your little one could help with - pouring, mixing, measuring, stirring, chopping (there are kid-friendly knives), and more. If your child won't touch the food outright, try offering a fun tool. Some kids won't dip their finger in, but they're willing to use a tool to interact with the food! Here are a few fun tools or gadgets you could try: colorful spoons, cookie cutters, a salad spinner, tongs, or one of those push whisks! let them help plan the mealGetting your child involved in meal planning will help your child know what to expect to see at the table, and they can help plan out which "safe food" they want to eat with the meal. If you child can read, you may even try "posting" your meals on a whiteboard weekly! Want to learn more strategies? Check out my book
Mealtime Mindset to help switch gears in your child's mind from fear and frustration to fun and joy. How did your family talk about food growing up? Were your parents the type of parents who said, "you can't eat dessert until you finish all of your vegetables?" For some families, food is an all day event, which can be tough for our picky eaters! stop interviewing, |
Are you ready to start introducing your baby to drinking from a cup? Babies can start to take single sips to drink from an open cup at 6 months before progressing to taking multiple, consecutive sips at a time and can learn to drink from a straw between 6-9 months of age. You may be looking into buying a cup for your baby and notice there are A LOT of cup options out there –hard cups, soft cups, sippy cups, straw cups, open cups, weighted cups, cups with handles, non-spill cups, big cups, small cups… Whew! And that’s not even a comprehensive list. However, many of these cups promote poor oral motor skills, so, let’s talk about what a sip of liquid should look like, then about the best and worst cups for your child. Here are a couple of recommendations for open cups that promote healthy oral-motor skills:
| It’s recommended you choose a cup that promotes a mature swallow pattern, just like we use. These include open cups and straw cups. It’s best if you can find a cup that is easy for your baby to hold (think, “tiny hands!”) so they can take small sips and slowly build up the skills needed to take sips. The swallow is initiated when the liquid is approaching the oral phase and the mouth is anticipating the liquid. So, we want to do everything we can to promote independence with drinking as soon as it’s developmentally appropriate. It might be messy at first, but worth it in the long run! |
Christine Miroddi Yoder is a parent and feeding expert. She is the author of the book Mealtime Mindset and the Podcast How to Un Picky Your Picky Eater and owner of the feeding clinic Foodology Feeding Therapy.
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