Oral motor development simply involves the use of lips, the tongue, the jaw, the teeth and the hard and soft palates. Proper movement and coordination of these structures are crucial in speech production, safe swallowing, and consuming different food textures. Consistent oral motor activity begins prior to birth and continues beyond age three. By age four, most children can safely consume solid and liquid food without choking.
The milestones I'm about to list are typical, they are not strict by any means and all infants develop at their own rates. Use these milestones as a guide in monitoring your child's progress toward oral motor and swallowing development. It is suggested you consult your pediatrician before introducing new foods to your baby.
Before birth, the baby begins to develop sucking reflexes (around 36 weeks).
From birth to 3 months old, a baby will:
- Demonstrate many reflexes to protect his/her airway
- Respond to stimulation in and around the mouth
- Turn his/her head toward the nipple when a caregiver strokes his/her cheek (this is a sign for "I'm hungry")
- Consume breast milk or formula using a nipple
- Coordinate his/her breathing with two to three sucks of liquid before swallowing and breathing
From 3 to 6 months, the baby will:
- Bring both hands up to clasp the bottle, but may need assistance holding it
- Consumes rice cereal or pureed fruit and pureed vegetable baby foods
- Eats from a small infant/toddler spoon during feeding
From 6 to 9 months, the baby will:
- Hold the bottle independently
- Clean the spoon with their upper lip (get the whole airplane up in there)
- Eat pureed meats and a variety of pureed baby foods (pureed is a strangely spelled word)
From 9 to 12 months, the baby will:
- Show lip closure when swallowing liquids and soft solids
- Begin to self-feed by using his/her fingers to grab small food. The baby may attempt this with small, soft and easily dissolvable foods. Now I want Cheerios -_-
- Begin experimenting with a sippy cup
- Begin to consume mashed table foods
- Drink from the sippy cup and attempts to hold the handle by his/herself
- Drink through a straw
At 12 to 18 months, the baby will:
- Coordinate his/her sucking, swallowing, and breathing patterns for longer sequences
- Eat finely chopped table foods
- Bite through crunchy foods, like cookies or crackers
- Move the food in her/her mouth from side to side as they chew
At 18 to 24 months, the little one will feed him/herself using a spoon, but still may need assistance with this.
At 24 to 36 months, the medium one will:
- Eat and drink a variety of solids and liquids through a straw and open mouth cups
- Use a spoon to scoop soft foods while feeding him/herself
- Independently move toward find tuning all feeding skills
At 36 to 5 years, the large one will:
- Progress toward chewing and swallowing more advanced textures such as meats, fried foods, whole fruits, etc. with close supervision by a caregiver
- Begin to use a fork to stab food (also, with supervision)
- Drink from an open mouth cup with no assistance
If this sounds like a lot to coordinate, look forward to the little things. Like catching this candid face on camera:
Resources
Richmond, Megan-Lynette. Super Duper Handy Handouts (2016): "Oral Motor Development Milestones"
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