Baby Chewing With Nothing In Mouth? (What To Do)

As a parent, it can be unsettling to see your baby chewing with nothing in mouth. This concern however can be eradicated by being aware of the possible reasons. 

As your child gets older, your child starts to discover things around it with its mouth. As a process, it will chew with nothing in its mouth because it has discovered its tongue. Additionally, the natural reflexes can also prompt your child to chew with nothing in the mouth.

Chewing with nothing in the mouth is just your baby’s way of figuring out different tastes and textures of its mouth. Encouraging this behavior can be beneficial at times. However, if things start to look bad, you can also discourage this behavior through proper actions. Read on to find out how!

6 Reasons Why The Baby Is Chewing With Nothing In The Mouth?

It is really easy to freak out over the smallest things that your baby does. And such a thing is related to your baby chewing with nothing in its mouth. Nevertheless, your baby can start chewing with nothing in the mouth because of teething, as a form of communication, or hunger cues.

So, instead of being scared of the littlest things, you need to learn about the proper reasons behind such behavior by your child. By doing this, you can have a better understanding. Therefore, let’s get right into the reasons why your baby starts chewing with nothing in the mouth.

1. Teething

One of the most common reasons why your baby is chewing with nothing in the mouth is because of the teething stage.

In this stage, you will witness your baby chew on everything. The teething stage is really painful for the little ones. So to erase the discomfort, babies will chew on their tongues.

Accordingly, this will give them great relief from the irritating teething process. You can also notice excessive drooling and fussiness in your child when he is in the teething process.

2. Form Of Communication

Babies can chew with nothing in their mouths as a manifestation of communication. Because babies are exploring everything new, they can start exploring with their mouths.

Chewing with nothing in their mouths is just their way of nonverbal communication. It is your baby’s way of letting the caregiver know his/her thoughts or needs.

3. Hunger Cues

Children learn the skill of chewing before they learn the ways to make their wants known to their caregivers.

This is why babies seem to chew on nothing just to indicate that they are hungry. Apart from this, babies also have a regular feeding schedule. These feeding schedules help them to calm down.

However, these feeding schedules can be disrupted by growth sprouts. This will eventually make your child excessively chew on nothing or tongue as a cue for hunger.

4. Soothing

Another common reason why babies chew on nothing is due to the soothing feeling that they get from this behavior. Accordingly, when babies become fussy, they usually get a pacifier to calm them down.

And in the absence of these pacifiers, babies will chew on nothing as a way to self-soothe or comfort themselves.

5. Discovering The Tongue

If you notice that your baby is chewing on nothing, then the possibility is that your baby is chewing on its tongue.

The reason is pretty simple. Babies are pretty explorative. They are trying to explore things about their body.

In such situations, they chew on nothing because they have just discovered their tongue. And it is just your baby’s curious nature getting the best of it.

Moreover, when your baby is chewing its tongue, it can also be a manifestation of the readiness for solid food. This process is usually named the tongue-thrust reflex.

6. Natural Reflexes

Your baby can also seem to chew on nothing because of the many natural newborn reflexes. One such reflex is called the sucking reflex. 

This causes your baby to make a chewing motion continuously if the roof of the mouth is touched. Moreover, another reflex called silent reflux can also cause your baby to chew with nothing in its mouth.

What To Do About Baby Chewing With Nothing In The Mouth?

Worrying about your baby’s chewing behavior is normal. You should take effective actions when you see that this chewing with nothing in its mouth behavior is getting hostile for your baby.

Therefore, there are numerous ways to eradicate this behavior in your baby. You just need to be aware of the processes to deal with your baby’s chewing behavior accordingly. So let’s get right into it.

1. Distract Your Baby

Distracting your baby also helps in making sure that the behavior of chewing with nothing-in-mouth is reduced.

Therefore, you can distract your baby with different noisy toys or you can play with your baby to divert attention.

2. Provide Teething Toys

Chewing is a very common and normal thing for your child to do. But when your child is chewing with nothing in his mouth due to the teething stage, it can get a bit dangerous.

This is why you have to give them teething toys. These teething toys will help them to chew on soothing objects. This will also help to make sure that they don’t damage their gum.

All of these can have a very relaxing and calming effect on your child. Moreover, if you can massage your child’s gums, it can also be very relaxing for your child. Eventually, it will lessen chewing behavior.

3. Maintain A Feeding Schedule

Your child will start chewing with nothing in his or her mouth during the feeding schedule. This is why it is important to provide your child food exactly at its scheduled time every day. 

This will thus help your child to stop chewing with nothing in his mouth because you are feeding your baby timely.

What Are The Benefits Of Chewing With Nothing In Mouth For Babies?

Believe it or not, chewing with nothing in the mouth is just a part of your baby’s development. It assists in giving your baby the knowledge of himself/herself. In addition, this behavior also helps with your baby’s muscle development in the jaw, lips, and tongue.

In addition, different textures and tastes can also be obtained by your baby when he/she chews with nothing in his/her mouth. This behavior also has the potential to cause your baby to develop a sense of taste and touch.

When your baby chews with nothing in the mouth, this creates a level of calmness in your baby. The different textures of your baby’s mouth can also be discovered as an act of chewing with nothing in the mouth by your baby. This is why you shouldn’t discourage this behavior. Rather you should monitor and redirect this behavior appropriately so that negative effects can not happen.

However, there are some situations when the behavior of chewing with nothing in the mouth can become concerning. This happens when the chewing behavior interrupts eating and breathing. In such situations, it is better to seek medical attention to deal accordingly.

Conclusion

If you are a parent, chances are that you have noticed your baby chewing with nothing in mouth. It is very normal behavior for your babies to do. This is because your baby is trying to give hunger cues, discover the tongue, and is going through the teething process. 

Thanks for stopping by and hopefully this write up was able to help you with your concern about your child’s unusual chewing behavior.