Your Baby – July 2019

56 | JULY & AUGUST 2019

Image: Gallo Images/Getty Images

WHEN YOUR LITTLE angel starts
crawling and moving around the house,
what comes with it something most
mothers dread... Baby starts picking
things up off the floor and taking them
straight to her mouth.
While this time may feel very
unhygienic and like it should be avoided,
occupational therapist Bridget Hartley,
who’s also one of the experts working
with the sensory motor programme
Clamber Club (clamberclub.com), says
it’s an important and desirable stage of
development for every child.
Bridget, who has her own practice in
George in the Western Cape, says as
babies grow, they start to gain active
arm control (usually within the first three
months), which allows them to get their
hands and fingers in their mouth and
a little later, even their feet!
“A multitude of receptors, or sensors, in
the mouth provide vital information about
a toy or object at this point,” says Bridget.
She says mouthing provides a means of
discovering taste, smell, texture, size and
shape, all of which stimulate the sensory
tolerance and contribute to the oral-motor
control needed for healthy feeding and
later on for forming sounds and words.
Often, babies have a wonderful time
exploring “yucky” things, picking up
dusty toys, licking the floor, sucking on
grubby cloths.
“And as soon as they are able, they
touch one another’s faces, kiss with
mouths open, and share what they are
mouthing indiscriminately. This provides
sensory-rich stimulation and is certainly
normal behaviour at that age,” she says.
“The way you were brought up, plus
your own ideas and sensory-system
sensitivities, determine what you will
consider dirty or off-putting for your child
to mouth.”

Is your little one at that stage

where everything she comes

across goes to the mouth?

Do not despair. It’s part

and parcel of growing up,

writes occupational therapist

Bridget Hartley

GERMS AND ILLNESS

Germs causing illness only come via

other children who’re sick, which is when

it’s a good idea to avoid physical contact

or shared toys that may be mouthed.

Teething, says Bridget, is another

reason for excessive mouthing and

increased drooling.

“Anytime between three and seven

months, the baby may start to have

excessive mouthing or increased

drooling. This is a sign that the first tooth

is ready to surface,” she adds.

According to Bridget, increased

sucking and chewing is designed to

relieve this discomfort, and it’s especially

beneficial to provide cold teething rings

for red, hot and swollen gums.

OTHER WAYS OF EXPLORING

Bridget says babies can also suck their

fingers to communicate they are hungry

or even that they are bored.

From six months onwards, babies also

start to develop better perception in their

hands and fingers, and so slowly start

replacing their mouths with touching,

feeling, banging and poking.

By the age of three years, mouthing

diminishes markedly and typically

disappears completely around four

years of age.

“Mouthing is their best way of

exploring and matching what they

are seeing, feeling and hearing,” she

explains. “Babies who don’t mouth toys

may have oral-tactile sensitivity and also

be fussy feeders. If you do notice this,

encourage mouthing when your baby

makes any attempt to do so.”

She advises using your finger to

provide that gentle deep pressure

on their gums. “This can be useful to

desensitise their mouths and be willing to

tolerate more in their mouths,” she says.

EXTENDED MOUTHING

Sometimes mouthing can last longer

than expected. This could be due to

a baby’s sensory system needing extra

input because the signals – texture,

taste, temperature – from their touch

and body sense systems are not

yet clear. “Since the mouth provides

the most accurate input, toddlers and

preschoolers continue to use this channel

to gain information about toys and

objects they are wanting to explore,”

Bridget explains.

A motor planning challenge

is also another possibility for lingering

mouthing, since the underlying body

senses are not providing enough input for

your toddler to come up with new and

different strategies for physically handling

their toys. “Cognitive difficulties might

also mean that toddlers do not move on

to using their hands more actively at this

time, since their ‘thinking’ brain is taking

longer to develop,” she explains.

Extra mouthing might also indicate

a predominant need for self-soothing

in order to cope with too much touch,

movement or sound from the environment.

Self-soothing: Sucking (mouthing and

later chewing) provides deep touch

pressure in the mouth and through the

jaw, which calm your baby and can be

used for falling asleep.

Sucking: This is the earliest strategy

your baby uses for soothing themselves

and lays a good foundation for being

able to keep things on an even keel as

they grow older. “This can re-emerge at

any time of stress and often continues

in the form of needing their dummy

or thumb beyond the four-year mark,

chewing of clothes, biting their hands or

nails, and wanting to eat, chew or suck

more often than needed,” Bridget says.

If you are concerned about any of the

above, get help from a professional.

And last, she adds, know that babies

respond actively to their parents’

encouragement and are also aware of

their disapproval.

“Stay aware of your own reactions

when guiding them. Revel in this short but

very meaningful stage in your little one’s

development.” YB

WHY?

Straight to the mouth!