Your Little One Likes To Put Objects In The Mouth During The Oral Phase, What Should Parents Do?

Illustration (Jill Wellington/Pexels)

JAKARTA - A two-year-old child is going through an oral phase, where he tends to like to put any object around him into his mouth. This is normal for every baby and is important for the growth of his character.

In this phase, babies use their mouths to recognize the shape and taste of objects around them, including their own body parts. This phase usually begins when babies are 4-7 months old and can continue until they are 2 years old.

Adapting Parenting Firstcry, Monday, April 25, there are three things that are most often put in your little one's mouth. The first is a small toy. You will often find your child putting the toy in his mouth before he starts playing with it. Especially if the game has attractive colors and is small in size.

To avoid being swallowed by your little one, you can make sure that small toys and parts that can be easily removed that can be swallowed are not given to children two years of age and under.

The second thing is the leaves of the plant. Since the pandemic period, many people have switched to keeping indoor and outdoor ornamental plants. For those of you fans of indoor ornamental plants who have babies, please be careful. The reason is, the leaves of ornamental plants that fall to the floor can be easily picked up by your little one and put in the mouth. For that, you need to get rid of ornamental plants that can harm your little one.

Third, room cleaning fluid. With bright colors and refreshing aromas, it's no wonder that these items are the subtle targets of your little one. Children often can not distinguish this cleaning liquid with juice or food. As a parent, you need to keep chemical products out of reach of children.

So that your little one doesn't often put objects in his mouth, here are things parents can do, such as:

Cleaning children's gums

You can clean your child's gums by gently wiping the gums with a clean, damp cloth, clean fingers, or a cold spoon to reduce the pain of sore gums.

Give the teether

Chewing on a clean teether can soothe your child's gums. You should look for a good quality teether made of high quality solid rubber. Teethers made of plastic, metal, or liquid-filled teethers should be avoided as they can harm the baby.

Give cold food

A cold pacifier can help your child relieve sore gums when they suck on it. You can also give your child some cold fruit slices to eat if he is in the solid food stage. This will not only nourish him but also reduce the pain.

As a parent, you definitely want to give the best for your little one to support their growth and development. The oral phase is also an important part of the growth process for children. Therefore, you must understand very well in order to be able to accompany the baby in these times.