7 Reasons Why You Should Look in Your Baby's Mouth with Dawn Winkelmann, MS, CCC-SLP

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<v SPEAKER_1>So which foods are not safe for your baby to eat?

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<v SPEAKER_1>You guys know I'm usually all about sharing all of the foods that your baby can safely eat, but there are definitely some foods that we steer clear of when starting solid foods.

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<v SPEAKER_1>I have a free feeding guide called 15 Foods Never To Feed that will help you recognize which foods aren't safe.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Now, most of the foods inside the 15 Foods Never To Feed Guide we avoid because they're choking hazards, but I'm providing you with tips on how to modify those foods so they are safe for your baby to eat.

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<v SPEAKER_1>You can download the 15 Foods Never To Feed free feeding guide by going to babyledweaning.co.

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<v SPEAKER_1>slash resources.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Again, that's babyledweaning.co.

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<v SPEAKER_1>slash resources to download your free feeding guide, 15 Foods Never To Feed with the modification tips on how to make those foods safer.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Happy feeding.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Are you about to start solid foods, but you don't know where to start?

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<v SPEAKER_1>Or maybe you started with some purees and now you want to make a switch.

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<v SPEAKER_1>The best place to get started learning about starting solid foods safely is my one-hour online video workshop called Baby-Led Weaning For Beginners.

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<v SPEAKER_1>I just re-recorded this free training and it's packed with videos and visuals on how to safely prep baby-led weaning foods, what it looks like for the first few days, how to reduce choking risk, and what to do if your baby has an allergic reaction to food.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Everybody on this free training gets a copy of my original 100 First Foods list, so you'll never run out of ideas about what to feed your baby next.

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<v SPEAKER_1>You can get signed up for this video workshop at babyledweaning.co.

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<v SPEAKER_1>If you have one hour to dedicate to learning about baby-led weaning, come take this free online video training and grab your copy of that original 100 First Foods list while you're there.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Again, head to babyledweaning.co to get signed up, and I hope to see you there.

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<v SPEAKER_2>You need to know if there's an obstruction inside of that mouth or if there's an object.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Second would be a tongue, lip, or cheek tie.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Thrush is another reason.

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<v SPEAKER_2>We want to make sure that, you know, if baby is having a yeast infection on their tongue, if it's like whitish gray, if it resembles cottage cheese, we wanna know that.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Hey there, I'm Katie Ferraro, registered dietician, college nutrition professor, and mom of seven, specializing in baby-led weaning.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Here on the Baby-Led Weaning With Katie Ferraro podcast, I help you strip out all of the noise and nonsense about feeding, giving you the confidence and knowledge you need to give your baby a safe start to solid foods using baby-led weaning.

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<v SPEAKER_1>So it turns out that there is a lot going on inside of your baby's mouth when they start solid foods.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And if you were breastfeeding, I know you have always sensed or felt like, oh, that feels right.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Or when your baby latches on, you're like, yes, that's it.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Everything is like flowing and going together well.

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<v SPEAKER_1>But when they start solid foods, how do we know what's going on in the baby's mouth?

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<v SPEAKER_1>Well, it turns out that looking inside your baby's mouth is a pretty good way to give yourself a heads up if something is going wrong or if everything is going smoothly.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Today, the speech language pathologist, Dawn Winkelman, is back on the podcast here to explain how and why to use a tongue depressor when your baby starts eating solid food.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And first of all, I was gonna call this episode three reasons why you should look in your baby's mouth with Dawn Winkelman.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And then of course, when she got on the interview, she's like, I can't stop at three, I have way more.

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<v SPEAKER_1>So we have seven reasons why you should look in your baby's mouth and listen to this episode to learn how to use a tongue depressor to search for pocketed food and why you would even wanna do that.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Which oral structures you should be getting eyeballs on in your baby's mouth every month.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And then what to look for if you suspect your baby has a lip tie or a tongue tie and then where to get help and who to get it from if there really is such a thing.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Now, I'll tell you a quick little backstory.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Dawn is one of my dearest friends, my baby-led weaning bestie.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And when she told me she was making a tongue depressor, I was like, you're off the rails.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Like, you're supposed to be making feeding gear.

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<v SPEAKER_1>What are you doing with a tongue depressor?

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<v SPEAKER_1>I am totally convinced.

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<v SPEAKER_1>I have started doing this.

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<v SPEAKER_1>I'm a dietician.

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<v SPEAKER_1>I am not a speech language pathologist, but there's a lot of things that you can tell about a baby's ability to eat by looking in their mouth and using a tongue depressor and using the right kind of tongue depressor is a really good idea.

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<v SPEAKER_1>So, I originally might have snarked on her idea of the tongue depressor, but I absolutely love it.

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<v SPEAKER_1>I think this is such an incredible tool.

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<v SPEAKER_1>I was just working with a mom who's been using it extensively as well, and we were talking about, we kind of cover that in this episode as well, but like how, even if you're not an SLP, you're not a dietician, you're not a pediatric dentist, there's a lot of stuff you can learn about your baby by looking in their mouth, and it can help alleviate a lot of stress for you too.

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<v SPEAKER_1>So I hope you guys enjoy this interview with Dawn Winkelman.

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<v SPEAKER_1>If you want to check out the Baby-Led Tongue Depressor that she designed for Ezpz, it's online at ezpzfun.com.

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<v SPEAKER_1>You can use my affiliate discount code, Katie10, to get 10% off all of the feeding gear, and now the oral care and pre-feeding tools that Dawn and her team at Ezpz are making.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Here's Dawn.

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<v SPEAKER_2>I was on my way to a client's house, and the mom calls me on the cell phone.

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<v SPEAKER_2>I was going there to do some feeding therapy, and the mom calls me on the cell phone, and she's just like, Dawn, I think there's something in the back of my baby's throat.

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<v SPEAKER_2>I think it's chicken.

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<v SPEAKER_2>I don't know what to do.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And I said, well, you're CPR trained.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Is she breathing?

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<v SPEAKER_2>Is everything going smoothly?

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<v SPEAKER_2>And she's like, yes, yes.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And I'm like, I'm five minutes away.

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<v SPEAKER_2>I'll be there in a second.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Get there, go in.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And she's like, look, look, there's something in the back of her mouth.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And I take my tongue depressor and I look into the baby's mouth and I'm like, oh, that's called a uvula.

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<v SPEAKER_2>That is basically the back of the throat.

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<v SPEAKER_2>If you've ever seen like a Charlie Brown cartoon and you see this hanging teardrop shaped piece of tissue that hangs down from the soft palate in the back of the throat, that is normal anatomy.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And the mom thought it was a piece of chicken stuck in the back of her throat.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And she was frantic.

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<v SPEAKER_2>She was like, I didn't know if I should pluck it out with tweezers.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Should I take it out with tweezers?

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<v SPEAKER_2>And I was like, no, that is actually part of your baby's anatomy.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And she had never looked in her baby's mouth before.

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<v SPEAKER_2>So here she is thinking that the baby's choking on chicken and that there was a piece of chicken in the back of her throat.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And it was actually part of your baby's anatomy and physiology.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And so it was just a wonderful, wide opening experience for me to say like, parents should look into their baby's mouth with a tongue depressor and do an oral assessment every single month so they can see babies developing oral cavity.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Dawn, you have been on this podcast before talking about topics like pocketing and how babies learn to chew and swallow.

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<v SPEAKER_1>And I'm sorry, but as interested as I am about what's going on in a baby's mouth, like as a dietician and a mom, I am not always inclined to go poking around and looking in there.

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<v SPEAKER_1>So can you give me some reasons why parents who are not speech language pathologists might be interested in or inclined to look in their baby's mouth?

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<v SPEAKER_2>There's so many reasons.

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<v SPEAKER_2>One reason is to look at oral structures.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And the example that I just gave, you need to know your baby's oral structures.

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<v SPEAKER_2>You need to know that for safety reasons.

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<v SPEAKER_2>You need to recognize the changes in your child's mouth so that you could go to another pediatrician or to be able to go to a dentist for you to be able to know what the next plan of care is.

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<v SPEAKER_2>You need to know if there's an obstruction inside of that mouth or if there's an object.

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<v SPEAKER_2>So many times I have actually taken coins out of a child's mouth or toys that have been left over because every time I go to feed a baby, I look into their mouth before I feed them.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Because again, it is so important for us to make sure that we have a clear oral cavity before anything gets put into their mouth.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Liability issues, for one, but also, too, the safety issues of a child.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Second would be a tongue, lip, or cheek tie.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Parents are the ones that are usually telling us medical professionals, hey, I think my baby's tongue, it just feels really thick, or my baby's tongue is heart-shaped.

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<v SPEAKER_2>They're explaining the characteristics of those types of symptoms.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And so we want them to go into the mouth and actually look at that.

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<v SPEAKER_2>So many times that tongue ties and then eventual tongue tie releases happen is because the parent looked into the mouth and assessed it.

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<v SPEAKER_2>So thrush is another reason.

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<v SPEAKER_2>We want to make sure that if baby is having a yeast infection on their tongue, if it's whitish gray, if it resembles cottage cheese, we wanna know that.

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<v SPEAKER_2>As a feeding therapist, I want to know if this baby's having thrush, they might not be able to eat as much, their senses is changing, it might have to increase the sensory exposure to that food to make that safer for them.

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<v SPEAKER_2>It could cause more gagging.

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<v SPEAKER_2>We need to know that.

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<v SPEAKER_2>So if a parent is like, oh, my baby's gagging more, this meal, I don't know why.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Well, if they haven't looked into their mouth, these could be some of these potential reasons.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Emerging teeth is another one.

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<v SPEAKER_2>If the baby is drooling a little bit more, why is baby drooling more?

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<v SPEAKER_2>Do we have some emerging teeth?

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<v SPEAKER_2>Some babies are born with teeth.

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<v SPEAKER_2>So it's like we have to look into the mouth and kind of assess that.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Some people, I've worked with kids that they don't even have a tooth and they're going on their second birthday.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Like that's unusual.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Like we need to look into the mouth and kind of see that.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Illness, does the child have redness or white in the back of the throat?

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<v SPEAKER_2>Is it strep throat?

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<v SPEAKER_2>Is baby having an allergic reaction to some of those foods?

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<v SPEAKER_2>We'll see those structures kind of swell up and parents won't know that if they're not familiar with their mouth.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Early childhood caries is another one.

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<v SPEAKER_2>We want to know that the teeth that are emerging is not actually having some oral issues.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And parents, again, are the first ones to kind of alert their pediatric dentists that this is what they're kind of seeing.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Pocketing, so a lot of times parents don't know that the baby is pocketing unless they look into their mouth and sometimes it's really hard to tell.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Pocketing, as we've talked about in previous episodes, can be inside the cheek, it can be underneath the lip, it can be underneath the tongue, it can be up to the roof of the mouth.

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<v SPEAKER_2>There's lots of little cavities in the mouth that we need to look in and check for pocketing.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And it's very easy to be able to do that with the tongue depressor.

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<v SPEAKER_2>So we want to be able to kind of assess that from a home visit kind of standpoint that parents can do this at home.

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<v SPEAKER_2>But also as you're doing that and doing an oral examination every single month of your child's life, you're also preparing them for other medical visits.

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<v SPEAKER_2>You know, your pediatrician's going to use a tongue depressor on your kids.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Your pediatric dentist is going to use a tongue depressor on your kids.

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<v SPEAKER_2>So this is allowing them to have a better experience in those medical procedures.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Less battles, less crying, less behaviors, less embarrassment for parents and being a rock star.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Wouldn't it be cool to have your pediatric dentist going, wow, your child is a rock star.

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<v SPEAKER_2>She was able to do this oral assessment so fast or have the pediatrician goes, oh my gosh, you know, it was so easy to diagnose hand, foot, mouth disease for your child because they knew what a tongue depressor was like.

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<v SPEAKER_2>So it's just, it's for health and wellbeing.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And you know, this really, this preparation kind of starts at home.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Hey, we're going to take a quick break, but I'll be right back.

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<v SPEAKER_1>This episode is sponsored in part by Ritual Prenatal Vitamins.

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<v SPEAKER_1>In fact, the World Health Organization recommends continuing your prenatal until you start weaning.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Dawn, you recently designed the Baby-Led Tongue Depressor for Ezpz.

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<v SPEAKER_1>Please, tell me what parents use this product for, and when do they start using it, and then do you have any best practices or tips for success when using a tongue depressor with your baby?

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<v SPEAKER_2>Yeah, I've taught medical professionals and parents to use a tongue depressor and feel confident and safe in having this being a part of their routine.

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<v SPEAKER_2>I coined the term baby-led oral care as a way to kind of show families the fundamentals of baby-led weaning and how they can extend to oral care, because when you start out with baby-led weaning, babies are interested at first for short periods of time, and maybe they're not as successful the first couple of meals.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Well, the same thing goes with using a tongue depressor.

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<v SPEAKER_2>The baby might not be interested as much.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Maybe you're only getting an assessment that's like five seconds, but as it becomes more of a routine, it becomes easier for the child to have this be part of their monthly, weekly, or daily routine that they're able to look in.

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<v SPEAKER_2>We want to do these quick five seconds or five minutes oral regimens so that if your baby starts to crawl or starts to walk and they faceplant and they hit their mouth, that it's easy for them to allow you to go into the mouth and assess that.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Tongue depressors are always in medical settings, and I want them to be in homes, right?

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<v SPEAKER_2>I want them to be able to feel comfortable and feel successful with looking into their baby's mouth.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Every time I teach a parent to use a tongue depressor to look into their mouth, they're so nervous.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And I'm like, your breast has been in this mouth.

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<v SPEAKER_2>This is the same mouth that you were feeding with your breasts and now you're gonna start solids and you want to look into the mouth again.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And kind of assess this.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And so I like showing parents like the tongue depressor that they're normally seeing and the tongue depressor that I designed.

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<v SPEAKER_2>This is basically, it's a regular tongue depressor for your listeners is made out of birch wood and it sucks out all of the saliva and moisture out of the mouth.

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<v SPEAKER_2>So as soon as it goes into mouth, it's drying out my tongue to where I don't have saliva.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And as we're assessing the structures, I'm looking at the palate, I'm looking at the tongue, I'm looking underneath the tongue, I'm looking into the cheeks.

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<v SPEAKER_2>It becomes very uncomfortable for kids because this is just kind of a little sharp and it's hard to manipulate.

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<v SPEAKER_2>And it's again sucking out all that saliva.

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<v SPEAKER_2>Why I designed the sensory tongue depressor is that it's stainless steel with silicone overmold.

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<v SPEAKER_2>So it makes it very easy to go into the tongue using that saliva as a way to kind of glide the tongue depressor through the mouth, making it very easy for parents to be able to look at structures.

00:16:08.753 --> 00:16:18.273

<v SPEAKER_2>And the sensory bumps that are on the sensory tongue depressor grab ahold of the tongue and make it very easy to kind of move those structures so parents can see.

00:16:18.293 --> 00:16:25.853

<v SPEAKER_2>Whereas with a wood tongue depressor, it's very difficult to do that because the tongue depressor gets stuck and then you're kind of like hurting the tongue as you move it.

00:16:26.233 --> 00:16:29.893

<v SPEAKER_1>I get goose bumps when you even talk about wood tongue depressors.

00:16:29.913 --> 00:16:32.813

<v SPEAKER_1>Like that is like not what I want in my mouth.

00:16:32.873 --> 00:16:35.573

<v SPEAKER_1>Is this the first non-wood tongue depressor?

00:16:35.593 --> 00:16:37.673

<v SPEAKER_1>Were there other alternative materials?

00:16:37.693 --> 00:16:39.573

<v SPEAKER_2>There are plastic tongue depressors out there.

00:16:39.593 --> 00:16:41.313

<v SPEAKER_1>I also don't want plastic in my baby's mouth.

00:16:41.333 --> 00:16:41.853

<v SPEAKER_2>Sorry.

00:16:42.393 --> 00:16:52.733

<v SPEAKER_2>And the disadvantage of those is that the plastic tongue depressors, as the child is, you know, putting their mouth on it or teeth on it, they're ingesting plastic strips.

00:16:52.993 --> 00:16:57.553

<v SPEAKER_2>It's really important for people to know that those microplastics can occur with that.

00:16:58.013 --> 00:17:10.813

<v SPEAKER_2>Another beautiful thing about the sensory tongue depressor is that you can put it into a cup of warm water or you can put it in a cup of ice water and it will hold the temperature for 60 seconds.

00:17:11.233 --> 00:17:13.513

<v SPEAKER_2>So with my babies, this is really important.

00:17:13.533 --> 00:17:16.193

<v SPEAKER_2>I'll put that into warm breast milk.

00:17:16.193 --> 00:17:26.093

<v SPEAKER_2>And so the sensory bumps hold on to that breast milk, so the baby's tasting that breast milk, more likely to open up their mouth, again adding that sensory capability in there.

00:17:26.453 --> 00:17:33.733

<v SPEAKER_1>Dawn, I know speech language pathologists like yourself, especially in feeding therapy, you're gonna use tongue depressors and you guys use them in speech therapy as well.

00:17:34.073 --> 00:17:44.873

<v SPEAKER_1>And we generally talk about infant feeding on this podcast, but you've taught us that helping your baby meet certain feeding milestones can in turn help them develop the language milestones that are coming a little bit later.

00:17:45.193 --> 00:17:51.493

<v SPEAKER_1>So can parents use the tongue depressor for any speech related activities at home with their baby?

00:17:51.553 --> 00:17:52.813

<v SPEAKER_1>And if so, how?

00:17:53.233 --> 00:17:58.393

<v SPEAKER_2>Yeah, well, we can absolutely use it for all things feeding, but also speech as well.

00:17:58.693 --> 00:18:00.053

<v SPEAKER_2>It's the same structures, right?

00:18:00.073 --> 00:18:04.693

<v SPEAKER_2>So what we're trying, and so it's like, I'm working with the tongue depressor for feeding.

00:18:04.713 --> 00:18:07.193

<v SPEAKER_2>I'm working for the tongue depressor for oral motor skills.

00:18:07.193 --> 00:18:09.673

<v SPEAKER_2>I'm working for the tongue depressor for sensory skills.

00:18:09.953 --> 00:18:13.033

<v SPEAKER_2>I'm working for the tongue depressor for respiratory skills, right?

00:18:13.473 --> 00:18:15.633

<v SPEAKER_2>Feeding is all about respiration.

00:18:15.933 --> 00:18:17.913

<v SPEAKER_2>Speech is all about respiration.

00:18:17.913 --> 00:18:26.173

<v SPEAKER_2>So I want to put the tongue depressor in between my lips or in between the child's lips and hold it so I'm working these muscles.

00:18:26.193 --> 00:18:33.813

<v SPEAKER_2>But also, as the child is holding this weighted tongue depressor between their lips, they can't help but breathe through their nose.

00:18:34.253 --> 00:18:37.773

<v SPEAKER_2>This is how I find a lot of my kids that have airway issues.

00:18:38.033 --> 00:18:43.813

<v SPEAKER_2>They're putting it between their lips, especially if it's like a six-month-old baby and they're kind of holding it and playing with it.

00:18:43.833 --> 00:18:46.053

<v SPEAKER_2>And then all of a sudden they're gasping.

00:18:46.073 --> 00:18:58.893

<v SPEAKER_2>I'm like, ooh, I need to send you to an airway dentist because I can already tell that we're having some difficulties with respiration, which means we're gonna have difficulties with respiration with food and we're gonna have difficulties with respiration with speech production.

00:18:58.913 --> 00:19:01.753

<v SPEAKER_1>Hey, we're gonna take a quick break, but I'll be right back.

00:19:07.613 --> 00:19:09.313

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00:19:40.537 --> 00:19:54.397

<v SPEAKER_1>Dawn, you've shown us that looking in your baby's mouth is important for a number of safety and development reasons, but how do you know if what you're seeing requires further exploration or intervention by a specialist?

00:19:54.797 --> 00:20:03.897

<v SPEAKER_1>Basically, what sort of stuff, if you saw it in your baby's mouth, would you recommend, oh, mom, dad, you should get a referral to an SLP or a pediatric or an airway dentist?

00:20:04.297 --> 00:20:09.237

<v SPEAKER_2>Yeah, I'll just give you some examples that I've had with the families that I've worked with.

00:20:09.477 --> 00:20:15.937

<v SPEAKER_2>I've had parents look into the mouth and like say, hey, I think my baby has a high palate.

00:20:15.957 --> 00:20:17.117

<v SPEAKER_2>Can you look, what do you think?

00:20:17.137 --> 00:20:23.977

<v SPEAKER_2>And then I'm like, oh yeah, they do have a high palate, or my baby has sores inside of their mouth, or they have lip bisters.

00:20:24.137 --> 00:20:32.917

<v SPEAKER_2>And a lot of these oral structures and symptoms in there are symptoms of like a lip tie or a tongue tie or hand and foot and mouth disease.

00:20:33.197 --> 00:20:34.977

<v SPEAKER_2>So then I will say, oh, you know what?

00:20:35.277 --> 00:20:39.437

<v SPEAKER_2>I think that you should go see your pediatric dentist or your pediatrician.

00:20:39.677 --> 00:20:45.937

<v SPEAKER_2>But parents are the ones that are looking into the mouth using the sensory tongue depressor and finding this.

00:20:46.337 --> 00:20:54.057

<v SPEAKER_2>If they are looking into the mouth and concerned about the lip tie or a tongue tie, or maybe that might be tight, they're using that terminology.

00:20:54.437 --> 00:20:56.897

<v SPEAKER_2>Again, I'm referring them to an airway specialist.

00:20:57.377 --> 00:21:02.337

<v SPEAKER_2>I'm talking to them about the difference between airway dentistry and pediatric dentistry.

00:21:02.557 --> 00:21:06.377

<v SPEAKER_2>If they have thrush or childhood caries, right?

00:21:06.397 --> 00:21:12.137

<v SPEAKER_2>So I'm like, oh, you need to go follow up with your pediatrician or you need to make an appointment.

00:21:12.157 --> 00:21:17.117

<v SPEAKER_2>Usually we try to make an appointment with a dentist at the first tooth or at least by a baby's first birthday.

00:21:17.337 --> 00:21:24.317

<v SPEAKER_2>But I might say, hey, with some of these symptoms that you're talking about, you might want to make an appointment with your pediatric dentist a little bit earlier.

00:21:24.657 --> 00:21:40.277

<v SPEAKER_2>Or if they have pocketing of food or if they're just like, I look in the mouth and I feel like my baby has a hyper gag reflex, or I feel like my baby isn't swallowing, when I look into the mouth, I see food still back there, then that would be a referral to a speech pathologist or occupational therapist.

00:21:40.577 --> 00:21:56.937

<v SPEAKER_2>So a lot of the information that parents can glean from using a tongue depressor can actually help get the right medical providers into their baby's life and really stop any delays that can come up from some of those things that they're seeing.

00:21:57.217 --> 00:21:58.677

<v SPEAKER_2>And I just want to empower parents.

00:21:58.697 --> 00:22:00.977

<v SPEAKER_2>Like, you're the one that knows your baby best.

00:22:00.997 --> 00:22:07.677

<v SPEAKER_2>You're the one that is able to look into the mouth every single day and being able to kind of see what's happening.

00:22:07.797 --> 00:22:29.897

<v SPEAKER_2>And 99.9% of the time, parents asking those questions about their child's mouth helps them get early intervention so much faster and really can decrease the fact that you would need speech therapy or in some cases braces in the future or airway problems or surgeries like a tonsillectomy or something like that.

00:22:30.277 --> 00:22:39.837

<v SPEAKER_2>It's really empowering for parents to really be an advocate for their oral health and to really help them succeed with oral care and feeding.

00:22:40.357 --> 00:22:43.657

<v SPEAKER_1>Dawn, thank you so much for sharing your time and your expertise here.

00:22:43.657 --> 00:22:48.817

<v SPEAKER_1>And you have definitely inspired us to all be a little bit more vigilant about searching around in our kiddo's mouth.

00:22:49.197 --> 00:22:53.737

<v SPEAKER_1>Where can our audience go to learn more about your work and to support your business?

00:22:54.177 --> 00:22:54.857

<v SPEAKER_2>Oh, thank you.

00:22:54.977 --> 00:23:02.937

<v SPEAKER_2>They can get some of the products that I designed for Ezpz at ezpzfund.com and use the code Katie10 for 10% off.

00:23:02.957 --> 00:23:06.697

<v SPEAKER_2>They can also find me on social on at Ms.

00:23:06.697 --> 00:23:07.817

<v SPEAKER_2>Dawn SLP.

00:23:07.837 --> 00:23:10.137

<v SPEAKER_2>That's M-S-D-A-W-N-S-L-P.

00:23:11.237 --> 00:23:12.437

<v SPEAKER_1>Okay, what do you guys think?

00:23:12.457 --> 00:23:13.897

<v SPEAKER_1>Are you converts?

00:23:13.917 --> 00:23:16.717

<v SPEAKER_1>You're gonna start using the Baby-Led Tongue Depressor?

00:23:16.737 --> 00:23:19.717

<v SPEAKER_1>If anything, I'm never gonna put a wooden tongue depressor in my baby's mouth.

00:23:19.717 --> 00:23:22.957

<v SPEAKER_1>I keep getting goosebumps every time she was talking about it.

00:23:22.977 --> 00:23:26.577

<v SPEAKER_1>And we did some video stuff for this interview, too, and she was like showing the tongue depressor.

00:23:26.777 --> 00:23:28.177

<v SPEAKER_1>Her tongue depressor is very cool.

00:23:28.577 --> 00:23:35.437

<v SPEAKER_1>And I can attest to it being much more effective figuring out what's going in your baby's mouth and just kind of guessing or using your fingers.

00:23:35.757 --> 00:23:39.937

<v SPEAKER_1>So check out all of the resources that Dawn included in today's episode.

00:23:39.937 --> 00:23:44.177

<v SPEAKER_1>Those will be on the show notes at blwpodcast.com forward slash four five two.

00:23:44.497 --> 00:23:47.217

<v SPEAKER_1>And a special thank you to our partners at Airwave Media.

00:23:47.457 --> 00:23:52.597

<v SPEAKER_1>If you guys like podcasts that feature food and science and using your brain, check out some of the podcasts from Airwave.

00:23:52.857 --> 00:23:55.237

<v SPEAKER_1>We're online at blwpodcast.com.

00:23:55.337 --> 00:23:56.217

<v SPEAKER_1>Dawn's at Ms.

00:23:56.237 --> 00:23:59.577

<v SPEAKER_1>Dawn SLP, Ezpz is ezpzfun.com.

00:23:59.717 --> 00:24:02.357

<v SPEAKER_1>And my ezpz discount code is Katie10.

00:24:02.717 --> 00:24:08.457

<v SPEAKER_1>If you wanna get yourself a baby-led tongue depressor and start looking around to see what's going on in there, it's actually very fascinating.

00:24:08.977 --> 00:24:09.437

<v SPEAKER_1>Bye now.

00:24:18.897 --> 00:24:33.078

<v SPEAKER_3>At a time when change is constant, and we are pulled in far too many directions, we need a way to stay present to life and to increase our ability to remain calm, think clearly, and maintain our well-being.

00:24:33.698 --> 00:24:38.898

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<v SPEAKER_3>Tune in for guided meditations and to hear tips and advice from some of the most respected experts in the fields of mental health and mindfulness.

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