Will a baby become ugly if he sleeps with his mouth open? The harm of a baby sleeping with his mouth open

It is a very simple thing for a baby to sleep. However, if the baby has the habit of sleeping with his mouth open, it will have a great impact on the baby's future. Will the baby become ugly if he sleeps with his mouth open? What are the harms of a baby sleeping with his mouth open?

Recently, I was flooded with news that "babies who sleep with their mouths open will grow uglier and uglier". This really scared me! Indeed, sleeping with the mouth open can easily lead to oral and respiratory diseases, and can also affect the normal development of the face. I wonder if mothers have noticed whether their babies have the bad habit of sleeping with their mouths open?

The dangers of sleeping with your mouth open

First, let’s talk about the disadvantages of sleeping with your mouth open:

Unhygienic: The nose is the gateway to the respiratory system. The nasal cavity can help filter out many bacteria, germs and dust in the air. If you breathe through your mouth, this line of defense will collapse, which can easily increase the chance of infection.

Easy to cause tooth deformity: If the baby sleeps with the mouth open for a long time, it is easy to cause underdevelopment of the upper and lower jaws and uneven teeth. In severe cases, it will also affect the child's learning to speak or future appearance.

If you get used to mouth breathing, you will grow uglier

This is true. Nasal obstruction, adenoid hypertrophy, and tonsil hypertrophy are the three main culprits that hinder breathing, which will affect the child's face and demeanor to a certain extent. Enlarged adenoids may completely block the airway. In order to breathe, the child's neck must be extended forward, the mouth must be opened, and the mandibular plane angle increases, which will gradually lead to posterior and inferior rotation of the mandible, increased mandibular plane angle, mandibular retraction, and increased facial length, resulting in skeletal Class II malocclusion. Always stretching the neck will form a hunchback deformity. In order to balance the extended head, the body will cause excessive fatigue of the muscles in the back of the neck, causing cervical spondylosis. Enlarged tonsils are located in the middle of the upper airway, at the level of the palatopharynx and oropharynx. The patient needs to extend the mandible forward to open the blockage at this level, resulting in skeletal Class III malocclusions such as mandibular protrusion.

Children who breathe through their mouths may switch between these two forms at will, and may develop various maxillofacial malformations. A typical example is the "adenoid face": the face develops downward, the chin is retracted, the upper lip is protruding, the lower lip is drooping, the teeth are uneven, and the neck is stretched forward.

Besides becoming ugly, you may also become stupid.

Mouth-breathing will not only make people uglier and cause oral and respiratory diseases, but also affect intellectual development. The reason is that people who breathe through their mouths have narrow airways, and the biggest harm of narrow airways is lack of oxygen, especially leading to insufficient oxygen intake during sleep. The blood oxygen saturation of normal people during sleep is over 90%, while the blood oxygen saturation of people who sleep with their mouths open is 60%-70%. This will increase the burden on the heart over time and easily cause cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. For children who sleep with their mouths open at night, the amount of oxygen inhaled is insufficient, which can easily cause brain ischemia and hypoxia, leading to poor brain development and affecting intelligence.

Why do we sleep with our mouths open? What can we do?

Under normal circumstances, babies do not breathe through their mouths unless they are crying. If the baby breathes through his mouth during sleep, mothers should pay attention to whether the following problems exist.

1. The nose is blocked by mucus

Babies' nostrils are originally tight, and because of crying or not cleaning their nostrils for a long time, the mucus solidifies and they have difficulty breathing.

If mothers find that the baby's nostrils are indeed blocked during examination, they can use baby saline spray to soften the baby's nasal mucus, and then use a baby nasal aspirator to suck it out. Try not to use cotton swabs to clean the nostrils, as it is easy to poke the nasal cavity.

2. Nasal congestion caused by allergies or colds

When babies are playing, their nasal congestion is not obvious, but it gets worse when they lie down to sleep. If mothers do not pay close attention, babies may develop serious respiratory diseases.

If mothers find that this is the case, they must keep the home environment clean. Dust, fungi, droplets, perfume, and cigarettes are all bad for the baby's breathing.

In addition, parents also need to strengthen their baby's exercise and massage to enhance the baby's immunity. If the baby's runny nose lasts for 1-2 weeks, he must go to the hospital for examination to avoid delaying the disease.

3. Too big tongue

This is a rare condition where the tongue of a baby with a large tongue can push back into the throat when the baby is lying on his back.

How to preliminarily check whether the baby has a big tongue? The mother can carefully observe whether the baby likes to stick out the tongue. If the baby never or rarely sticks out the tongue, the mother should go to the hospital for further consultation with a dentist.

4. The baby is too fat

Obese babies have short and thick necks and more soft fat in their throats, which narrows their airways. They need to open their mouths and breathe hard, and they may also develop sleep apnea syndrome.

If this is the case, the mother should pay attention to whether the baby's nutritional combination is reasonable, whether the food intake is too large, and let the baby exercise more.

Babies who are overweight should add a weight loss plan under the guidance of a doctor. Once the fat in the throat is reduced, the symptoms of mouth breathing may heal themselves.

In addition, nasal abnormalities, enlarged tonsils and adenoids can cause the baby to breathe with open mouth and snore during sleep. This requires professional medical equipment to diagnose and treat. Parents should take their baby to the hospital for examination as soon as possible.

5. Allergic rhinitis or deviated nasal septum

Allergic rhinitis, deviated nasal septum, etc. can all lead to difficulty breathing, and children must breathe through their mouths to get enough oxygen.

When the baby's deciduous teeth have fully erupted, the mother should pay attention to the baby's sleeping posture. If the baby is unable to close his mouth, the mother should go to the hospital to check the oral cavity and facial features in time to find out the cause and start treatment as soon as possible.

6. Habit

Good habits are hard to change once they are formed. Similarly, bad habits are also hard to change. If you unconsciously develop the habit of breathing through your mouth, even if your nasal cavity is unobstructed, you still like to breathe through your mouth. This bad habit needs to be improved!

If mouth breathing is a habit, some muscle function training can be done. Mothers should pay attention to the development of this habit of their babies and help them correct it as soon as possible, otherwise they will blame their parents when they grow up!

Is it normal for a baby to sleep with his mouth open?

Babies are in a period of rapid physical development, and the "destructive power" of sleeping with their mouths open on their appearance cannot be underestimated! In daily life, not only does sleeping with your mouth open easily reduce your baby's appearance, but you should also be careful about the following bad habits:

Long-term one-way side sleeping causes "big and small face"

No. 5 website comment: Long-term one-way side sleeping will cause changes in the baby's facial skin texture. It will also affect the baby's bone development, cause dental deformities, and seriously affect the baby's facial appearance. Therefore, mothers should adjust the baby's sleeping position in time when the baby is sleeping.

Resting the chin with the hand causes the face to be crooked

No. 5 website comment: If babies hold their chins with their hands for a long time, it will affect the blood circulation in the face, which will lead to facial crookedness. Therefore, mothers should stop it in time when they see it, so as to reduce the number of times and time the baby holds his chin with his hands.

One-sided eating causes facial asymmetry

No. 5 website comment: Long-term unilateral eating, especially chewing hard objects such as nuts, will cause problems such as asymmetric bite and enlarged masseter muscles in babies, which will eventually lead to asymmetry of the two sides of the face. Therefore, babies should chew food with the teeth on both sides at the same time when eating.

Lip deformity due to lip biting

No. 5 website comment: It is normal for babies aged 3-4 months to bite their lips, because their sucking is not satisfied. However, if babies still bite their lips after 8 months, mothers should pay attention. Frequent lip biting by babies can easily lead to an imbalance of pressure between the lips and tongue, resulting in lip deformity. For example, biting the upper lip can easily lead to an overbite, while biting the lower lip can easily lead to a thick lower lip.

Sitting with your head hunched over can cause droopy eyelids

No. 5 website comment: Babies are in a critical period of growth. If they develop bad habits of hunching over or sitting with their heads down, it will easily affect their facial appearance, leading to a series of "chain reactions" such as hunchback, shrinking neck, shorter nose, sunken temples, drooping eyelids, and retracted chin. Therefore, as the baby grows up, correct sitting posture is also an indispensable step.