04/08/2025
Mouthing objects before starting solids is a crucial developmental stage for babies. This typically begins around 3–5 months of age. It might look like simple play, but it lays the foundation for successful and safe eating.
🧠 Sensory and Oral Motor Development
• Builds oral strength and coordination by helping develop the tongue, lips, jaw, and cheeks—all vital for chewing, moving food around the mouth, and swallowing safely.
• Desensitizes the gag reflex by exploring objects of different textures and shapes, babies learn how far back in the mouth objects can go, which helps reduce an overactive gag reflex when solids are introduced.
• Mouthing promotes sensory exploration as babies gather information through touch, taste, and temperature. This exploration increases tolerance for different food textures and temperatures later on.
👅 Preparation for Chewing and Safe Swallowing
• Mouthing teaches graded jaw movements (not just sucking), which are necessary for chewing soft solids.
• It helps babies learn to move their tongue side to side - a critical skill for moving food to their molars.
😬 Teething Relief (we are currently in this phase)
🧩 Cognitive and Fine Motor Development
• Babies begin to coordinate hand-to-mouth movements, an essential step for self-feeding.
• It supports object permanence and cause-effect learning (e.g., “If I bite this, it feels good on my gums”).
How to encourage mouthing 🤭
• Offer safe mouthing toys: silicone teethers, textured rings, crinkle cloths, or cooled spoons.
• Follow your child’s lead. If they gag and/or get upset then downgrade to a smaller object or encourage mouthing of own hands.
Pop any questions about infant mouthing in the comments below 👇🏼
