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Recently it seems like I have been clothing, feeding, housing, and raising a Labrador Retriever. A Labrador Retriever that looks shockingly like my nearly 13-month-old child. I have never before seen a baby who would like to have her tongue outside of her body as much as Marlowe seems to, and I have absolutely no idea why.
It started a week or so ago, and now I have to keep asking her to put her tongue back in her mouth on the regular. WHAT IS THIS?! I have done a little research, and one idea is that it could be that she’s getting ready to cut additional teeth (hello, let’s hope so!) and so she’s putting pressure on the gums to alleviate discomfort. Another idea is that she has recently “discovered” her tongue (I think I have Daddy and his doggy impressions to thank for this!) and so is now obsessed and going through a little phase. Or maybe it’s neither of these things. Who knows. When it is hangin out there for longer than a few minutes, I’ve begun to gently ask her to “Cierra la boca, por favor” (“Close your mouth, please”), and she puts her tongue back in to her mouth pretty easily. My instinct is that it’s a phase that will pass as suddenly as it came, but I would love to hear from any Moms who have experienced a similar situation with their babies!
xoxo
EAM
I’m not a mum but mine said the toung thing should be just a phase!! It’s cute though 😂
That’s the cutest! Tongue in or out she’s most definitely one of the most photogenic children to ever exist 🙂
My daughter went through this when she was a bit younger than Marlowe, it didn’t last a week. What I learned early on is as soon as I adapt to her current phase, she changed again. If it wasn’t harmful, rude, mean or disrespectful I tried to ride it out until it changed. When my daughter was three she started calling everyone by their first name. Instead of Mama I became Kathryn. That was a tough one and lasted almost six months!
You’re doing great and you’re asking the right questions.
I’m not sure if it is a phase or just something most kiddos do. My son CONSTANTLY had his tongue out between about 8 months and 2 years and now my daughter (age 1) is the exact same way. It might have something to do with teething but to be honest, I never noticed anything to know for sure. She will grow out of it eventually….just enjoy the wet, sloppy kisses in the meantime. 🙂
Does she suck her thumb or use a pacifier? It might be tongue thrust which is basically a mal-positioning of the tongue that is mislearned. It’s not harmful, just can contribute to some challenges with pronunciation down the road. That’s awesome that she can correct it when reminded to do so.
My cousin’s son is 17 months old & he’s been doing it since he was pretty tiny. We all used to think that his tongue was too big for his mouth, but according to his pediatrician, its just something that some babies/toddlers do when they’re in their comfort zone/concentrating.