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How do baby habits affect your craniofacial development?
Short Answer: If you had shit baby habits, your skull is probably not what it could've been
Introduction
From birth onward, the way a baby uses their mouth and airway plays a major role in how the face develops. Swallowing: Babies swallow thousands of times per day. In ideal development, the tongue presses gently against the roof of the mouth, stimulating the upper jaw (maxilla) to grow wide and forward. Tongue posture: At rest, the tongue should sit against the palate. If it drops low (due to habits like mouth breathing or tongue ties), the palate may grow high and narrow, crowding teeth and affecting nasal airway space. Breathing: Nose breathing is optimal because it encourages correct tongue posture and jaw alignment. Chronic mouth breathing (often due to allergies, enlarged adenoids/tonsils, or airway blockages) can lead to long faces, narrow jaws, and retruded midfaces. These everyday actions, repeated thousands of times in infancy and childhood, guide the direction and harmony of craniofacial growth just as much as genetics.
Reasoning
Breathing (Nasal vs. Mouth)
Kids who breathe mostly through their nose tend to grow with broader jaws and more balanced facial proportions. But if the airway is blocked and they breathe through the mouth, their growth pattern shifts: the face lengthens, the jaws narrow, and the palate can become high and arched. This has been documented in orthodontic and ENT research for decades.
Tongue Posture
The tongue is like a natural expander. When it rests against the roof of the mouth, it encourages the upper jaw (maxilla) to grow wide and forward. If it sits low, the opposite tends to happen the palate rises up, narrows, and teeth may not have enough room.
Swallowing
Babies start with what’s called an “infantile swallow,” where the tongue pushes forward. That’s normal at first. But as teeth come in, the swallow is supposed to mature so the tongue presses against the palate instead of between the teeth. If that transition doesn’t happen, the constant pressure of the tongue can actually shape the teeth and jaws in the wrong direction causing open bites or flared front teeth.
Chewing and Diet
The types of foods children eat also matter. Traditional diets with tough, fibrous foods encouraged stronger jaw growth. Modern soft diets don’t stimulate the jaw muscles as much, and anthropologists have found that this shift is linked with narrower jaws and more crowding.
In Short
Breathing through the nose, a tongue that rests against the palate, a proper swallowing pattern, and a diet that challenges the jaw muscles all work together to guide healthy craniofacial growth. When these functions go wrong mouth breathing, low tongue posture, or tongue thrust swallowing the face adapts to those patterns, often leading to the narrow jaws and dental crowding we see so commonly today.
Conclusion
The habits formed during infancy such as how a baby breathes, the resting position of the tongue, and swallowing patterns might appear minor at the time, but they strongly influence craniofacial development. A baby who breathes through the nose, presses the tongue against the palate while swallowing, and later learns to chew a variety of solid foods helps the jaws grow forward and wide, creating balanced facial proportions. On the other hand, habits like mouth breathing, low tongue posture, or prolonged infantile swallowing can gradually lead to narrower arches, longer facial shapes, and crowded teeth. Thus, the simple daily functions in infancy are not just temporary phases they are subtle forces that shape how the face ultimately develops.
Now obviously all babies have different features such as eye color, lip shape and nose shape, to name a few, their ratios are highly similar.
Now obviously all babies have different features such as eye color, lip shape and nose shape, to name a few, their ratios are highly similar.
Thank you for reading if you did
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