The question of why a child's mouth is constantly open worries many mothers and fathers. After all, caring parents carefully monitor the development of their child, never allowing anything to happen to their baby. Therefore, with any change in the behavior or development of the baby, they sound the alarm. And it is right.
A frivolous attitude towards your child can lead to serious consequences. For example, a common phenomenon among young children - a constantly open mouth during wakefulness - may turn out to be not a harmless prank, but a serious illness. Let's try to understand the reasons that contribute to this phenomenon.
In some cases, nothing bad happens if the child forgets to close his mouth. This may be a common habit when the baby has been walking around with a pacifier in his mouth for a long time, and has recently been deprived of this pleasure. If parents observe that after a long period their child still does not close his mouth, then it is not a matter of habit - the reason here lies in something completely different.
ENT diseases
ENT diseases are a common reason why a child’s mouth is constantly open.
Difficulty breathing through the nose can be caused by diseases such as sinusitis, otitis media, sinusitis, nasal polyps or adenoids. Parents should especially think about adenoids, since almost every third child faces this problem. When they occur, swelling of the nasal mucosa occurs, or they partially block the nasal passages, which makes it difficult for the child to breathe and even speak clearly. In their sleep, such children also do not close their lips, their breathing is heavy, and their sleep is interrupted. They often wake up at night because the body lacks air.
Normal breathing, in addition, becomes difficult with sinusitis, when the paranasal sinuses are inflamed due to a prolonged runny nose or other infectious diseases. Human organs are designed so that incoming cold air passes through the nasal passage, warming, moisturizing and purifying. When going through the mouth, the air does not go through all these mandatory steps. As a result, a baby who constantly breathes through his mouth often catches a cold and becomes seriously ill. Over time, he may develop incorrect posture or bite due to improper closure of the dentition. Changes in behavior are also observed. Such children feel more uncomfortable with other children, their mood often deteriorates, and sleep disturbances occur.
Consultation for parents “How to teach a child to breathe correctly”
Serykh Natalya Yurievna
Consultation for parents “How to teach a child to breathe correctly”
Dear parents !
Often due to a bad habit. But there may be other reasons.
Adenoids are easy to detect. External signs are obvious: the child's mouth is often open , the upper lip seems shorter and exposes the teeth, he snores at night and sleeps with his mouth open. Adenoids can be quite voluminous even in infants. They cause frequent runny noses and fevers, forcing children to breathe through their mouths , which can lead to deformation of the palatine vault and even the face.
Tonsils. They serve as a natural barrier to infection. But when they grow or become loose, they begin to interfere with breathing. Infection constantly nests in them. Then you need to remove them.
Allergy. Some children who have no visible nasopharyngeal abnormalities still have difficulty breathing . This can occur due to allergies to dust, pollen, feathers, cat fur, and so on.
your child's room , especially a small one, perfectly clean. Avoid various decorative items, curtains, and carpets. Everything in the baby's room should be washable.
Incorrect formation of teeth . Poorly formed jaw bones make the palatine vault oval, the nasal cavity narrows, and the tongue feels cramped. Abnormalities of the jaw bones can be corrected at an early age .
Passive lifestyle. Sentenced to the life of a recluse, the child begins to waste away and loses the ability to breathe properly . Don't worry too much about your child . Temper him. Teach him not to react to weather changes. Help them fall in love with sports and exercise.
One necessary condition for proper development , good growth is the ability to breathe correctly .
A child who does not know how to breathe correctly can be recognized immediately: narrow shoulders, weak chest, mouth open, nervous movements.
The essence of breathing is to let air into the lungs and saturate the blood in the pulmonary alveoli with oxygen. Breathing is divided into two acts: inhalation, during which the chest expands and air penetrates the lungs; and exhale - the chest returns to its normal volume, the lungs compress and push out the air in them.
Your task is to teach your child to cleanse his lungs well. If he does not exhale completely, then a fair amount of spoiled air remains deep in the lungs, and the blood receives little oxygen. By teaching your child to breathe through the nose , you will help him get rid of frequent runny noses, flu, sore throat, etc.
It is necessary to accustom the child to full breathing so that he expands the chest and develops the abdominal muscles. Show how to draw in your stomach while breathing, making it flat and sunken.
Playing with roses and dandelions will help you understand what breathing is. Let him smell the flower (mouth closed, nostrils turned)
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Many babies sniff rather than sniff. Help him feel the difference. Then let him blow on the dandelion: first with his mouth so that he can see how the grains fly away, then with his nose (alternately pressing one nostril to the bridge of his nose, then the other)
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You can continue the game: make the paper mill spin, blow out the candle. These exercises are also performed alternately (mouth and nose)
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Children have a lot of fun with soap bubbles - also a useful activity for developing proper breathing .
You can blow through a cocktail straw into a glass of water. A very exciting game - the child blows, the water bubbles - fun and useful, not only for strengthening the respiratory tract, but also for the development of the speech apparatus.
Another very useful toy for the development of the lungs is a whistle, especially since there are a great many types of whistles, so the child will not get bored.
Older kids can inflate balloons. But remember that you should not perform them for more than 5 – 10 minutes.
It is clear that by doing all these exercises you will ensure that:
- the child has cleared his nose well - one nostril after the other (if his nose is clogged, all the exercises will not bring any benefit)
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- clothes did not restrict the movements of the chest;
- the exercises were performed outside or, at least, in a well-ventilated room.
While walking in a park, outside the city, in a forest, near a river, show how you can feel the wonderful taste of clean air by slowly inhaling it through your nose. Then force the entire expulsion of used air from the lungs. At the same time, develop receptivity: “What do you feel? The color, the smell of grass or wet autumn leaves?
Attention! your child under any circumstances . These games don't have to be long.
Allergic reaction of the body
Sometimes allergies can manifest themselves in the most unexpected ways. A habitual red rash on the skin or coughing are the most well-known obvious manifestations of allergies to food or drugs.
Swelling of the nasopharynx can also occur due to the effects of allergens on the child’s body. This results in difficulty breathing through the nose, which encourages the child to breathe through the mouth. In this case, the otolaryngologist prescribes drops that relieve allergic inflammation of the nasal mucosa.
Why does a child's mouth always open slightly?
A half-open mouth in children can be a common habit, or it can be a sign of serious problems. If this condition is periodic, namely, it manifests itself during a cold or ARVI, then you should not panic. A runny nose and congestion force the child to breathe through the mouth, so it is constantly open, especially during sleep.
Most often it appears as a result of:
- problems with ENT organs;
- dental concerns;
- weakness of the muscles around the mouth;
- neurological abnormalities;
- bad habit.
Dental problems
In the question of why a child constantly opens his mouth, a dental problem should also not be ruled out. Difficulty in closing your lips may be due to an incorrect bite. While the child is small and all his teeth have not erupted, it is difficult to notice this problem. Only when permanent teeth appear can parents notice that something is wrong with the baby’s bite and go to the orthodontist. It is advisable to see a specialist before the child turns 12 years old, in which case the doctor will be able to regulate the correct growth of the jaws.
Also, a slightly open mouth can be a result of diseased teeth. It is more convenient for the baby to keep it open than to feel pain when closing it. Parents should pay attention to the health of their child’s teeth; perhaps this is where the problem lies. In this case, you should go to a pediatric dentist. If, after the oral cavity has been sanitized, the child still does not give up his habit, there is no need to exclude other reasons.
Impaired tone of the paralabial muscles
Impaired tone of the paralabial muscles is one of the reasons why an infant’s mouth is constantly open. And this is a fairly common phenomenon among infants. According to experts, if a baby under one year old has an open mouth, then there is no reason to worry. This habit can go away in a child on its own, without medical intervention. Although you shouldn’t relax too much, the manner of keeping your mouth open can provoke the diseases mentioned above: the appearance of adenoids, the formation of malocclusion. And if after a year the child’s mouth is constantly open, a specialist will tell you what to do in such a situation.
As for the circular muscles of the mouth, they can be strengthened with the help of special gymnastics, which are prescribed by orthodontists. This is a very effective method that corrects dental pathology. An orthodontic mouthguard (dental trainer) will also help put the jaws in the correct position. The child's tongue takes the correct position in the oral cavity, due to which breathing through the nose is restored. It is very convenient to use, since it does not have to be worn around the clock, which is important for small children. This special structure is like an assistant for parents - it helps to quickly wean the baby from thumb sucking.
Problems with the central nervous system
Such a pathology can be determined if, in addition to an open mouth, the child also has excessive salivation or the tip of the tongue constantly sticks out. In this case, parents should not delay time and show the baby to the doctor, since these symptoms may indicate a serious pathology of the central nervous system.
In the best case, if the child constantly opens his mouth, this behavior occurs due to normal hypertonicity. Hypertonicity is accompanied by sleep disturbances; the baby is often irritable, capricious, and crying.
When are sleep tremors dangerous?
If a child rarely experiences shuddering at night, then they should not be perceived as something dangerous. But in some cases, this condition can indicate serious health problems.
You should consult a doctor if:
- the child shudders very often at night;
- during the twitch he wakes up;
- legs and arms twitch every night;
- tremors are accompanied by increased excitability, pain and other pathological conditions.
- convulsions appear.
Acquired habit
Children constantly copy those with whom they communicate. This is fine. If parents had not previously noticed that their child kept his mouth constantly open, and suddenly by the age of six they began to observe this phenomenon, then, most likely, this is a common copying of the behavior of someone they know. A child can pick up a bad habit not only from his peers, but also from adults with whom he often comes into contact.
Early preschool age is the very period when children tend to behave like this. Over time, a bad habit may go away on its own. But it’s still better to talk calmly with the child and teach him to keep his facial expressions under control.
