Post NICU – Put Your tongue back into your mouth baby😊

Since our discharge, D.’s tongue was always out. There were instances where she kept her tongue in, but it was like 10% of the time.

We asked about this during our doctor’s visits. As her development has been normal, nobody was worried about the tongue being out consistently. One of the reasons we were given was that she lived with a cable running through her mouth to her stomach for about 6 weeks so she developed the habit of keeping her mouth open. We were also told that she would eventually grow out of it.

Eventually she did grow out of it but it took time and completely dissappeared before she turned one.

Some things happen faster than you expect (for me it was her neck muscles getting stronger happened much faster than I expected) and others might take longer (like closing her mouth). Fortunately for some behaviors, you are given corrective exercises. At least, there is something you can do to help. Unfortunately, for some of the behaviors, there is no corrective exercise, and there is literally nothing you can do. Her mouth being open most of the time was one of them.

Luckily, she grew out of it over time. However, it is always a good idea to check with your doctor if yours do it as well.