Feeding & Speech: How They Work Together for Babies

Feeding skills and speech-language skills are often looked at as two separate areas, but I’m here to tell you that they are more connected than you think.

The obvious answer to “how are they connected?” is that we use the same part of our body to eat as we do to speak. An even more specific answer is that we use the same muscles and structures to eat as we do to speak. So, naturally, if one area is impacted, then the other is likely impacted too, right?

Babies typically don’t say their first word until around 12 months or so, but all of the feeding skills that occur prior to a year significantly impact a child’s speech production skills.

For example, in order for a child to produce sounds clearly and correctly, she needs to retract her tongue and anchor it in place in the back of the mouth. Once the tongue is anchored in the back, the tongue tip can move around the mouth and make all of the sounds. But what if baby struggled with spoon feeding as a 5-6 month old and didn’t really master tongue retraction? What if baby also struggled with straw drinking, or drinking from an open cup, and therefore didn’t practice the skill of tongue retraction with those tasks either? Well, as a result, that child may struggle with sound production as a toddler and require speech-language therapy for articulation. The reality is that the 5-6 month old baby could have received intervention for feeding skills, which would have positively impacted her speech production skills down the line.

Many times in evaluations, parents have reported to me that their child struggled with moving through the hierarchy of textures as a baby. When I explain how that is directly related to the speech production difficulties their child is having now, they usually say, “Wow, I had no idea that they were connected.”

Let’s dive a little deeper into the connection: time for a quick anatomy lesson! The jaw is the foundation of the mouth; therefore, it needs to be strong. The tongue does all of the intricate work inside the mouth, to move food around and to make sounds, but without a strong jaw foundation, the tongue cannot do it’s job.

“Well, wait. Miss Jordyn, how does a baby get a strong jaw?” Excellent question, my friend!

Babies who mouth objects and interact with different teethers are all building their jaw strength little by little. Then, when spoon foods or solids are introduced around the 4-6 month mark, they have a strong foundation and are better equipped to manage the foods. Their jaw continues to grow stronger as they engage with the open cup, manage mashed foods, and eventually manipulate chewable foods. Since they have a strong jaw, their tongue will be able to do its job when it’s time to make sounds.

These are just a few examples of how feeding and speech-language skills are intertwined. My take-away message here is that if your baby is struggling with feeding, it’s never too early for an evaluation. The earlier intervention begins, the better the outcome down the line.