Tongue Tie and Oral Development Tools
Let’s start with a fun little disclaimer, shall we? I am a pediatric chiropractor OBSESSED with providing support to families and ensuring I’m offering the best in terms of development across the board. This means collaborative care with Speech Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Lactation and so many more, buuuut I am not those things. I will not direct you on how to feed your child or claim to know how to develop your child’s oral motor skills, but I DO work with a lot of tongue-tie kiddos (& adults) and occasionally geek out on some oral development research and let me tell you… I’m enamored with EZPZ’s line.
They have an entire line of cool stuff and they conveniently break it down into infants, toddlers and little kids so you know EXACTLY what to get for each age group. I love it because they explain the reasoning behind why they developed each product and even provide free milestone tips. They’re selling a product, sure, but they are also providing free information, concisely delivered by the Pediatric Feeding Specialist who developed it. Who knew there was so much that went into developing a cup?! Let’s dive into some of the cool stuff, why I like it and why I think every family should have this stuff ESPECIALLY if you have a kiddo with a history of tongue tie. Okay, let’s get to my favorites.
EZPZ ORAL DEVELOPMENT TOOLS- three pack-
These little guys can be thrown into the mix at around 3 months. These handy tools promote tongue elevation, stimulate the front of the mouth and tongue movement from side to side. They are also great for introducing different shapes, developing pre-feeding skills and stimulating oral motor patterning. Why is this important? These are all skills that are important later when we introduce solids, but these are also skills that tongue-tied kiddos typically struggle with and need a little bit of extra help with pre- and post-release! To that point, with a release comes stretches. Parents, providers, (basically everyone and their mother) is messing with little one’s mouth and this can sometimes lead to an oral aversion. Child-led play allows little ones to direct the sensory experience and gives them control over putting something in their mouth. Your tiny tot can explore and play on their own terms and stimulate areas of the mouth and tongue in a way that prepares them solids down the line. As if that wasn’t great enough, these are also GREAT for the oh, so fun teething period!
Hollowed Spoon-
I LOVE this one because it encourages tongue elevation with swallowing- THIS IS huge when many of the TOTS (tethered oral tissues) kiddos who previously haven’t had the ability to reach their tongue to the roof of the mouth. Building appropriate motor control to allow the tongue to rest at the roof of the mouth at rest leads to having the mouth closed and breathing through the nose. Nasal breathing leads to better sleep quality, facial and dental development, better sinus health and SOOO much more!
Oval Handle-
Put breast milk or purees in the depressions to help a baby with jaw strength & stability as well as spreading the lips!
Rod-
The standard for introducing foods is the width and height of an adult pinkie finger. Since these tools were expertly designed to leapfrog littles into solids… I’ll give you one guess as to what this was designed to replicate! This fancy tool allows your little nugget to practice rounding the lips which is important for learning how to drink out of a straw AND strengthening those muscles to decrease drooling. This one is also a favorite because it stimulates the tongue to move side to side as they “chase it around” their mouths.
Drum roll… the EZPZ TINY POP-
These are GREAT for teething. You can fill these with whatever is age appropriate for your little one! There are little sensory bumps on the tip of the pop which help to get breast milk into the gum line. I love using breastmilk for healing, inflammation and irritation!
The tiny pop can also be used to introduce allergenic foods. The container is about .5 ounces so there’s great control over the quantity. For comparison, a shot glass is 2oz!
Random Facts and Other Products:
Cleaning Sponge- great as a silent sensory toy.
Bottle Brush- suctions to sink- great for breast pumps as well.
Tiny cup- so smart. This cup is cone-shaped on the inside. The design allows for neutral drinking- meaning your little one will never have to tilt the head back to drink. Why is this important? IT HELPS PROTECT THEIR AIRWAY (insert balloons and fireworks here). More airway protection is found in the design of the length and curvature of the straw! The straw is curved so that there is once again, a neutral head position while drinking. When tinies drink out of a straw, they hold their breath. If they’re drinking out of a long straw and holding their breath… holding their breath… holding their breath and then boom… taking a breath, they can aspirate whatever goodness they were trying to suck down. This is not as likely with this design! The sensory bumps on the straw help to keep the lips at the tip of the straw to encourage a suck vs suckling (when they stick the entire straw into the mouth) which helps encourage a suck, swallow, breath pattern. Another one of my favorite features about that you can push the lid down so it suctions to create a spill-resistant cup (note, not spill-proof). Fun fact: parents can assist drinking with an open cup at around 6 months and littles can hold an open cup themselves at around 12 months.
At 6 months, kids should be feeding themselves with a spoon. Load it, place it at an angle in their bowl and then let them do their thing OR load it and let them take it from you. Another fun fact: there are no developmental milestones for using a fork until about 18 months which is why they don’t include a fork in the first foods set! At around 12 months you can preload the fork and observe. The knife? That guy gets introduced at around 2 years old and doesn’t cut the skin, but will cut an apple! The magic doesn’t stop there either, each tool has sensory bumps to cue where the lips should be and guide depth!
Last little knowledge nugget- I had NO idea that 98% of silicone suction bowls and plates out there aren’t food-grade silicone! EZPZ is.
That’s all folks! Now, I do receive an affiliate commission when you use my code (BALANCE10 for 10% off), but I wouldn’t take the time to write out an entire blog if I didn’t truly love these products. Use the code, don’t use the code- it’s there if you want it, but you cannot deny the cool science and reasoning behind these sweet designs!
Hi there!
My name is Dr. Dani and I’m an in-home chiropractor for busy women and infants within the Denver Metro area. I work with women of all ages and stages, but truly shine with the pregnancy, postpartum, and pediatric populations. I strive for quality care through extended appointment times, diverse treatment modalities, personalized home-care recommendations, and education so families can feel both empowered and cared for!
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