Why Do Babies Put Everything in Their Mouth?

Why Do Babies Put Everything in Their Mouth?

A baby’s mouth contains more nerve ending than the other parts of his body. That’s why if he really likes to find out what something feels or tastes like, he puts it in his mouth. From the moment he understands about toys and other things he can hold, he also starts to get more interested with it. Babies often put anything on their mouth most especially when a new tooth is starting to break through his gums. Primitively speaking, the instinct to put any object inside the mouth strengthens the muscles of a baby’s tongue and jaws. This also prepares their ability to eat solid foods.

Because mouth is the sense of taste, it is one of the great tools in exploring the texture of things. Babies need to learn and be educated sooner in what types of things they can eat and they cannot. It is how they interact. At this age, sense of sight might still have difficulty in focusing. So it is a better idea for them to use their sense of touch and taste in exploring the physical world.

Unfortunately, even an object is not a food; a baby tends to swallow it due to his basic reflexes. A newborn is still developing the coordination of his muscles and other reflexive actions. It is normal for children to pick up and place things on their mouths so parents must be a lot more careful to prevent choking and poisoning. At the age of three, when a child already understands the things around him, this swallowing and putting anything on the mouth will be stopped. This is because their interests will be focused on something new. Since that they already experienced and explored the things and toys using their mouth, they will definitely understand what to eat and not what to eat under your supervision as well.