Oral Motor Skills and Feeding Development in Children – OT Support in Malta
By Ema Bartolo ·
As an occupational therapist in Malta, one of the most common parental concerns at WonderKids involves feeding challenges. From toddlers who gag on new textures to school-age children struggling with proper chewing, feeding difficulties are more common than many families realise and often stem from underdeveloped oral motor skills.
Feeding represents a remarkably complex task requiring coordination of mouth and jaw muscles alongside sensory processing, postural stability, breathing, and emotional regulation. When any component falters, mealtimes become stressful family events.
What Are Oral Motor Skills?
Oral motor skills encompass movement and coordination of mouth and surrounding muscles, essential for:
- Sucking and swallowing from birth
- Chewing and food breakdown
- Lip closure during eating and drinking
- Tongue manipulation for safe swallowing
- Jaw stability for controlled biting and chewing
These skills develop gradually through infancy and early childhood, interconnecting with speech development.
Recognition Signs
Parents often wonder whether picky eating reflects normal development or requires intervention. Key indicators include:
- Frequent gagging or choking on food
- Food pocketing in cheeks
- Excessive drooling beyond age-appropriate levels
- Texture transition difficulties
- Messy eating with significant food loss
- Extremely limited food acceptance
- Mealtime fatigue
OT Therapeutic Approach
At WonderKids, we employ holistic feeding intervention, examining the whole child — including sensory profiles, posture, emotional state, and mealtime environment.
Sensory-Based Support
Many feeding-challenged children experience sensory processing difficulties, demonstrating hypersensitivity to textures, temperatures, or smells. Occupational therapists facilitate gradual, safe sensory exploration through play-based activities and graded food exposure without pressure.
Oral Motor Strengthening
Specific play-based activities strengthen feeding muscles, incorporating blowing games, variable-resistance straw drinking, chewy tools, and jaw stability activities promoting tongue movement lateralization.
Home Mealtime Strategies
Therapists collaborate with families on supportive routines, addressing seating positioning, food presentation, pacing, and low-pressure food introduction — particularly important within Maltese cultural contexts emphasizing shared family meals.
Postural Foundation
Often overlooked is how postural stability influences feeding success. Inadequately supported children lack necessary trunk control for coordinating oral movements. Assessments evaluate seating and positioning, ensuring stable eating foundations.
When Professional Help Matters
Seek occupational therapy assessment when mealtimes consistently cause distress or when your child’s growth, nutrition, or food-related social participation becomes affected. Early intervention significantly enhances skill development and confidence.
Call us at +356 77048650 or email info@wonderkids.mt.