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Home › Articles › Behavior › Everything in Baby's Mouth

Everything in Baby's Mouth

Staying Safe and Sane During This Phase of Development

By Kelly Burgess

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As the mother of a 10-month old, comedian Lisa Landry knows as well as anyone how difficult it is to keep a baby from mouthing everything within reach. In her stand-up act, she even jokes that she keeps her baby safe by not letting him play with anything from China. But seriously, folks, Landry is careful about what her baby chews on.

"My baby wants to put everything in his mouth so once something hits the floor I keep it out of his reach until it's been washed," Landry says.

That's striking a good balance between allowing Baby to explore his world with his mouth and making sure he stays safe, something experts say is important for every baby's development.

The First Sense

The phase of oral exploration doesn't start the first time babies pick up a toy and bring it to their mouths – it actually starts at birth simply because they have no other way to explore their world.

Child development specialist Jane Kostelc, from the Web site Parents as Teachers, says that babies put thing in their mouths out of interest. "When they're born they have that reflex to suck and the mouth becomes a way for them to get information," Kostelc says. "They put things in their mouths because their hands are less sensitive."

Kostelc notes that babies do develop from the top down and from the center out, so their only access to information about texture is through their mouths. "The mouth is very sensitive, not just to taste but texture and feel, and Baby learns a lot about those things by mouthing," she says. "Think about when you even bump yourself in the mouth and how painful it is; that tells you how many nerves are concentrated there."

Dr. Carol Steltenkamp, a pediatrician at the University of Kentucky and Kentucky Children's Hospital, says information gathering by mouthing starts very early and notes that often when someone picks up a baby or is holding a baby, the baby will suddenly turn and start sucking or mouthing the adult's collar or neck. Often that's attributed to the baby wanting to eat, but, in fact, it may just as often be a little exploratory mission.


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