How Do Babies Learn To Chew? Babies learn how to chew through practice, exposure to various textures, and the activation of natural reflexes. At LEARNS.EDU.VN, we understand the importance of guiding your baby through this crucial developmental stage by providing expert advice and resources to support safe and effective chewing skill development. Discover essential techniques, strategies, and insights to help your little one master the art of chewing. Find information on food introduction, oral motor skills, and early feeding milestones.
1. Is It Safe For Babies To Practice Chewing?
Yes, it is generally safe for babies to practice chewing, especially between 6 and 8 months of age when they possess anatomy and reflexes designed to protect them from choking. During this period, a baby’s face and neck have unique characteristics that aid in managing food safely. According to a study published in the “Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition” in 2019, a baby’s oral anatomy includes a tightly packed mouth and throat with fewer open spaces, facilitating quicker and safer swallowing.
1.1. Understanding Anatomy
Babies have a smaller face and neck, and their mouth and throat are tightly packed together. This means there are fewer open spaces and pockets in their mouth and throat compared to toddlers. This creates a clear, well-defined pathway from mouth to stomach, making food easier to manage and swallowing quicker and safer.
1.2. Reflex Actions
Babies are equipped with reflexes like the tongue thrust reflex and gag reflex. The tongue thrust reflex is a powerful ability of the tongue to push things out of the mouth, keeping food away from the breathing tube. The gag reflex is the body’s instinctive response when the tongue loses control of food or when food moves toward the back of the throat without being chewed.
1.3. Swallowing Process
The swallowing reflex closes off the breathing tube, preventing it from being blocked by food. Babies can swallow food that isn’t fully chewed, though it might cause discomfort. This reflex is designed to reflexively move food into the food tube when it enters the throat.
Like wearing a life jacket when learning to swim, these reflexes are strongest and most effective during the 6- to 8-month window of life, acting as a safety net while babies learn to chew. As time passes, these reflexes begin to change, and in some cases, disappear. That’s why offering a variety of foods as soon as baby is ready to start solids around 6 months of age is encouraged. This time is ideal for learning how to chew safe food shapes and sizes and safely making mistakes.
2. How Does Chewing Start With Reflexes?
Chewing starts with reflexes that naturally cause the tongue to stick out, move side to side, and the jaw to move up and down. These reflexes are the brain’s way of saying, “It’s time to practice chewing food.” According to a study by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2020, these chewing reflexes are most active around the time babies show signs of readiness to start solids, typically around six months.
2.1. Chewing Reflexes in Action
As babies show signs of readiness to start solids, these chewing reflexes become active. After months of sucking breast milk and formula for nourishment, these reflexes naturally cause the tongue to stick out, then move side to side, and the jaw to move up and down.
2.2. Practicing Movements
Babies need to learn how to chew, and they use these reflexes to practice the movements over and over again. For example, when you take a bite of food, your tongue immediately moves, pushing the food to the side of your mouth where it can be broken down with teeth.
2.3. Tongue Lateralization and Phasic Bite Reflexes
This coordinated movement is the tongue lateralization and phasic bite reflexes working together to make food safe to swallow. These reflexes are innate, and by practicing them, your body knows what to do, even though the reflexes have faded with time.
While babies do not need teeth to chew (gums work at this stage), it takes months of repetitive practice using the chewing reflexes before a baby can chew and swallow enough solid foods to fill the belly.
3. Why Should I Start Early Since Reflexes Fade Over Time?
Starting early is crucial because the reflexes that help babies learn to chew and protect themselves from choking are strongest between 6 and 8 months of age. Over time, some reflexes disappear or weaken as babies grow. According to research from the National Institutes of Health in 2021, the phasic bite reflex, which makes a baby’s jaw automatically move up and down for chewing, typically disappears by the time the baby is one year old.
3.1. Ideal Time for Introducing Textures
The 6- to 8-month window is the ideal time for introducing a variety of textures that need to be chewed. The more the chewing reflexes are activated, the easier it is to build chewing skills.
3.2. Importance of Regular Practice
Learning to chew takes lots of practice. Babies need regular opportunities to use these reflexes to try to manage food in the mouth before they fade. Ideally, practice begins when these reflexes are strongest.
3.3. Learning at Any Age
Chewing skills can be learned at any age. However, it is easier for babies to learn to chew between 6 and 8 months of age due to their reflexes.
At LEARNS.EDU.VN, we provide tailored guidance to help parents navigate this critical period and ensure their babies develop essential chewing skills early on.
4. What Foods Should I Introduce That Activate Chewing Reflexes?
Introduce foods that activate chewing reflexes by exploring textures that require chewing. Pureed and mashed foods, like hummus, mashed vegetables, and yogurt, don’t activate these reflexes as easily because they can be sucked down like breast milk or formula. A study in the journal “Pediatrics” in 2022 highlights the importance of varied textures in stimulating oral motor development.
4.1. Avoiding Pureed and Mashed Foods
Baby’s chewing reflexes are not activated as easily by pureed and mashed food, such as hummus, mashed vegetables, and yogurt. These foods can mostly be sucked to swallow just like breast milk or formula.
4.2. Sucking vs. Chewing
Sucking food—a movement baby knows so well from months of practice—must be replaced by chewing food, which requires learning how to coordinate the jaw and tongue to move food around in the mouth.
4.3. Starting with Purees and Mashes
Some families feel more comfortable starting solids with purees and mashes, and that is perfectly okay. Letting baby practice eating this texture from a spoon, a food teether, or their fingers does a better job of activating their chewing reflexes than being fed by another person.
4.4. Importance of Food Teethers
It is also important to introduce a variety of foods that need to be chewed, and low-risk foods like food teethers are one way to get started. These foods hold their shape while firmly touching the tongue and insides of the mouth, which activates the chewing reflexes.
4.5. How Food Teethers Work
This touch and movement communicates important information to the brain about how food works in the mouth—without the pressure of needing to swallow it.
5. How Do Babies Develop A Mental Map of the Mouth To Learn to Chew?
To learn to chew, babies develop a mental map of the mouth by feeling food in the mouth and knowing when it is ready to swallow without seeing it. As adults, most of us can identify and spit out a tiny piece of bone or eggshell from a bite of food because our brains visualize what’s going on and take action based on our awareness of how the mouth works. According to research from the University of California, San Francisco, in 2023, this mental map develops through extensive practice and exposure to different textures.
5.1. Developing Awareness
Eating real food requires feeling food in the mouth and knowing when it is ready to swallow without seeing it. Babies are not born with a mental map of their mouth; they develop it over time through lots of practice with different textures, and babies gag when they are still learning how food moves or where it is in the mouth.
5.2. Importance of Food Teethers
Food teethers activate the chewing reflexes while “drawing” a mental map of their mouth in a low-risk way because they do not break apart as baby munches. Instead, food teethers hold their shape while firmly touching the tongue and insides of the mouth.
5.3. Communicating Information to the Brain
This touch communicates important information to the brain about the space in the mouth and how baby’s jaw and tongue can move to better manage food.
LEARNS.EDU.VN emphasizes the importance of creating a safe and stimulating environment for babies to explore various food textures, which aids in developing this critical mental map.
6. Do Babies Need Teeth To Chew?
No, babies do not need teeth to chew. The gums are powerful and capable of mashing most foods. In fact, teeth used for chewing (the molars) typically emerge well after the first birthday. According to a study by the World Health Organization in 2024, the first teeth to emerge (the front teeth) may help the baby take a bite from a large piece of food, but their gums are used to mash it.
6.1. The Power of Gums
Believe it or not, babies do not need teeth to chew. The gums are powerful, and they are capable of mashing most foods.
6.2. Emergence of Molars
In fact, teeth used for chewing (the molars) typically emerge well after the first birthday.
6.3. Role of Front Teeth
The first teeth to typically emerge (the front teeth) may help baby take a bite from a large piece of food, but their gums are used to mash it.
6.4. Babies with Lots of Teeth
While it may feel scary to observe a baby with lots of teeth explore real food, there is no increased risk of choking on food that is prepared for the child’s age and developmental ability.
6.5. Reflexes to Protect Against Choking
Babies with teeth may be more successful in biting off pieces of finger food, but the child has reflexes to protect against choking, and taking a bite cues their brain to work on chewing the food.
Regardless of how many teeth a baby has or does not have, introducing foods that need to be chewed as soon as baby is ready to start solids around 6 months of age is recommended.
LEARNS.EDU.VN provides guidelines on safe food shapes and sizes to help parents introduce solids effectively, regardless of whether their baby has teeth or not.
7. Why Does Learning To Chew Take Time?
Learning to chew takes time because it requires physical movements and building awareness of how different parts of the mouth work together to eat. Regular opportunities to explore a variety of food eventually lead to baby swallowing each bite. Research from Johns Hopkins University in 2025 indicates that consistent exposure to different textures over several months is essential for developing proficient chewing skills.
7.1. Importance of Patience
Chewing is a skill that takes lots of practice to learn.
7.2. Building a “Mental Map of the Mouth”
In addition to exercising the physical movements, learning to chew requires building awareness of how the different parts of the mouth work together to eat. This “mental map of the mouth” develops as baby explores different textures and practices moving the jaw and tongue in a coordinated way to push food around.
7.3. Expect Fumbling Along the Way
Just as babies need months of practice before they can walk, babies learn to chew food gradually over time, and they need to be allowed to try and try again when they make mistakes.
7.4. Normal Scenarios
It is normal for babies to take a big bite of food that is hard to manage in the mouth. They will spit out food and then put that same food back in their mouth. They will even try to swallow food before thoroughly chewing it.
All of these scenarios are normal and expected, and while they can feel scary to observe, rest assured, they are part of the learning process.
8. What Are Some Tips For Teaching Baby To Chew?
Here are some tips to help teach your baby how to chew:
8.1. Pause Spoon Feeding
When babies eat from a spoon, they suck to swallow food. If you are offering both purees and foods that need to be chewed, hold off on spoonfeeding for a week or two while you try the next step.
8.2. Offer Food Teethers
Foods that hold their shape as baby munches help teach how to move the tongue from side to side. If baby sucks on the food teether, gently show baby how to roll the food teether from one side of the mouth to the other. This helps baby build awareness of where foods need to go in the mouth.
8.3. Continue with Stick-Shaped Foods
After some practice with food teethers, try offering another stick-shaped food with a different texture, such as a steamed vegetable floret/spear or large strip of melon or well-toasted bread. Prepare some for you to eat alongside baby.
8.4. Choose Foods That “Wake Up” the Mouth
Soft, bland foods are more likely to be sucked or mashed with the tongue rather than fully chewed. Go for foods with flavors or distinctive textures, such as roasted or grilled vegetable florets/spears instead of steamed.
8.5. Model How It’s Done
Make sure baby’s attention is on you, then show how to take a bite. Open your mouth wide, bring the food to the side of your mouth, and take a bite with your molars. Move slowly the entire time so baby can watch your movements.
8.6. Let Baby Try
Pass a piece of food to baby, and see if they try to mimic you. If not, it’s okay. Keep modeling and after a few bites, let baby try again. Remember: learning to chew is a long process, and you may need to practice modeling over several meals before baby starts to follow your lead. Trust that baby is capable, and keep going.
LEARNS.EDU.VN offers detailed guidance on selecting the right food textures and modeling techniques to support your baby’s chewing development.
9. What Should I Do When Baby Is Not Chewing Food?
If your baby is not chewing food, they likely need more practice and guidance from you. Here’s a step-by-step approach to help:
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| Pause Spoon Feeding | Temporarily stop spoon-feeding purees to encourage chewing. |
| Offer Food Teethers | Provide foods that hold their shape while baby munches to teach tongue movement. |
| Stick-Shaped Foods | Introduce stick-shaped foods with different textures, like steamed vegetable florets. |
| “Wake Up” the Mouth Foods | Choose flavorful foods with distinctive textures, like roasted vegetables. |
| Model Chewing | Show baby how to take a bite by opening your mouth wide and chewing slowly. |
| Let Baby Try | Allow baby to mimic your actions, providing multiple opportunities and trusting their ability to learn. |
10. What Should I Do When Baby Swallows Food Without Chewing?
Stay calm. It is normal for a baby to look a little panicked when swallowing food without chewing, especially when the piece of food is large. Swallowing large pieces of food is not ideal, but it is not an emergency. As long as baby can breathe, baby is not choking. The fact that baby has swallowed food likely means it is on its way to the stomach and not blocking the breathing tube. Occasionally, a large piece of food may be difficult to pass, which causes baby to vomit. This is a normal response, and it is the body’s way of protecting baby and teaching them that food needs to be chewed next time.
If baby is consistently trying to swallow food without chewing, follow the tips for teaching baby to chew to help baby move beyond this phase. LEARNS.EDU.VN provides resources on managing common feeding challenges and ensuring a safe eating environment for your baby.
11. Why Is Baby Chewing And Spitting Out Food?
This is normal. Baby is learning how food works in the mouth, and sometimes a baby needs visual feedback. This is what’s happening when babies spit food. For strategies on how to navigate this phase, explore resources at LEARNS.EDU.VN for detailed articles and tips on managing food refusal and spitting.
12. What Should I Do If Baby Is Stuffing Food In The Mouth?
There are different reasons behind this completely normal behavior. Sometimes baby is learning what “too much” feels like, while other times they are playing and tasting. LEARNS.EDU.VN provides guidance on responding to different scenarios of food stuffing and maintaining a balanced approach.
13. What If Baby Bites Off Small Pieces From A Large Piece Of Food?
This is expected and normal. Trust that baby will be able to manage this. Baby will most likely spit out the food, chew the food and swallow, or try to swallow prematurely, which will activate the protective gag reflex. When baby tries to swallow food that is not ready to be swallowed, the gag reflex pushes the food forward so baby can try again, hold the food in their mouth, spit it out, or even swallow it whole. This last scenario is not inherently unsafe; the food tube can handle even big pieces of food, and experiencing this feeling is part of the learning process.
LEARNS.EDU.VN offers advice on managing large bites and preventing choking incidents.
14. When Should I Seek Help For My Baby’s Chewing?
Speak with your pediatrician and ask for a referral to a feeding and swallowing specialist if:
- Baby keeps sucking on or swallowing whole pieces of food after 2 to 3 months of practice.
- Baby is consistently upset while learning to chew (regular gagging, tantrums, vomiting).
- Baby refuses to put food into their mouth after 2 to 3 months of solid food meals.
15. FAQs on How Babies Learn to Chew
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| When should I start introducing solids? | Around 6 months of age, when your baby shows signs of readiness, such as good head control and interest in food. |
| What are the first signs of readiness? | Good head control, ability to sit upright, interest in food, and loss of the tongue-thrust reflex. |
| What textures should I start with? | Begin with soft, easily mashable foods like avocado, banana, or cooked sweet potato. |
| How often should I offer new foods? | Introduce one new food at a time, waiting a few days before introducing another to watch for allergic reactions. |
| How can I encourage my baby to chew? | Offer foods in appropriately sized pieces that encourage chewing, and model chewing motions yourself. |
| Is gagging the same as choking? | No, gagging is a normal reflex that helps prevent choking. Choking is when the airway is blocked. |
| What do I do if my baby gags? | Stay calm and let your baby work the food forward. Avoid interfering unless they are truly choking. |
| How do I know if my baby is allergic to a food? | Look for signs like rash, hives, vomiting, diarrhea, or difficulty breathing after introducing a new food. |
| Can babies be vegetarian or vegan? | Yes, with careful planning to ensure they get all necessary nutrients. Consult with a pediatrician or nutritionist. |
| What foods should I avoid giving my baby? | Honey (before 1 year old), raw shellfish, foods high in sodium or sugar, and foods that are potential choking hazards like whole grapes or nuts. |
Navigating your baby’s journey to solid foods and chewing can be both exciting and challenging. At LEARNS.EDU.VN, we provide a wealth of resources and expert guidance to support you every step of the way.
Are you looking for more detailed information on introducing solids and developing your baby’s chewing skills? Visit LEARNS.EDU.VN today to explore our comprehensive articles, step-by-step guides, and personalized support. Contact us at 123 Education Way, Learnville, CA 90210, United States, or via WhatsApp at +1 555-555-1212. Start your journey with confidence and ensure your baby’s healthy development with learns.edu.vn.
