Why is the baby sucking on the bottom lip?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Little children do a lot of things that parents don't understand. Moms and dads, in turn, do not always understand whether this behavior is characteristic of the baby or whether it is time to see a doctor. For example, what if the child sucks on the lower lip? Leave him alone, giving him the opportunity to enjoy his favorite pastime? Or is it time to make an appointment with the doctor?

How to recognize the symptom?

Baby sucking his lower lip. Every mother can notice this behavior. The baby actively begins to grab the lower part of the lip, sucks it and licks it with the tongue. Moreover, he can do this both periodically throughout the day, and all day, including during wakefulness and sleep.

This is the norm

Every young mother worries about why the baby sucks the bottom lip. First of all, the task of parents is to determine when he does this, what is the reason for such an action. The absolute norm is if the baby begins to grab the lip whenfeels hungry. This happens when he is still very small, he cannot speak, with such a gesture he shows an adult that it is time to eat. It is absolutely normal for a child to suck on their lower lip when they are thirsty. His mouth is starting to dry out as he tries to eliminate the discomfort with these movements.

It's teeth

If a 5-month-old baby sucks on the lower lip, this behavior may be related to teething. It is worth paying attention to the presence of concomitant symptoms, which include:

• increase in body temperature to 37.5-38 degrees;
• appearance of obvious swelling in the gum area;
• increased salivation;
• many babies develop snot or nasal congestion at the same time as teething.

If the baby behaves as usual, then no action is needed. It's worth being patient. As soon as the teeth come out, this habit will disappear from the baby. If the child is constantly acting up, it is necessary to relieve pain with a cooling gel or pain medication.

It's stressful

If a baby sucks his lower lip at 3 months, then this can also be considered normal. By this time, the baby is already getting used to breastfeeding or bottle feeding, so he repeats the familiar reflex for him.

Many pediatricians claim that if at 3-4 months a child sucks on the lower lip, then this may be due to a sense of fear and stress. If he is separated from his mother, then in this way he tries tocalm down. But he stops doing such actions as soon as he finds himself in the hands of a caring parent.

It is worth noting that in children these habits pass on their own, they do not require any treatment and trips to a psychologist. It is worth being patient, in a few weeks the baby will forget about this habit.

This is not normal

But it is absolutely not the norm if a child sucks the lower lip at the age of 1 year. In this case, this behavior may signal problems:

• Feeling uncomfortable. Perhaps the child has something in pain, such as a tooth, or stomatitis has formed under the lip.
• Overvoltage and severe stress. This behavior is characteristic of irritable and unbalanced people who, due to this habit, also seek to calm themselves.
• The most dangerous situation is when a child simultaneously licks his lips and freezes, tenses up, rolls his eyes, makes monotonous intermittent movements of his limbs. Perhaps this is due to diseases of a neurological nature.

Of course, it is worth observing the frequency of such behavior. If the child licked his lip once or does it after each meal, then you should not take this into account. But you need to be wary if he does this constantly or acts on the lip so actively that puffiness or blood smudges appear on it.

What to do?

What to do if a big enough baby is sucking his bottom lip. Reasons for this behaviorthere are several. First of all, the parent must figure out what's wrong. This requires:

• Talk to him, find out the reason why he does this.
• Watch to see if he starts acting weird, maybe every time he gets punished by a parent.
• Examine his mouth for stomatitis or new teeth erupting. If, as a result of the examination, white deposits were found, then it is worth treating the affected area with a special dental gel.
• Show the child to a specialist: a psychologist or a neurologist.

The way to solve the problem directly depends on the cause of its occurrence. But in no case can not:

• scold the child every time he does this action;
• try to shame him.

In this case, the child may withdraw even more into himself or begin to do it on purpose to annoy the parent. But it is also not worth letting such a habit take its course, it can lead to even more global problems.

Possible Complications

As mentioned earlier, if a child sucks his lip in infancy, then this is absolutely normal and will pass with time. But action is worth taking if the bad habit persists at age one and beyond.

If you do not eliminate it in time, then there is a risk of a number of complications, namely:

• Changing the structureupper teeth. Over time, they will begin to deform, bend towards the lower lip.
• A gap will appear between the upper and lower rows of teeth, which can be eliminated only with the help of surgery or long-term wearing of dental structures.
• Puffiness of the lower lip is formed, visually it will differ markedly from the upper lip and, of course, catch the eye of others. In the future, it will be quite difficult to get rid of such a cosmetic defect.
• If the problem is severely overlooked, the malocclusion will become so obvious that a gap will appear not only between the upper and lower teeth, but also between the lips.
• The risk of bacteria entering the mouth will increase, causing stomach pain and diarrhea.
• As a result of constant sucking, saliva will be actively produced, due to prolonged contact with the skin, it will begin to irritate the cheeks and chin.

In order to prevent the development of complications, it is worthwhile to pay attention to the distinctive behavior of the child in a timely manner, identify its cause, visit a competent specialist and adhere to the treatment measures prescribed by him.

Treatment

If the problem is neurological, the neurologist will usually prescribe sedatives or anticonvulsants. If the problem is dental in nature, the dentist may prescribe an anesthetic or antibacterial gel. But, if such behavior is not associated with a disease, but isbad habit, then take care of how to wean the child from sucking the lower lip, the mother should, adhering to psychological advice:

• First of all, you should show your child how ugly it looks from the outside. Perhaps he will see this behavior, he will not like the way it looks, and he will try not to repeat these actions again.
• You can come up with a reward system, for example, if a child does not do this for one week, then the parent takes him to an amusement park. At first, he will try not to suck his lip for the sake of interest, and then this habit will disappear.
• You can also smear your lips with something spicy, like mustard or aloe juice. But do not overdo it with this component, as skin irritation or problems with the gastrointestinal tract may occur.
• If the child is between 6 and 18 months old, you can give him a pacifier.

When a child is busy with his own affairs and at the same time constantly sucks his lip, then you should be alert, watch his further behavior. It can be a bad habit that leads to various complications, or a symptom of a serious illness that requires immediate treatment.