Does Mouth Breathing Affect Your Child’s Speech & What Can You Do About It

Most parents know that breathing is important for their child’s overall health, but many are surprised to learn that how a child breathes can also affect their speech, language development, sleep, and even facial growth.

If you’ve noticed that your child regularly breathes through their mouth instead of their nose, it's worth paying attention. While mouth breathing isn't always something to worry about, chronic mouth breathing may be a sign of an underlying issue that deserves to be looked into. 

Why Do Some Children Breathe Through Their Mouth?

Our bodies are designed for us to primarily breathe through the nose. The nose filters, warms, and humidifies the air before it reaches the lungs. When a child regularly breathes through their mouth, there is often an underlying reason why. 

Common causes for mouth breathing are:

• Chronic allergies
• Enlarged adenoids or tonsils
• Frequent nasal congestion
• Structural differences such as a deviated septum

There are many medical conditions that can contribute to mouth breathing, which makes it important that children who have persistent symptoms get evaluated by their pediatrician or an ear, nose, throat (ENT) specialist. 

How Does Mouth Breathing Affect Speech? 

Speech needs the lips, tongue, jaw, and palate to work well together, and when a child breathes through their mouth most of the time, those muscles may not develop or function as efficiently as they should. 

Children who habitually mouth breathe often rest with less efficient muscle coordination, an open mouth, and their tongue resting against the roof of their mouth. These differences can make it more difficult to produce certain speech sounds clearly. 

Some children may develop articulation difficulties, especially those that need the tongue to be placed a particular way, while others may have speech that sounds less clear than their peers. 

Mouth breathing itself does not automatically cause a speech disorder, but it can contribute to speech difficulties when combined with oral muscle weakness or poor oral resting posture. Book an appointment with us to receive a free evaluation. 

It’s About More Than Just Speech

Mouth breathing can affect much more than communication. For example, poor sleep quality, snoring, dry mouth, changes in facial and jaw development, and dental alignment issues. 

When children are not sleeping well because of breathing issues, they may appear tired, irritable, inattentive, and have problems learning in school. These challenges can sometimes overlap with speech and language concerns, which makes a full evaluation especially important. 

Signs Parents May Notice

Children who mouth breathe usually don’t complain because it feels normal to them. Thankfully, there are some signs that parents can look out for:

• Their mouth is open when they sleep and when they are awake
• They breathe loudly when awake
• Their speech sounds unclear
• They snore
• Their lips and/or mouth are dry in the morning
• They have frequent nasal congestion
• Their tongue rests low in their mouth
• They have difficulty producing certain speech sounds

If you notice several of these signs together, it’s a good idea to discuss them with your child’s healthcare provider. 

Can Speech Therapy Help? 

Many parents wonder if speech therapy can help with speech issues related to mouth breathing, and the answer is yes, depending on the underlying cause of why it is happening. 

If mouth breathing has contributed to speech sound errors or changes in how the muscles of the mouth work together, a speech-language pathologist can evaluate the child’s speech, oral motor function, and communication skills. 

In some cases, therapy may include orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT). OMT focuses on improving the function and coordination of the muscles of the lips, tongue, jaw, and face. The goal is to encourage healthy oral resting posture, proper tongue placement, nasal breathing (when medically appropriate), and sometimes more efficient swallowing patterns. 

It’s important to understand that speech therapists do not treat blocked airways or enlarged tonsils, and if a child has an underlying medical cause for breathing through their mouth, that condition should be addressed by the appropriate healthcare professional. Speech therapy often works alongside pediatricians, ENT’s, allergists, orthodontists, and dentists as part of a team approach. 

Why Early Intervention Matters

The earlier that speech or oral muscle concerns are identified, the easier they are often to address. Children’s muscles and movement patterns are still developing, which makes early childhood an excellent time to build healthy habits. Waiting doesn’t necessarily mean problems will resolve on their own.

If your child is difficult to understand, consistently breathes through their mouth, snores regularly, or struggles with feeding, it’s worth seeking an evaluation. Even in cases where the child's speech is developing normally, identifying the reason for chronic mouth breathing can benefit your child’s overall health and development. 

We discuss this topic more thoroughly in our blog titled: The Importance of Early Intervention for Speech and Language Disorders.

How Great Speech Can Help

Mouth breathing is more than just a habit, and for some children, it may be connected to speech difficulties, oral muscle function, sleep quality, and overall development. While not every child who breathes through their mouth will need speech therapy, persistent mouth breathing should not be ignored. Identifying the underlying cause and seeking the right support early can make a big difference.  

At Great Speech, our licensed speech-language pathologists provide virtual evaluations and therapy from the comfort of your home. If your child is experiencing speech sound difficulties, oral motor challenges, or may benefit from orofacial myofunctional therapy, our team can determine whether speech therapy is appropriate and collaborate with your child’s pediatrician, ENT, dentist, orthodontist, or other healthcare providers when needed. 

Every child is different, which is why speech therapy with Great Speech is always tailored to their individual needs and goals. If you’re concerned about your child’s speech, oral development, or persistent mouth breathing, a speech-language evaluation is a great first step toward understanding what's going on and helping your child communicate with the confidence that they deserve. Schedule a call to get started. 

Insurance Coverage Made Simple

Accessing Speech therapy may be more affordable than you think, and on average, our clients pay only $18 per session. Great Speech works with many major insurance providers, making it easier for families to receive the care they need. We are in-network with many plans, some of which include Cigna, Aetna, Premera Medicare, United Healthcare Medicare, and TriWest. Check out our Insurance page to find out more.