Oral Motor Feeding Disorder

Oral motor feeding disorders involve weakness, reduced range of motion, or impaired coordination of the muscles of the face, jaw, lips, tongue, and palate that are necessary for safe and efficient feeding. These difficulties can affect breast or bottle feeding in infants, chewing and managing solid foods in toddlers and children, and adequate nutritional intake across the lifespan.

Oral motor deficits in feeding may present as difficulty sucking, excessive drooling, poor lip closure around a cup or spoon, inefficient chewing with food falling from the mouth, pocketing food in the cheeks, and difficulty managing mixed textures. These challenges may be associated with neurological conditions, genetic syndromes, prematurity, or structural differences, or they may occur without an identified cause.

Speech-language pathologists with expertise in oral motor and feeding disorders conduct thorough clinical assessments and may recommend instrumental evaluation when aspiration risk is a concern. Treatment targets the underlying oral motor deficits through targeted exercises and therapeutic feeding activities, with the goal of achieving safe, efficient, and enjoyable mealtimes.