Introduction
Parents often think messy eating is just a phase, bad manners, or picky behavior. But sometimes, messy eating has less to do with behavior and more to do with how a child breathes. Mouth breathing can directly impact chewing, swallowing, and mealtime success. And when paired with oral motor difficulties, it can set the stage for bigger feeding challenges. Let’s break down the connection—and how feeding and/or myofunctional therapy can help.
The Big Picture
Messy eating isn’t always a choice.
The way a child breathes directly impacts how they control food in their mouth. Lips, tongue, cheeks, and airway all work together during eating. If one part isn’t functioning well—like the airway—messy eating often follows.
What is Mouth Breathing?
Mouth breathing means a child is breathing through their mouth instead of their nose.
Common signs include:
✔ Lips stay open, even at rest
✔ Tongue rests low in the mouth
✔ Cheeks and lips don’t support food control
Causes can include:
✔ Allergies
✔ Enlarged tonsils or adenoids
✔ Tongue tie
✔ Chronic nasal congestion
✔ Habitual mouth breathing patterns
How Mouth Breathing Leads to Messy Eating
When lips are open for breathing, they’re often open for chewing too. This makes it harder for kids to manage food efficiently.
Feeding symptoms linked to mouth breathing may include:
✔ Food spilling out of the mouth
✔ Loud or open-mouth chewing
✔ Difficulty managing textures
✔ Holding food in cheeks (“pocketing”)
✔ Swallowing food whole
These challenges are tied to oral motor skills and mealtime fatigue, often leaving kids frustrated and parents stressed.
The Cycle
Mouth breathing ➝ poor chewing efficiency ➝ messy eating
Over time, this cycle can lead to:
✔ Stress at the dinner table
✔ Embarrassment with peers
✔ Limited food variety and poor nutrition
✔ Frustration for both parent and child
Oral Motor Difficulties in Pediatric Feeding Disorders
Messy eating is also commonly linked to oral motor difficulties, a core feature of many pediatric feeding disorders.
Oral motor difficulties may look like:
✔ Weak lip seal, causing food or liquids to leak
✔ Poor tongue coordination, making it hard to move food side-to-side
✔ Inadequate chewing strength or rhythm
✔ Difficulty forming a cohesive bolus (food ball) before swallowing
✔ Fatigue during meals because eating requires extra effort
✔ When combined with mouth breathing, these oral motor challenges can amplify messy eating and reduce a child’s nutritional intake, comfort, and confidence with food.
When combined with mouth breathing, these oral motor challenges can amplify messy eating and reduce a child’s nutritional intake, comfort, and confidence with food.
Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMDs)
Sometimes, messy eating linked to mouth breathing is part of a larger issue called an Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder (OMD).
OMDs occur when the muscles of the mouth and face don’t function properly. They can affect:
✔ Breathing patterns
✔ Chewing and swallowing skills
✔ Speech clarity
✔ Feeding efficiency
Messy eating may be one visible symptom of an OMD.
The Good News! Therapy Can Help
With the right support, kids can learn to eat more effectively and comfortably.
Benefits of feeding and myofunctional therapy include:
✔ Teaching nasal breathing strategies
✔ Strengthening oral muscles for chewing and swallowing
✔ Improving mealtime efficiency
✔ Reducing oral motor fatigue
✔ Building confidence and reducing stress around food
At The Mouth Rehab, we collaborate with speech-language pathologists (SLPs), occupational therapists (OTs), ENTs, and pediatric dentists to provide whole-body, team-based care.
When to Seek Help
Ask yourself:
✔ Does my child always chew with their mouth open?
✔ Do meals take too long or end in frustration?
✔ Is my child avoiding certain textures or foods?
✔ Do they breathe through their mouth most of the day or while sleeping?
✔ Are they snoring?
👉 If you answered yes to these questions, it may be time for a functional feeding and airway evaluation.
Conclusion
Messy eating isn’t always about “bad manners.” Sometimes, it’s about how your child is breathing and how their oral muscles are working together. By identifying the root cause whether mouth breathing, oral motor difficulty, or both families can find lasting progress instead of just temporary fixes.
📩 Contact The Mouth Rehab to book a functional feeding and airway evaluation today.
Let’s make mealtimes less messy and more enjoyable.
