Why does my child drool?

At the Tongue Tie Clinic we regurarly get the question why a child (still) drools after the treatment. Or that baby has little bubbles of saliva on the lips.
About 2000 times we swallow on reflex day and night. To be able to swallow saliva properly, a fully mobile tongue is required. With a tight tongue tie, the tongue cannot move up and back properly and swallow food, drink and saliva in a wave motion towards the esophagus. When the tongue becomes more mobile due to the treatment, a tongue has in fact never been able to make this movement (completely) and it still has to be learned. In a baby up to about 3 months everything goes on reflex but it can still take weeks to months to learn to swallow properly. After 3 months, a baby or child has already found its own way to swallow food and drink. It therefore takes some time before the tongue has learned a good / new swallow and drooling can occur or become worse. The brain has to also learn to control these movements. Oromyofunctional therapy OMFT can help the older child besides speech therapy. See the FAQs about OMFT. In addition, it is important that a child closes their mouth properly and breathes through the nose, and that they can close their lips properly. Parents can close their mouth when they see that their baby or child has an open mouth position by gently moving their chin up when he or she is sleeping or playing, for example. It is important that a pacifier is only used for comfort and falling asleep because when using a pacifier, the tongue is prevented from (learning to) properly swallow upwards and backwards towards the throat.