Why Do Babies Mouth Everything?

It can feel a little worrying when your baby starts putting things in their mouth.

Is it clean enough? Is it something that's safe for mouthing?

All good questions BUT know that this behaviour is an important part of early development.

Mouthing is one of the earliest ways in which infants learn.

The mouth is highly sensitive and provides rich sensory feedback, more feedback than the hands.

Dr. Montessori observed that children are ‘sensorial explorers’ and the mouth is a great tool for getting sensorial impressions of objects.

By mouthing, they learn about texture, temperature, weight, shape and firmness.

Mouthing objects supports sensory integration and lays the foundation for eating, hand-eye coordination and even language.

The Development of Mouthing

At first, infants will bring their hands to their mouth.

At around 3-4 months, or when their hand-eye coordination is developed enough to do so, they’ll typically start bringing objects to their mouth.

This behaviour typically stops on its own around 2-3 years old.

How To Manage This Behaviour

This type of exploration can be stress-free for everyone if you ensure that all of the objects available to a young child are safe to be mouthed.

They are going to be naturally inclined to bring almost everything in their hands up to their mouths at some point, so plan for this. 

Provide safe objects of different textures, sizes, and shapes that your baby can explore with their mouths without risk. 

Speaking from experience, it’s often easier to ensure everything within a young child's reach is safe, rather than hovering nearby, constantly stopping them from exploring.

Mouthing in Toddlerhood

Like many early childhood behaviours, mouthing is a phase. As babies develop stronger fine motor skills, increased mobility, and greater visual curiosity, they naturally begin to explore more with their hands and eyes.

That said, toddlers and preschoolers may still occasionally explore objects with their mouths.

Children remain naturally curious as they grow and may want to see what something feels or tastes like.

This is completely normal, but it does mean remaining mindful of potential choking hazards as your child continues exploring the world in this way.