The great air debate: How different swallowing patterns impact breastfeeding and reflux

ByLondon Speech and Feeding
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The great air debate

As a Speech and Language Therapist specialising in infant feeding, I often hear from worried mums describing their breastfed baby’s fussiness. ‘My baby is so burpy and gassy,’ ‘might it be reflux?’ or ‘she just seems uncomfortable after every feed’. While these concerns are incredibly valid and distressing for both baby and mum (and dads!), the underlying cause isn’t always what you might think. Often, the culprit isn’t primarily a digestive issue, but rather a mechanical one: how effectively your baby is managing air during feeding.

Many parents are told their baby has ‘colic’ or ‘reflux’ and are offered solutions that don’t quite hit the mark because they overlook a fundamental aspect of feeding: the suck-swallow-breathe sequence. Understanding this intricate dance can be the key to unlocking a calmer, happier feeding experience for your baby and you.

Understanding the suck-swallow-breathe sequence

Your baby’s mouth, tongue, jaw, and throat muscles work together in a precise rhythm like a beautifully orchestrated symphony. First your baby draws milk, then swallows it, and then takes a breath, all without interruption. This is the ideal suck-swallow-breathe (SSB) sequence.

When the SSB sequence functions optimally, a baby latches deeply, creates good suction, draws milk, swallows efficiently, and then pauses just long enough to take a gentle breath before the next suck. This smooth, coordinated process minimises the amount of air swallowed.

However, for various reasons (it could be a shallow latch, oral motor challenges, an uncoordinated suck, or even an overly fast milk flow) this sequence can get a bit out of sync. Instead of a smooth rhythm, you might see:

  • Suck-suck-swallow-gasp!: Too much air pulled in with the swallow.
  • Rapid, shallow sucking followed by gulping: Inefficient milk transfer and air intake.
  • Clicking noises during feeding: Loss of suction, indicating air entry.
  • Frequent detaching and re-latching: Often to ‘catch a breath’ or because of discomfort.

Each of these patterns can lead to increased air intake.

The root cause: Air trapping leading to a gassy breastfed baby

When a baby swallows too much air during a feed, that air must go somewhere. It builds up in the stomach, causing bloating, discomfort, and often leads to the familiar reflux-like symptoms parents describe: arching, spitting up, burping excessively, or simply appearing distressed.

It’s a common misconception that all gassiness or reflux symptoms in a breastfed baby are due to something in the mother’s diet or a genuine digestive disorder. While these can be factors, as an SLT, we first look at the mechanics of the feed. If a baby is constantly struggling to maintain a seal, sucking inefficiently, or having to gulp to keep up with flow, he or she is inevitably swallowing air. This air then creates pressure, which can push milk back up (silent reflux) or out (visible reflux).

Think of it like trying to drink through a straw with a hole in it. You’re sucking, but you’re also pulling in air, making it harder to get the liquid and leaving you with more bubbles in your stomach.

Why mechanical speech therapy assessment is key

This is where the distinction between a medical diagnosis (true gastro oesophageal reflux disease or GORD) and a functional feeding challenge becomes critical. A paediatrician will assess for medical causes and may prescribe medication to reduce stomach acid. This can be appropriate for severe cases of GORD.

However, if the primary issue is air being trapped due to a suboptimal suck-swallow pattern, medication only treats the symptom (acid burning) and not the root cause (air intake). This is precisely where a Speech and Language Therapist specialising in infant feeding comes in.

My role is to meticulously observe and assess your baby’s oral motor skills, latch, tongue function, and the efficiency of their SSB sequence. I look for subtle signs of inefficiency that contribute to excessive air swallowing.

  • Is the tongue elevating correctly to create suction?
  • Is the jaw stable, or is it excessively moving?
  • Is the latch deep enough to prevent air leaks?
  • Can the baby coordinate suck, swallow, and breathe without gasping?

By identifying these mechanical challenges, I can then implement targeted strategies to improve feeding efficiency and reduce air intake, often leading to a significant reduction in reflux-like symptoms and overall discomfort.

Strategies to optimise air management during breastfeeding

The good news is that many babies can learn to feed more efficiently with the right support. Here are some general strategies we might explore:

  1. Optimise latch and position: A deep, asymmetric latch is crucial. Experiment with different positions that allow for a deeper latch and better head/neck alignment, such as laid-back feeding or upright positions.
  2. Paced feeding (even at the breast): If your milk flow is very fast, consider removing your baby from the breast briefly if you hear excessive gulping or see him or her struggling to breathe. This allows him or her to catch up and manage the flow.
  3. Support the jaw and cheeks: Sometimes, gentle support to the baby’s jaw or cheeks can help them maintain a more stable, efficient suck. I can demonstrate specific techniques for this.
  4. Burping effectively: While burping won’t get rid of all swallowed air, upright burping positions and gentle back rubs can help release some of it.
  5. Pre-feed oral preparation: Gentle oral massage or stretches before a feed can sometimes ‘wake up’ the oral muscles and improve coordination.

Addressing the ‘Great Air Debate’ isn’t about blaming anyone; it’s about empowering parents with a deeper understanding of their baby’s feeding mechanics. By focusing on the how, not just the what, we can often resolve persistent feeding challenges, reduce discomfort, and make breastfeeding a more joyful, peaceful experience for both you and your little one.

If you suspect your baby’s gassiness or reflux symptoms are related to how they are managing air during feeds, don’t hesitate to reach out for a specialist assessment.

Sonja McGeachie

Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

Health Professions Council registered
Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
Member of ASLTIP

Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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    Explaining pronoun reversal: A window into gestalt language processing

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding
    Explaining pronoun reversal: A window into gestalt language processing

    Have you noticed your child referring to themselves as ‘you’, or calling you ‘me’? This seemingly confusing mix-up of pronouns, known as pronoun reversal, often raises concerns for parents. Below I outline why your child does this and want to reassure you that it is to do with his or her unique language learning style.

    Gestalt language processing: Learning in chunks

    Many children, particularly those on the autism spectrum, use a gestalt language processing approach. Unlike analytic language processors who learn individual words and build sentences, gestalt language processors learn language in whole ‘chunks’ or ‘gestalts’. Think of these gestalts as pre-packaged scripts they pick up from their environment — phrases, sentences, even snippets of songs or movie lines.

    As Marge Blanc, author of Natural language acquisition on the autism spectrum, explains, ‘When a child picks up an entire gestalt (script), he’s got the pronoun of the original speaker. So ‘pronoun reversal’ is nothing more than that.’

    So your child is simply repeating what they’ve heard, without yet understanding the individual word meanings or grammatical functions.

    Imagine your child hearing ‘You want a rice cake?’ repeated frequently. They might then use this phrase to express their own desire for a rice cake, even though it doesn’t grammatically fit. So they are thinking and saying ‘You want a rice cake?’ and the meaning of this phrase is: ‘I want a rice cake’. This isn’t a sign of confusion, but a natural step in their language development. They’re working with the tools they have: the scripts they’ve acquired.

    How can we support their natural language journey

    Instead of trying to ‘correct’ pronoun usage, our role as caregivers and speech therapists is to support the child’s natural language progression. Here’s how we can do this:

    1. Learn about their gestalt stage and run with it: In the early stages (1–3) of gestalt language development, correcting pronouns can be counterproductive. These children are still processing language as whole units, not individual words. Direct corrections can lead to frustration and hinder their natural language exploration.
    2. Patience and trust: Gestalt language processing follows a predictable, albeit sometimes non-linear, path. By understanding their current stage, we can provide targeted support. Language sampling and scoring, guided by the Natural Language Acquisition framework, help us pinpoint their stage and tailor our approach.
    3. Model language strategically: In the early stages, avoid using pronouns like ‘you’ and ‘you’re’. Instead, model language from the child’s perspective or use joint perspectives. For example, instead of ‘Are you thirsty?’, try ‘I’m thirsty!’ or ‘Let’s get some water’,

    The big picture: Language unfolds naturally

    Pronoun reversal is a stepping stone, not a stumbling block. As gestalt language processors progress, they begin to break down these gestalts into smaller units and develop their own self-generated language. This is when their understanding and use of pronouns naturally emerge.

    By shifting our perspective from ‘error correction’ to ‘developmental support’, we create a nurturing environment for these children to thrive. We empower them to navigate their unique language journey, ultimately leading to more meaningful and independent communication.

    So, to summarise:

    • Pronoun reversal is a typical characteristic of early-stage gestalt language processing.
    • Focus on modelling language from the child’s perspective or a joint perspective.
    • Avoid correcting pronouns in the early stages.
    • Trust the process and support the child’s natural language development.

    Let’s celebrate the diverse ways our children learn to communicate and empower them to find their unique voice!

    If you have any questions or would like some help with understanding your little gestalt language learner, please get in touch with me via my contact form.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

    Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

    Health Professions Council registered
    Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
    Member of ASLTIP

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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  • ·

    Target activities and games

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding
    Target Activities and Games For Kids
    Target Activities and Games For Kids

    Target Activities and Games

    AMAZINGLY EASY Activities that we can do at home and in the clinic to help our children practise those targets!

    I bet you have wondered what amazing things are done by a therapist in the clinic that you could not possibly do at home…? Well, if so I am here to tell you that you will be absolutely fine with just a few select toys and games and you will be able to get those targets done in a jiffy!

    What we clinicians do very well and what you probably can’t do yourself is formulate and design the targets that are important for your child to practice. Once we have assessed or reviewed your child’s progress and needs we can then design the perfect next step of targets for you.

    So for example, we have decided your little one needs to be practicing their ‘r’ sounds at the beginning of short words. We decided that based on our clinical expertise and our assessment and we have already worked with your child and managed to get this tricky ‘r’ sound just about right on its own. Now we are ready for short word practice.

    It has been researched that in order for the brain pathways to re-shape or reform we need to get about 100 words in per day of our target sound. That sounds like quite a lot, right? But actually….. it’s not that bad. After all you only need to say 5-7 words about 20 times and hey presto that’s about 80-100 words.

    So here are some simple games I use in my clinic all the time and these games are easily available online or in your local toy shops and this is how to do them:

    Pop the Pirate

    Pop the Pirate, sooo good and popular:

    Lay out your target words which you will have been given by your speech therapist and put a few swords on each word.

    Each time your child picks up a sword they will need to say the target word 5 x, like:

    rip rip rip rip rip or run run run run run just like that in a row, bish bash bosh.

    Then they can stick the sword into the barrel. Onto the next sword which they can pick and then again

    race race race race race and stick in another sword

    So with this little lot I put out 5 target words and 3 swords on each.

    You will therefore get…… 15 words per picture, and that makes….75 words , there that is nearly all you need to do.

    If you then do another little game like this one:

    Magnetic board game

    This is a Magnetic Board game, and they are suddenly EVERYWHERE. But you could also just take a baking sheet and some fridge magnet you might have kicking about.

    Same principle as before, but now since this is your SECOND game of the day and you have already got 75 targets under your belt you only need to do one more round of 5 target words each:

    Each time your child picks up a magnet piece they will say the target word 5 more times:

    Ray ray ray ray ray and DONE you will now at the end of this short round have 105!! target words done with just two little fun games.

    How good is this? Your child won’t hardly notice that they are in fact doing their speech therapy homework.

    You’re welcome 🙂

    Get in touch if you would like me to help finding good targets for your child to work on. They can be speech and/or language targets with this game method.

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

  • ·

    Let’s relax about making EYE CONTACT already…

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    There’s been a long tradition with teaching staff and with Speech and Language Therapists working in schools that eye contact should be a goal. It is well known that Autistic individuals (whether that be children or adults) mostly avoid eye contact. Whilst it’s part of the way we communicate, it shouldn’t be used as a necessity for an individual who feels that it is uncomfortable. Whilst it does show that you’re listening and showing an interest, it’s not a fair expectation for neurodiverse children.

    Autistic children can find making and maintaining eye contact physically and emotionally uncomfortable as well as unnatural. It adds an extra layer of stress and has been reported to increase distractions rather than reduce them. Children who engage in conversations in their own way (i.e., with reduced eye contact) are not shown to suffer with schooling, work, or social interaction.

    By having fun through meaningful activities, I often experience that ‘BINGO’ moment (a phrase coined by Alex @meaningfulspeech) where the child is enjoying themselves and naturally makes eye contact. There is no demand on them, they are in a fun, engaging environment which suit their strengths and supports their needs.

    Following this, I often reflect on this question ‘Should we make eye contact as a goal?’

    It very much depends on the situation. If it places more demands on the child and becomes stressful. Then no. There are many strategies we can use which gain eye contact without placing extra demands on the child. We need to be mindful to adapt the environment and not place neurotypical expectations to meet the needs of neurodiverse children.

    How can you encourage eye contact without demand?

    • If you’re using toys, try holding them up to your eye level.
    • You can adjust your position, try sitting face to face during play.
    • Always get down to your child’s level. This might mean that you lay on the floor if your child is positioned in this way.
    • During play, waiting is extremely powerful. Before a key part of the activity, wait and see if your child looks at you. Remember silence is golden!
    • The best way I find is: do something unusual during play. It might be that you spray shaving foam with the lid still on. Or you bring out a wow toy and make it spin/light up or make a noise. A balloon can be good – see video clip. Use the excitement of the activity, and wait to see if you achieve that ‘BINGO’ moment.
    • Create opportunities when there are no toys involved such as during ‘tickles’ or ‘hide and seek’. Autistic children find it difficult to shift their attention between a toy and an adult. So by removing one option, you’re setting them up to succeed.

    Remember, it takes practice and time for you to develop these skills. Try one at a time and experiment, see which works best for your child. If you need speech, language or communication support or advice, I am always here to help.

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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  • · ·

    My child is hard to understand at school age. Should I be concerned?

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    Many parents notice speech errors when their children are toddlers. At that stage it often feels quite normal. Young children are still learning the sounds of their language, and those early mispronunciations can be very endearing.

    But as children grow older, parents sometimes begin to wonder:

    ‘Should my child still be speaking like this?’

    A common concern I hear from families is that their child is still difficult to understand even after starting school. Sometimes it is a parent who notices it first. Other times it is a teacher who gently mentions that classmates occasionally struggle to understand what a child is saying.

    When this happens, parents naturally wonder whether it is something their child will grow out of, or whether some extra support might help.

    When should children’s speech be clear?

    Children learn speech sounds gradually over several years. Some sounds develop earlier, while others take longer to master.

    By the time children reach five to six years of age, most of their speech should be clear enough for unfamiliar adults to understand. There may still be a few tricky sounds developing (such as /R/ or /TH/), but overall speech should be fairly easy to follow.

    If a child is frequently difficult to understand at school age, it can sometimes indicate that a speech sound difficulty has persisted beyond the stage when it would normally resolve on its own.

    Why some children remain hard to understand

    There are several reasons why speech clarity may still be developing in older children.

    Phonological patterns

    Some children continue to use speech patterns that are typical of younger children. For example:

    • saying ‘tat’ instead of ‘cat’
    • saying ‘doe’ instead of ‘go’
    • leaving sounds out of words

    These patterns are called phonological processes. They are a normal part of early speech development, but when they persist into the school years they can make speech difficult for others to understand.

    Difficulty producing specific sounds

    Other children may have difficulty producing certain individual sounds clearly. This might include sounds such as:

    • /S/
    • /SH/
    • /R/
    • /TH/

    These difficulties are called articulation difficulties.

    A child might understand exactly what they want to say but find it hard to produce the sound accurately with their tongue, lips or airflow.

    Motor speech planning challenges

    For some children, the difficulty lies in the planning and coordination of the movements needed for speech.

    Speech requires very precise timing between the tongue, lips, jaw and breath. If the brain finds it difficult to organise these movements consistently, speech can sound unclear or inconsistent.

    In some cases this may relate to Childhood Apraxia of Speech, although only a full assessment can determine this.

    Why clarity matters for school-age children

    Speech clarity becomes particularly important once children start school.

    At this stage, children are:

    • Answering questions in class
    • Talking with friends
    • Reading aloud
    • Developing confidence in communication

    When speech is difficult to understand, children sometimes become more hesitant to speak, particularly in group situations.

    This can affect confidence and participation, even when the child has lots of ideas they would like to share.

    The good news: speech can improve

    The encouraging news is that speech sound difficulties can often improve significantly with the right support.

    Speech therapy focuses on helping children:

    • Learn how sounds are produced
    • Practise accurate speech movements
    • Understand how sounds change meaning in words
    • Build consistency through structured practice

    Different children benefit from different therapy approaches. Some need support with phonological patterns, while others benefit from more motor-based practice that strengthens speech coordination.

    Often therapy combines several strategies to support the child’s individual speech profile.

    When to seek advice

    If your child is already at school and you find that people outside the family often struggle to understand them, it can be helpful to seek advice from a speech and language therapist.

    A detailed assessment can help identify:

    • Which sounds are causing difficulty
    • Whether patterns such as fronting or sound substitutions are present
    • Whether motor planning challenges may be contributing
    • Which therapy approach is likely to be most effective

    Early support can help children develop clearer speech and greater confidence in communication.

    Every child’s speech journey is different

    Speech development is not the same for every child. Some children master speech sounds quickly, while others need a little more guidance along the way.

    The important thing is that support is available when children need it.

    With the right strategies and practice, many children make excellent progress and develop speech that is clearer, more confident and easier for others to understand. If you are concerned about your child’s speech clarity or ongoing speech sound errors, a speech and language assessment can help identify the underlying difficulty and guide the most appropriate support.

    Feel free to contact me on my contact page.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

    Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

    Health Professions Council registered
    Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
    Member of ASLTIP

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

    3
  • ·

    Why tongue lateralisation matters: The hidden feeding skill that every toddler needs

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    When parents think about feeding milestones, they often focus on what their child is eating. Are they accepting lumps? Will they eat vegetables? Are they managing finger foods?

    However, one of the most important skills happening behind the scenes is something many parents have never heard of: tongue lateralisation.

    Tongue lateralisation simply means the tongue’s ability to move from side to side inside the mouth. Although this sounds like a small movement, it is one of the key building blocks for safe chewing, efficient eating and later speech development.

    As a Speech and Language Therapist specialising in infant feeding, I frequently assess children who have delayed or absent tongue lateralisation. The encouraging news is that this skill can often be developed. But like many areas of development, there is an optimal window during which children learn it most naturally.

    What does the tongue actually do during eating?

    Eating is an incredibly complex process involving the lips, jaw, cheeks, tongue and swallowing muscles all working together.

    For mature chewing, the tongue needs to:

    • move food from the centre of the mouth onto the back gums and molars
    • keep the food positioned while the jaw chews
    • collect scattered pieces of food from around the mouth
    • reform the chewed food into a single cohesive bolus
    • move that bolus safely to the middle of the tongue before swallowing.

    Without good tongue lateralisation, food often stays in the middle or front of the mouth where it cannot be chewed effectively.

    Children may compensate by:

    • swallowing pieces whole
    • mashing food with the front teeth only
    • relying on sucking instead of chewing
    • holding food in their cheeks
    • gagging frequently
    • refusing more challenging textures altogether.

    These children are often described as ‘fussy eaters’, when in reality they may simply lack the oral motor skills needed to manage more advanced textures comfortably.

    When should tongue lateralisation develop?

    Tongue lateralisation begins to emerge during the second half of the first year of life as babies start exploring textured foods.

    Between approximately 6 and 12 months, babies naturally begin learning to move food sideways towards their gums for early chewing. As molars develop during the second year, these movements become more refined and efficient.

    This period represents an important developmental window because babies are biologically programmed to experiment with increasingly varied textures. Repeated opportunities to chew different foods strengthen the tongue, jaw and cheek muscles while building the complex movement patterns needed for mature eating.

    If a child remains on smooth purées or very soft foods for too long, they may miss hundreds of opportunities to practise these essential movements.

    Why does this developmental window matter?

    Like learning to crawl, walk or ride a bicycle, oral motor skills develop through repeated practice.

    Children who do not experience enough chewing opportunities during infancy can sometimes continue to rely on immature sucking and munching patterns well into toddlerhood.

    This does not mean the opportunity is completely lost after infancy. Many toddlers can still learn tongue lateralisation successfully with the right support. However, the longer an immature pattern is used, the more established it becomes, making change more challenging.

    That is why early assessment is so valuable.

    Signs your toddler may have poor tongue lateralisation

    You may notice your child:

    • chews mainly with the front teeth
    • bites but does not chew efficiently
    • keeps food in the centre of the mouth
    • pockets food in the cheeks
    • frequently spits out textured foods
    • gags on lumps
    • prefers soft foods
    • swallows before food has been adequately chewed
    • takes a very long time to finish meals.

    Not every child showing these signs has an oral motor difficulty, but they do warrant further assessment.

    How can we encourage tongue lateralisation?

    The good news is that the tongue learns through experience.

    One of the best ways to encourage side-to-side movement is by offering long, resistive foods that naturally encourage the tongue to move food towards the side gums for chewing. We also call them sometimes HARD MUNCHABLES – they look like on the following image.

    Hard munchablers

    Examples include:

    • mango pits with most of the flesh removed
    • pineapple core strips
    • thick steak strips
    • cooked pork strips
    • peeled celery sticks
    • thick cucumber spears
    • roasted pepper strips
    • corn on the cob cut into manageable rounds
    • dehydrated apple rings
    • large clean cooked rib bones with a little meat remaining for supervised chewing practice.

    These foods are not intended for children to consume large pieces quickly. Instead, they provide resistance that encourages the jaw, cheeks and tongue to work together while giving valuable sensory feedback.

    A simple technique that can help

    Some toddlers struggle because they never naturally move food to the side of their mouths.

    In these cases, placing a long strip of food gently onto the side gums can sometimes trigger the chewing pattern automatically. This gives the tongue an opportunity to experience where chewing should occur.

    This should always be done calmly, with the child sitting upright and under close adult supervision.

    Every child develops differently

    Some children are more likely to experience delayed tongue lateralisation than others.

    This may include children who:

    • remained on purées for an extended period
    • have developmental delays
    • have low muscle tone
    • were born prematurely
    • have significant sensory processing differences
    • have experienced prolonged tube feeding or medical conditions affecting feeding.

    A feeding assessment can identify whether tongue movement, jaw stability, sensory processing or another factor is contributing to the difficulty.

    Early intervention makes a difference

    One of the biggest misconceptions I hear is:

    ‘They’ll grow out of it.’

    Some children do. Others don’t.

    Without intervention, inefficient chewing patterns can persist for years, affecting food variety, mealtime confidence and nutritional intake. In some cases, immature oral motor patterns may also contribute to unclear speech production later on, although feeding and speech skills do not always develop at the same rate.

    The earlier we identify a problem, the easier it usually is to help children develop more mature, efficient chewing patterns.

    Final thoughts

    Tongue lateralisation may not be a term many parents recognise, but it is one of the foundations of successful feeding.

    By offering opportunities to chew a variety of safe textures during infancy, parents help build the complex tongue movements needed for efficient eating throughout childhood.

    If your toddler still struggles with chewing, gags on textured foods, or seems unable to move food around their mouth, don’t simply wait and hope they will outgrow it. A comprehensive feeding assessment can identify exactly where the difficulty lies and provide practical strategies tailored to your child’s needs.

    Sometimes a few small changes at the right time can make a lifetime of difference. Do get in touch with me. I would love to hear from you and help your little one develop good chewing skills and eating habits.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

    Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

    Health Professions Council registered
    Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
    Member of ASLTIP

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

    3
  • ·

    Tongue training: Why tongue placement matters for clear speech

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    As speech and Language therapists (SLTs), we know that where your tongue goes, so goes your sound. This blog post will explore why tongue placement is so vital for speech correction and how we use tools and techniques to help our clients find their ‘sweet spot’ for sound production.

    Let me show you here a little video clip where I am using my dentist’s mouth/teeth model to help my clients navigate their tongue movements.

    The tongue: A tiny muscle with a big job

    The tongue is a small but mighty muscle. It’s incredibly versatile, playing a key role in eating, swallowing, and, of course, speaking. For each speech sound, the tongue, along with the lips and jaw, needs to move to a very specific spot. Think of it like a dance: every part of your mouth has a choreographed movement to produce the correct sound. If the tongue is out of sync, the sound comes out muffled, distorted, or just plain wrong.

    The trouble with our tongue movements is that most of us never think about how the tongue has to move and what it does to: swallow, chew, drink, suck and speak. Most parents when asked to think about their own tongue placement for say the /S/ sound are completely lost as to what their tongue is doing. Yet, of course, they produce a perfect /S/ and perfect speech in general. The same goes for swallowing. When did you last think about what happens in your mouth when you swallow? I bet you have not thought about it. We ‘just do it’, right?

    Why is tongue placement so important?

    Accurate tongue placement is the foundation of clear articulation. When a child struggles with a particular sound, it’s often because his or her tongue isn’t quite reaching the right spot or moving in the correct way. For example, the /S/ sound requires the tongue to be slightly raised and positioned behind the top teeth, creating a narrow channel for air to flow through. If the tongue is too far forward, you might get a /TH/ sound instead. If it’s too far back, the /S/ can sound muffled.

    Visual aids: Our secret weapon

    We SLTs love our visual aids! They’re incredibly helpful for showing clients exactly where their tongue needs to be. Here are some of our favourite tools:

    • Mirrors: Mirrors provide instant feedback. Clients can see their tongue’s position and make adjustments in real-time. We often use hand mirrors or even the mirror on a compact for quick checks.
    • Tongue depressors: These simple tools can gently guide the tongue to the correct position. We might use them to show where the tongue tip should rest for the /L/ sound or how the sides of the tongue should touch the molars for the /K/ and /G/ sounds.
    • Diagrams and models: Pictures and models of the mouth can help clients visualise the tongue’s movements. We might use a cross-section diagram of the mouth to show how the tongue forms different sounds.

    Beyond the tongue: The jaw’s role

    While the tongue takes centre stage, the jaw plays a supporting role. It provides a stable base for the tongue and helps control the opening and closing of the mouth. Sometimes, jaw stability is an issue, and we might use techniques to help clients find a comfortable and stable jaw position.

    Making it fun and engaging

    Learning correct tongue placement can be challenging, but we make it fun! We use games, stories, and playful activities to keep clients motivated. For younger children, we might use silly voices or pretend to be animals. For older children, we might incorporate their interests, like using a car analogy for tongue movements.

    The takeaway

    Correct tongue placement is essential for clear speech. By using visual aids, interactive techniques, and a bit of creativity, we can help our clients master their speech sounds and communicate with confidence.

    If you have any concerns about your child’s speech, don’t hesitate to reach out to a qualified speech and language therapist, we are here to help! Contact me via my contact form.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Early Intervention Speech and Language Therapist

    Feeding and Dysphagia (Swallowing) Specialist The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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