Babies tend to do lots of things that do not make sense to new parents.
While seeing your baby suddenly start sucking on their bottom lip is upsetting, it is important to know that it is a common behavior among infants.
Naturally, you want to help your baby stop this habit before they get older or generate a painful bruise.
Now that you’ve noticed your baby engaging in this odd behavior, you can use this guide to find all of the answers to your questions about why baby sucking bottom lip all of the sudden.
Content:
- Signs of Lip Sucking in Babies
- Reasons Why a Baby Sucks Their Bottom Lip
- Times When Babies Are More Likely to Suck Their Lip
- Tips to Ease Lip Irritation
- How to Stop Babies From Sucking Their Lip
- When to Worry About Lip Sucking
Signs of Lip Sucking in Babies
The most obvious sign of baby sucking bottom lip is to see them actually engaging in the behavior.
However, you may also notice other signs of lip sucking. For instance, your baby may develop a red ring around their mouth of chapped skin.
Some babies suck so hard on their lower lip that they create a blister or bruise. In severe cases, a baby who continues to suck on their lower lip constantly may begin to have it constantly turn inward to their mouth.
Reasons Why a Baby Sucking Bottom Lip
Babies suck their bottom lip for a variety of different reasons, and figuring out why your baby does this helps you know how to stop baby from biting lower lip.
Your baby may begin to suck their lip in the womb before they are born. When this happens, they find that the behavior is comforting, and this causes them to continue to do it even after they are delivered.
This might be why your baby sucks their lip if they have done it since they were a newborn. Keep in mind, however, that you may not have noticed it until now since babies often do it when they are sleeping.
A baby who is teething is more likely to suck their lower lip. This is because they may find the new sensation to be a helpful distraction from teething discomfort.
Your baby may also suck on their lower lip if they drool a lot as a reaction to the sensation of having saliva on the lower part of their mouth.
As babies get older, they may suck on their lip as a reaction to learning something new, or they may even enjoy the taste of food on their lip that was not completely wiped away.
Your baby sucking their bottom lip may also be something that they have seen someone else do and are trying out something new.
Your baby may also be trying to self soothe. When they are bored, lonely or just plain cranky, sucking on their bottom lip reminds them of the soothing sensation of having a bottle.
In fact, your baby’s lip sucking could also be their funny way of trying to tell you that they are hungry.
Some babies are not big criers, and they would rather suck quietly on their lip until you notice and bring them a bottle.
Times When Babies Are More Likely to Suck Their Lip
There are certain ages when babies are more likely to suck their bottom lip, and it helps you to know that it is normal during those stages of development.
For instance, your baby sucking bottom lip may just be reacting to their first teeth coming into their mouth.
Since the bottom front teeth are often the first ones to come in, your baby may be sucking as a way to get used to how they feel in their mouth. They may also suck this area to ease painful gums.
Since teething is a time when most babies will suck on their lower lip at least a little bit, you’ll notice this tends to start around the ages of 3 months and it will continue throughout the teething process.
Parents also notice this behavior around the age of six months old when babies start to eat more solid foods. For these babies, the behavior may be a form of practicing for eating.
Around nine months of age, babies also start biting their lower lip as they begin to practice the motions that they see people use for speech.
Once again, this is a completely normal behavior that you can help to minimize by showing your baby other mouth movements to make.
Try opening your mouth wide and pursing your lips like you are whistling or blowing a kiss at your baby. They will try to mimic you, which instantly stops them from lip sucking.
Your baby may also start biting their lower lip again after stopping as they reach their first birthday.
This is because babies this age tend to become more aware of the world around them, which can generate stress.
At this stage, you may give your baby extra reassurance during stressful situations that help them to stay calm and quit biting their lower lip.
Tips to Ease Lip Irritation
You never want to see your baby in pain, which is why your biggest concern is how to stop baby from biting lower lip.
Until you get the issue under control, one of the best things that you can do is help to minimize the damage that the sucking does to your baby’s lip.
Too much lip sucking causes painful blisters that can actually cause your baby to start sucking on their lip more.
As you look for ways to heal the redness and rash that sucking causes, remember to work with their pediatrician to find safe and effective methods for reducing chapped lips and bruises.
For chapped lips, you can often use an ointment designed for babies that is similar to lip balm.
While diaper rash cream is good at soothing skin, you need to make sure that anything you use is safe if your baby gets it in their mouth.
After all, you can bet that they may continue to suck their lip after you apply cream to their mouth area.
Coconut oil and other natural water barriers can help to keep your baby’s saliva off of their skin so that it can heal.
However, be careful not to place anything on your baby’s lips that tastes good since this could encourage more lip sucking. Instead, opt for flavorless lip balms that heal without being enticing.
How to Stop Babies From Sucking Their Lip
Now that you understand that lip sucking is normal during certain stages of your baby’s life, it is time to begin finding strategies that stop the behavior from happening.
Your first step is to address the most common underlying causes for lip sucking. Start by checking your baby to find out if they are teething.
If they are, then it may help to use your preferred strategies for soothing the discomfort. For instance, you may have special medicine to rub on their gums, or your baby may enjoy gnawing on a cold teething ring to numb the area.
Babies who suck their lips out of boredom can use a distraction.
Never chastise your baby for sucking their lip because they are too young to understand, and making them nervous could exacerbate the behavior. Instead, simply pick them up and offer them a distraction.
Pacifiers are one option for giving your baby something to do with their mouth that does not involve their lips.
You can also talk to your baby and change out their toys so that they have something new to do.
If you suspect that your baby is just hungry, then go ahead and try feeding them even if it is not their normal time.
Babies going through a growth spurt or recovering from a cold may suddenly need to eat more often, and lip sucking may be their way of telling you so.
When to Worry About Lip Sucking
The good news is that lip sucking is usually a temporary phase that your child will outgrow with the proper care and attention.
Eventually, the blisters and redness around their mouth will go away, and your baby will move on to other types of self-soothing.
However, you may need to worry more if your baby continues to suck their lip past the age of three.
You should also take your child to their physician if lip sucking turns into severe bodily damage such as a blister that does not heal or gets infected.
In most cases, however, all you need to do is keep at it. Your love and attention will eventually help your baby stop this frustrating habit.
At some point, every parent worries about behaviors such as their baby sucking their lower lip.
While it does take some work, you can help your baby stop causing harm to their mouth and enjoy other types of self-soothing.
As you work on this with your baby, remember that they depend upon you to help them choose acceptable behaviors.
By giving them what they need to be comfortable and secure, you will successfully stop them from biting their lower lip.
Additional information:
- Everything You Need to Know About Blister on Baby Bottom Lip
- Learn Why Your Baby Chewing Tongue (Should You Be Worried?)
- Oral habits and orofacial development in children
- Lessons from Thumbsucking, the Earliest Addiction
- Medications for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors
Image credits: Eco Piggy.
