Even from our earliest days as infants, we will choose to breathe over feed. Which is why for babies in distress, support is so critical because we cannot compromise on breathing but we will put feeding on the backburner. So why does this change as we get older? Why do we shift from airway centric at birth to mitigating the importance over time?
Your respiratory health drives all other functions. You need to breathe while speaking, eating, sleeping- anything you seek to do adequately, requires air. However, many of us have inadequate airway health. We "think" we get good sleep or we "think" we maintain good breath support while speaking but the reality is we don't. Did you know that sweating in your sleep is a sign of airway distress? Yet we wake up, brush the sweat aside and then wonder why we feel so tired even though "I went to bed early!".
We do such a disservice to ourselves and our children by not bringing our focus back to breathing. Children with dysregulated/ dysfunctional airways have more challenges focusing, emotional regulation and overall energy endurance in a day.
These children are also more likely to be your picky eaters. Although they may have some sensory aspect, such as really disliking slimy textures- they also may be experiencing airway distress. This distress can be as minute as several millimeters or an inch but that reduced airway space then challenges them to be able to safely and effectively swallow- and if we can't swallow effectively; we're risking taking too long and being unable to breathe. Think about it like swallowing a golf ball down a straw- it doesn't fit, requires tremendous energy, is uncomfortable and would leave you fearful it could be stuck. Or another scenario might be that there's underlying dysfunction so chewing with your mouth closed isn't an option. See where I'm going with this?
Yet our children cannot communicate these to us, they cannot say "I can't breathe well" or "when I eat chewy foods it takes me a long time to chew and it's hard to swallow". Instead they show us through behavior- avoidance of foods, an open mouth when eating, etc. How closely are we paying attention to these signs?
We cannot have expectations of our children such as cognitive performance, chewing with their mouth closed or emotional regulation if we do not assess their core stabilizer. That core being their ability to breathe efficiently and effectively across functional everyday tasks. I challenge you to intentionally observe your child for even a day after reading this and really question, how well do they breathe?
Ideas to observe:
Mealtime
Open mouth chewing
Food preferences (ex: nothing chewy, only purees like applesauce)
Amount of time to chew one bite
Use of liquids to get food down
Daytime
Nighttime
This is not a comprehensive list but if you feel these resonate with you- your child may benefit from airway-centric care such as with an ENT, orthodontist, SLP or an entire team to determine what's going on and how to help stabilize the most necessary function of our everyday.
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