Hidden Effects of Mouth Breathing

What If Your Child’s Speech or Feeding Challenges Actually Start with How They Breathe?

I hear it all the time from parents:

“She drools a lot during the day, and she’s not a baby anymore.”
“She seems tired all day, even though she sleeps through the night.”
“He grinds his teeth at night and wakes up exhausted.”
“She snores a little, but I thought that was normal?”
“He struggles to sit still and focus at school.”
“My child is super picky and won’t try new foods.”
“They’re not saying as many words as I expected.”
“Speech therapy helped, but we’ve hit a plateau.”
“Her speech is better, but still not totally clear.”
“He eats like a bird…tiny bites, tires quickly, avoids anything chewy.”
“She has a tongue thrust, but we were told to wait it out.”
“The dentist keeps saying his palate is narrow or his bite is off.”
“We’ve tried everything to help with picky eating but it’s still a struggle.”
“His lips are always chapped, and he breathes loudly when he sleeps.”
“She always breathes through her mouth, but no one seemed concerned.”
“He’s constantly congested, even when he’s not sick.”

What do all of these have in common? They may all be connected to one root issue: how your child is breathing. Specifically: open-mouth breathing and snoring. These are incredibly common in kids but they are NOT normal, and they can quietly disrupt nearly every area of a child’s development.

Mouth Breathing & Snoring

Mouth breathing and snoring, especially in young children, can be signs of an underlying problem with airway function. Whether it’s due to enlarged adenoids or tonsils, chronic nasal congestion, allergies, a high/narrow palate, or a tongue tie limiting tongue mobility something is interfering with your child’s ability to breathe through their nose. Nasal breathing is essential for healthy growth and development. When a child breathes through their mouth regularly, it changes the way their face and jaw develop, how they sleep, how they eat, and even how they talk.

How Mouth Breathing Affects Your Child

Focus, Behavior & Emotional Regulation

A child who isn’t sleeping deeply or getting enough oxygen at night may struggle to focus or manage emotions during the day. Sleep disordered breathing, often signaled by snoring or mouth breathing, has been linked to behavior that mimics ADHD.

Sleep Quality & Daytime Energy

The nose actually helps clean and moisten the air before it goes into the lungs. When a child breathes through their mouth instead, they skip that whole process. That means the air they’re breathing is drier and unfiltered, which can be harder on their body, especially if they’re doing it all day and night. Even if your child is technically "sleeping" 10-12 hours, they may not be getting the deep, restorative sleep their body and brain need. This often shows up as difficulty waking and low energy throughout the day.

Speech Clarity & Oral Muscle Development

When a child breathes through their mouth, their tongue often rests low in the mouth instead of up on the palate. That low tongue posture can impact speech clarity and limit the development of the muscles needed for precise speech. Even therapy progress can stall if the airway and oral posture aren’t addressed.

Jaw Growth & Dental Alignment

The tongue actually helps shape your child’s mouth as they grow. When it rests up against the roof of the mouth like it’s supposed to, it gently helps the upper jaw grow wide and forward. But if your child’s tongue isn’t up there, like if they’re mouth breathing, the roof of the mouth can grow high and narrow instead. That means less room for the teeth, less space for the nose to work well, and more chances for braces or jaw issues down the road. A lot of orthodontic problems actually start way earlier than people think.

Feeding & Chewing Skills

Mouth breathing can also cause functional deficits. Children who breathe through their mouths may fatigue quickly during meals, chew inefficiently, avoid certain textures, overstuff their mouths, hold food in their cheeks, take extra small bites, or have trouble managing food in their mouth. Some may even gag easily or take a long time to finish meals because eating is simply harder work for their muscles. A low tongue posture and weak oral muscles can interfere with chewing, lip closure, swallowing, and even drinking. Feeding delays or pickiness may be tied to the same root issue.

Airway Health & Breathing Patterns

Over time, the body adapts to mouth breathing, which can reinforce poor breathing patterns and limit oxygen intake. This may also create a cycle of inflammation, congestion, and continued open-mouth posture. An open mouth at rest tells us the airway might not be functioning well.

“But They’re Fine…”

One of the most common things I hear from parents is: Well, I did that as a kid and I turned out fine. Maybe. But maybe you’ve just adapted so well that you didn’t notice how hard your body has been working to compensate. The earlier we catch these patterns, the more easily we can address them with less invasive treatment and less need for intervention down the road.

What Can You Do?

If you notice your child consistently:

• Breathes through their mouth when awake or asleep

• Snores (even lightly!)

• Wakes up tired or has restless sleep

• Struggles with speech, eating, or behavior

You can absolutely ask your pediatrician about referrals to an ENT, sleep specialist, or  airway-focused dentist but you can also just reach out to me directly! I’m a pediatric speech-language pathologist (speech therapist) trained in myofunctional therapy and ready to help! I work with families every day who say: I wish I had known sooner. Early support can make a world of difference.

Want to learn more about what to watch for or how to help your child thrive?
Book a free phone consult today to learn more about how we can work together to support your little one’s development!