Twisting Tongue

I would not worry about it, small children find things on their bodies that are of interest, his is his tongue. Others will put fingers in ears, mouth, or pull on ears. The tongue going out while eating is also normal, still learning to swallow, something other that a bottle.

Hi C.,
I am glad you are asking about this. I am a parent educator and an occuptional therapist. I did not work as an OT a lot with feeding problems but have worked with many other OT's and speech and language pathologists who do. I did look it up and found that tongue thrust is a normal reflex that should be on it's way out at about 6 months or so. Here is an article about normal reflexes:

http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Resources/feedinginfants-ch2.pdf

Since you are concerned, you might want to ask your pediatrician for an assessment by a pediatric OT or SLP who specialize in oral motor development. My experience is that the earlier developmental issues (if there are any) are treated the better. I know some good therapists---feel free to contact M. directly if you would like a referral.
Blessings,
K.

I don't have experience with this myself but I just heard a story from a friend about it. She thought her son had "discovered" his tongue but the pediatrician identified it as a symptom of reflux. I'd let your doctor know about it just in case.

He is figuring out how his tongue works. If he eats fine and is gaining weight, all is probably fine.
When he starts to develop his next skill, the twisting should go away.

I like the Lifesavers idea...but not for a 9 month old!!! Way too young. That poster must have missed the age in your request.

I certainly wouldn't panic over it but I would definitely mention it to his pedi at the next appointment. Maybe even have a speech therapist or ENT evaluate him. It's best to have things checked out early because early intervention is the key! Any issues are almost always cleared up quickly when addressed early on. Lastly, my son was severely tongue tied when he was a baby. I would take a look at this too. If the frenulum (skin underneath the tongue) stretches out close to the tip of the tongue, he's tongue tied. It's best to take a look at this when they are crying hysterically. Kind of sad but their they usually curl their tongue up when they cry like this. We waited to have it clipped until he was 3. I wish I had of done it when he was an infant. It created a thick tongue and caused some articulation problems with his speech. However, early intervention fixed this! :) Good luck. Don't worry but go with your gut and have it checked out; just in case! ...could be perfectly normal; kids do funny things.

It's called a tongue reversal. It's no big deal. I had one when I was a kid. My speech pathologist gave M. a roll of Lifesavers and told M. to go crazy. Keep up the exercises until it diminishes.

Go get a pack of Lifesavers. Have him put one in his mouth and hold it against the roof of his mouth while he swallows his spit as it melts. Might not have been the most tactful way to describe it, but it'll take care of it!

Good luck, and God bless!

I'm not sure I'm understanding you correctly but it sounds like my tongue tied daughter was at that age.

Tongue thrust is a common trait in infants--thought it usually diminishes sometime after 4 months. Did you recently start solid foods? It isn't as noticeable when breast/bottle feeding, but becomes VERY apparent when you try to get them to eat solids. If he's been on solids for a while then he may just be reacting to taste and texture--my daughter went through stages where something she previously thought was wonderful, she now treated like poison.

It is worth mentioning to your pediatrician at his 1 year check-up...or sooner if you feel like it is interfering with his weight gain. He COULD simply be playing.