The Daily Hailey

I hope I can talk about this in at least a somewhat judgement-free zone. I know I’m speaking publicly, and of course, that occasionally burns me. I know its a risk, just please be respectful, even if you disagree with me.

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We’ve all noticed along the way that Rowan has a huge mouth. I LOVE it, honestly. It produces the biggest smiles, loudest laughs, and its fun to smooch. The other day I was personally attacking Rowan while I had him captive on the floor, anticipating a diaper change. I was teasing him, tickling his face with my hair, blowing raspberries on his tummy, and making funny faces. I clenched my teeth and growled at him through a smile. He giggled and did the same back to me. Except his teeth didn’t close. Like not at all.

I kept playing, occasionally asking him to put his teeth together, and they really never got closer together. They just don’t meet.

I didn’t at all go into panic mode, but it did get me thinking a little. I went online and did a little bit of research, and this is what I’ve come up with.

Ro has an “open bite.” Not specifically over or under, but his front teeth are just open in the front. This can very well change with time, as his jaw and face continue to grow. No dentist would ever do anything serious about it until he was around or over the age of 10. I learned that some kids are just shaped that way, but some kids jaws/face/teeth/whatever else start to change shape and develop this type of bite. Sure enough, looking back in pictures, Rowan’s mouth has shifted and become more “open” in the last 6-12 months.

Some people said their kids slept with the big sippy cups in their mouths, and six weeks after switching them over to straw cups, they noticed a difference. Some people swore it was soothers. Or sucking their hands. Now I am NOT saying kids shouldn’t have soothers or sippies or suck their thumbs. I have NO proof that any of that has any effect on anything. Ok? Me NOT bashing those things. And either way, it left me stumped still because Rowan doesn’t use/do those things. Until I remembered his teetee.

Ugh.

He chews on a receiving blanket when he falls asleep. I’ve never taken issue with it, because its been a fabulous way that he handles teething. He chews on the flannel blanket, because its soft but it doesn’t have too much give, that I think it satisfies him. But as I’m sure you’ve seen in pictures, anytime he has his blanket/tee-tee, he shoves as much of it as is humanly possible into his mouth, and just props it open that way. I understand why he started doing it, for teething, but now its a habit, and I think it might be contributing to his mouth shape changing!

I’ve watched it for just a couple of days now, and I can tell I’m not making the open bite thing up. He doesn’t bite anything with his front teeth, because he can’t. I’ll give him a slice of an apple, and he chomps it with his molars. No wonder he always dismantles sandwiches so badly while he eats them! He’s doing fine, as in he eats lots (finally he eats again!) and doesn’t complain. But my current concern is his speech.

Rowan is SO chatty and verbal all of a sudden, but he is my only kid who has the “th” sound down! I’m not worried about his speech at all, but I also see how he forms sounds and at this point, I won’t be surprised at all if he ends up with a bit of a lisp. Can he be an exceptional boy AND have a lisp?? Yes, of course he can! I’m not worried, but it is on my mind.

So with all of this in mind, we’re thinking we have to kick the blanket chewing habit. The afternoon has been the first time we’ve put him down for his nap without his precious tee-tee, and let me tell you. He was PISSED!!! He didn’t just cry. He didn’t want to lay down, and he screamed and screamed. He was SO mad. But we felt very strongly that we needed to stand firm. (This is the part where no one judges us for letting our boy cry. We can do hard things!) Brady went back into his room after a few minutes and tried to comfort him but he just wasn’t having it, so Brady left once again. We had a chat in the living room and came up with a way to potentially soften the blow.

I went downstairs and dug into a big bag of stuffed toys that have been packed up since we left Radisson, and found him his first stuffed foxy. I brought it up and went into his room. He was laying down under his bigger blanket (no, we didn’t take his main blanket, just the little one he chews) shrucking away. Between breaths, he asked me for his teetee. I told him that I was sorry, but he couldn’t have it. He started his act of thrashing and screaming again, and I showed him the stuffed toy. He freaked. I lay it beside him and he threw it around, screaming all the while. I took it out and took a step back. He quieted a tiny bit, and I said that he didn’t have to have it, and that I was sorry that he was so sad. I set it on his dresser nearby, told him I loved him, and kissed him goodnight. As I started to leave, he burst out crying again, and I heard him say “please.” Well, “fease” if you’re Rowan. I turned around, and he was pointing at the fox. I offered it to him, and he grabbed it into a big hug, snorting into its neck. I asked if he was ok, and he said he was. So I left.

He cried much quieter for a couple more minutes, and then he was out. So I guess we’ll see how it goes! It breaks my heart hearing my little guy cry SO HARD for his comfort item, but if there is a chance its hurting him and going to mess with his speech, we’ll power through a hard thing to see if we can get a positive result!

ALL of this being said, he’s coming up on two, and he’s due for a doctors appointment right away here. I’m looking forward to running all of this by Dr. Guselle. Because, I want to be SO clear, so there is no room for people to misunderstand me or think I’m being mean. I do NOT expect my almost two year old to have perfect speech at all. I don’t have an unreasonable expectation. I really don’t! I just want to set him up as best as possible, and if this habit is physically affecting something quite so important, we’re going to try our best to correct it. But we’ll see what the doctor says! I’m confident it’ll be something along the lines of “He’ll keep growing and changing. Just keep watching. As long as he’s eating, he’s fine.” Stuff like that. It just always feels better to hear it from her, somehow.

I’m SO smitten with my Rowan Toby, and I LOVE that big delicious mouth. You should all really come over here and have a visit with my kids. They’re amazing to play with and talk to. My heart is full. <3