Hi everybody and welcome to season 3 of Airway First, a podcast from the Children's Airway
First Foundation.
I'm your host, Rebecca Downey.
My guest today is certified myofunctional therapist, Brittany Bailey.
Brittany found a passion for myofunctional therapy initially as a patient, seeking care
for dental crowding and severe clenching.
After going through the process and seeing the positive changes it made in her own smile,
confidence and breathing, Brittany decided to pursue a career in myofunctional therapy
in order to further the education and awareness for others.
Brittany holds a bachelor's degree in health sciences with a minor in nutrition and a master's
in breathing sciences with certification training in myofunctional therapies from the
professional school of behavioral health sciences.
You can find out more about Brittany at joyfulbreathingcolorado.com.
And now here's my interview with Brittany Bailey.
All right, thank you so much for joining us today, Brittany.
I really appreciate it.
Thank you.
I'm happy to be here.
Great.
So I'd like to talk a little bit about your journey and what led you to become a myofunctional
therapist.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I did the traditional braces in middle school and went through that process.
And then I started to have a lot of jaw issues, a lot of clenching and grinding.
And my oral behaviors undid that initial set of braces.
So when I was in college, after going through a lot of jaw appliances and components of
that sort, I needed braces again because my teeth were back to being crooked and my
mouth was narrow, my palate.
And so we went through braces again.
And then within three months, I undid them and did the braces in regards to I was released.
I was done.
My teeth were straight.
It was great.
And then within three months, they went crooked again.
And I didn't know why.
I didn't know what was going on.
I wore the retainer.
I did everything, trying to be a good patient.
And that was when we first heard of myofunctional therapy.
We as in my parents and I.
And so we went that route and I found out I had a tongue thrust.
That's where the tongue pushes forward or to the sides in a swallow or even while at
rest.
And that force was enough to move my teeth.
It was.
Yeah.
And you know, the teeth don't push back, but the tongue has a lot of force.
Right.
A group of muscles.
So after going through that, I learned, of course, about the tongue thrust, but my eyes
were open because we were going into this avenue already with about 11 recommendations
for double jaw surgery.
Just for structural purposes, it wasn't going to be helping my jaw issues is just for more
aesthetics as driven by the doctors, but that wasn't our goal.
So my okay.
And I, I loved the natural side of it.
I loved how it worked with your body and acknowledged where one is starting, but then learning
what are better ways, what are better tools for the mouth, for the muscles.
And then I learned about breathing.
And I was an open mouth breather and didn't know it.
That's just what I was.
And I had tonsils and adenoids removed young, very young, but I still breathe through the
mouth and learning how that impacted me and was impacting me just changed, changed my
view on what I wanted to do career wise.
I was looking for something in the health realm.
And so personally experiencing how it impacted me and my health and just my confidence, my
smile.
And I, I just wanted to go further and learn more about it.
Cause I was just fascinated and I was wondering, why isn't this well known?
Like why is it more, more known instead of, I always say you hear about myofunctional
therapy when you need it, but I want that to change.
Like I want it to be before someone needs it.
We can do preventative.
So it was a personal journey, but one that I think, you know, professionally, it helps
me all the more cause I've been, been where people are on the other side of my table.
Absolutely.
I absolutely.
And when you were talking about jaw surgery, I just kind of want to go back and revisit
that just for a moment because there are times, yes, that is the only option.
I get that.
Yes.
But it was kind of the way you said it that really resonated with me.
So you were being advised to do that more from just cosmetic.
Yes.
Versus, you know, when people are looking at it from, okay, wow, you have a retreated
jaw, let's bring it forward.
So you know, as a parent, how would you know the difference?
How did your parents know the difference?
You know, it, and I agree with you time and place, it is definitely needed at times for,
for us, how we were being advised for it.
It wasn't for the root of the issue.
It wasn't even for the issue.
It was just like, wow, you're really narrow palate.
Your jaw is retro-nathic pushed back.
And so those are good points.
And we went into my with the mindset of, okay, let's try this first, you know, because it
was such a big leap.
And due to other layers I had, it was going to be really risky.
And so we wanted to be fully certain.
And some people do go through my oh, and then they still need Joss surgery.
And it, but my, oh, was a good, let's narrow it down.
Let's really learn deeper what's going on orally.
And then after we've done that, let's see what is needed for Joss or a tree.
And for me, it wasn't, wasn't no longer needed or recommended.
So the myo was enough to help with the retreating jaw in your case.
Yes.
Wow.
Yeah.
So it's, it's fascinating.
My, my job was back, but really is because of my tongue.
And, you know, the tongue, it has a resting place.
And for most people prior to myo, it's low.
It's on the bottom of the mouth or kind of hovering or pushing forward on teeth.
And especially at night, that has the potential for the tongue and the jaw to slide back.
But part of the myo goal pretty much for everyone is to get the tongue up on the palate.
And when you do that, the jaw automatically comes forward.
So for me personally, again, everyone's so different.
I was able to learn a proper tongue placement, which then rippled into the jaw alignment,
which then helped my jaw joint, the integrity of it and my clenching.
And for me, those were just the missing puzzle pieces.
It wasn't something we needed to change structurally.
It was more behaviorally.
Right.
And how old were you the second time when you, when the braces didn't work, anyone in
the myo?
I was 20.
Wow.
Yeah.
So I was that cool kid in college with braces.
Yeah.
And the cool appliances.
Right.
And not what I planned.
So it was it was neat to go through it at that age of not just thinking, okay, this is just
traditional braces, but being more of an adult and thinking, okay, how is this going to help
me further?
And it has had, yeah, I think a deeper appreciation for it, of course, leading to the profession.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
But it was 20 initial braces were 13.
Uh, was 13.
And then from 13 to 20, um, I had about 20 jaw appliances.
So we tried everything until you got to myo.
And so on your website, which I will put a link to on our show, show notes, the joyful
breathing, Colorado.com, you define breathing education.
So for our listeners, if you would, please just explain what that is and what's the goal
behind that concept.
Absolutely.
So breathing education, it's, it's really with the concepts that we can breathe, but
is optimal.
And are we breathing what is correctly?
Um, and kind of the textbook correct way of breathing is through the nose driven by the
diaphragm in a relaxed manner.
But, but that isn't always natural.
It isn't always, uh, doable.
And so we really like to explore, okay, where is the breath currently?
Is it coming through the mouth?
Is it really shallow in the chest?
Is it fast?
And we even dive deeper.
Okay.
What are the beliefs behind the breath?
And a great example is if there's someone who has asthma and has had a good chunk of
their life, um, with asthma and it, like my mom, for example, she does have asthma and
she has had asthma attacks in the past.
And I've been working with her, but she discovered the belief that no, I gotta breathe through
my mouth to get the next breath.
That's safer.
It's safer for me.
So there's beliefs that get established through experiences.
Right.
That's one example.
There could be trauma, there could be injuries.
Um, there could be illnesses where maybe a certain way of breathing had to happen.
And then the illness cleared, but that breathing habit stayed.
Okay.
So we want to learn what are the current habits.
Um, and then also then move forward of, okay, is that benefiting you?
Is that bringing you wellness in the sense of your body and your mind, emotions, spiritual
wellness, um, just however far deep someone does want to explore that.
And then we try to find just what are little, um, the changes we can make.
And this is by the person's choice to just make the breath even more beneficial and just
more optimal to them, to their goals, to their future future wellness.
Um, and sometimes it is just a matter of switching from mouse to nose.
Um, but we recognize there are layers and it's kind of getting like a personal master's
in your own breathing, you know, there's, there's a lot that can be explored.
And so it is with the goal of how can we just support the body with the best breath that
one can get.
And it's not just, not just, you know, how you're sitting or breathing through your diaphragm,
but based on these examples, I mean, you're even teaching people, this is, I guess, where
psychologically it comes in, you take a flight of stairs and when you're gasping, don't go
open your mouth and do this.
You teach them ways to calm themselves to where they can maybe trust their breathing.
Is that kind of where you're going to allow?
Absolutely.
It's really being aware of the breath and realizing that sometimes in life, that's all
we can control is the breath.
And the breath is so powerful.
And are we using it against ourselves or are we using it as a tool?
And we, we always think about what someone has going on because what, how one person
breathes will not benefit someone else.
So it's very individually based and just, yeah, going upstairs when you have to make
that tough phone call, how are you going to breathe to better assist you through that?
When you do have to go talk to your boss, public speaking, just a couple of weeks ago, I, I
spoke in front of about 200 people and of course I was nervous and I had the choice.
How am I going to use my breath, even though I was talking about breathing, you know, I
could have run away from me and kind of impact my nerves and confidence and self-esteem.
But knowing the tools that I have in my personal toolbox, it's really just learning those
little extra items to grab in those situations in the, you know, life layers we have to just
really give ourselves TLC and power within the breath.
Wow.
So on your website, you also talk about a connection between breathing and oral facial
biology, which I guess is totally different, separate component here.
So maybe you could talk a little bit about that and talk about how myofunctional therapy
works specifically with dog.
That's okay.
Specifically with the child who's diagnosed with an airway issue.
The myofunctional therapy and oral facial biology are the same pretty much.
Okay.
Myofunctional therapy is now more the common term.
I was trained with oral facial biology.
So sometimes I have that written elsewhere.
How they interrelate with breathing, you know, kind of generally if you're breathing to the
mouse, myowise, we will really look at, okay, do you have the lip strength to bring your
lips together to breathe through the nose?
We really work on lips as well.
And is the tongue able to go up in the palate to bring the mouth together?
So we look at the muscular abilities in breathing and how it is happening.
Mainly when someone wants to breathe through their nose, they just can't bring their lips
together and keep them together.
So it's as simple as that.
But sometimes people will have issues breathing through the nose because the tongue, even
though the mouth is closed, the tongue is inching towards the airway in the back or
it's not, the tongue isn't toned enough.
It doesn't have enough strength to be forward or it's just kind of bigger than what we
want.
So it's kind of chicken or the egg, really.
It's really hard to say because you breathe this way, this is why your mouth muscles are
this way or vice versa.
So it's a matter of really like with the myofunctional side looking at structure of the mouth, airway,
the palate, if the roof of the mouth is very narrow, that tongue is not going to want to
go up and then it's just going to stay low or back in the throat.
So we look at those components and then how someone, because of those factors, are choosing
to breathe.
And if it is a matter of, is it just a matter of breathing or are you breathing this way
because of the structure of the mouth?
So I never separate them.
It's never like sign up for breathing or just sign up for myo because I believe you can't
separate them.
Or everything together.
Yeah.
Whether you're breathing in through your nose or mouth, air is going by your mouth.
You know, how you look at it.
It's only one way in.
Maximally, yeah, down to the lungs.
So it's very interwoven.
And it's just really looking at all angles, really trying to see what is the full picture,
as much of the picture as we can see, structurally, muskulally and functionally.
And then, so I mean, obviously, we're looking at children's airway first.
focused mostly on children. But myofunctional therapy is not just for kids, correct? I mean,
that can benefit anyone? Yes, all ages. No age limit. So anyway, no age limit. Yeah,
the youngest I've seen is six days old. And then, yeah, and then all the way on up. So.
And then I've always wanted to ask this. So because I'm sure like our listeners,
when I'm talking to people, they always talk about putting the tongue in the roof of the mouth
and where it's supposed to touch. And it's supposed to rest against the roof.
Just for clarification, because I have tried this repeatedly. Are you saying that literally it's
flat? Like the whole tongue is flat up there? Or are we talking about just the tongue is flat
on the mouth? We want, great question, by the way, we want as much of the tongue to be up
as possible in a comfortable, relaxed manner. And that is tricky. Like you said, you tried it.
You know, that's really where tongue ties come into play. We look, OK, is there a tie underneath
the tongue that's just keeping it down? Does someone have the endurance to keep the tongue up
there? Do they have coordination, the strengths? So it really isn't as simple as, OK, put your tongue
up there. Ta-da. Right. It's like the pillows that say just breathed. OK. Yeah, exactly.
But yeah, so ideally we want as much contact with the tongue to the roof because it does
stimulate the release of serotonin or feel good chemical, centering chemical and also
has connections to the vagus nerve, which from there does help our breathing with nerve innovation
down to the lungs and other components head to toe. But then also as much of the tongue as we
can get up that does help clear the airway. But that does take time. You know, if someone does have,
you know, willpower will not override if there's a muscular or structural issue.
Right. Which totally makes sense. What could myofunctional therapy actually look like for
a child with an airway issue? And I mean, obviously we know your story now, but what kind of outcome
should parents expect? Yeah. So if there is an airway issue of any sort, myo is through the form
of exercises and games, fun games. But it is to for the the realm that we are able to work on, how can we
get that tongue, as I mentioned, up in the palate, toned up. And it is through repetitive
exercises, about three times a day, they take like two, three minutes at a time. And it's as, I mean,
they're kind of simple, but they get harder people really realize, oh, this is like a workout.
But with little ones, we do make it fun. We do try to make it fun where we're making silly noises
with our tongues that they think they're being goofy and making sounds. But what they're really
doing is, you know, contracting the tongue muscles. And just like, if you lift weights for your bicep,
as that gets toned, it gets kind of smaller, you know, in appearance in a way. And that's the same
thing for the tongue. So we're making it toned, the group of muscles helping and teaching it where
to go. And that is where a lot of times parents do see better sleep quality, better behavior,
you know, if their sleep was creating behavioral components, eating is better, they're breathing
through their nose during nap time in the car seat. They, you know, they see those changes,
because we are teaching the body what to do with what we're born with. That's not instinctive.
But yeah, back to the exercises, they're fun, they're easy, they're quick. And with little ones,
we get creative. You know, we have pom poms and feathers and bubbles and sometimes exercises just
aren't a hit. And we move on to the next one, you know, we keep it lively and fun.
But yeah, so that is exercise, but fun. And I hope that answered your question.
No, no, I did. And how many times a week? And for how long? I mean, obviously, I know it
varies, but just kind of to put a some put this in perspective for parents, are we talking
one to two visits a week, at least normally, plus all the outside exercises for months,
years? I mean, what does this look like? Yeah, so it is about every three weeks, I like to see
families once every three weeks. And that is with the mindset that life happens, but that gives them
three weeks to really establish a routine with the new set of exercises. There will be hit and misses
where suddenly they went by and you're like, man, we didn't do it. So every three weeks, and it's
generally about eight to 12 sessions total. So we want families to learn, make these changes. We
want to make new neurological pathways so that this is the new normal. We want to make new muscle
memory because no one wants to do tongue exercises the rest of their life. I get it. But it is with
that mindset of let's change it. And then that way, there's these new habits and behaviors
that will carry them lifelong. And sometimes with little ones, we pause, we recognize, okay,
we've done what we can do at their age. We use other tools like a myo-munchy, other behavioral
components. And we let them grow for about six months or eight months and kind of pick back up.
You know, it varies. Everyone is so different. But it is something that we don't want to drag on
because then the effectiveness of it is just not there because it gets dull and boring and drug out.
So we do try to keep it concise and at a reasonable pace.
And do you find, especially with kids, do you typically work more with
dentists or ENTs or pediatrician? How are parents getting to you?
Yes. So a lot of it is dental and orthodontics, but also body work practitioners, tire
practice. Anyone that needs help with breathing, it comes from all over. But with kiddos, it is the
dental side where they're great dentists. And I think Airway is being taught more in that realm,
thankfully. So they're kind of the first line of defense in spotting something. And usually it is
through tongue ties that a lot of people do come forward saying, hey, I think you need this.
But yeah, even more and more now through counseling avenues, the breast component for anxiety
and stuff is arising. I hadn't thought about that. I was thinking more for,
you had mentioned snoring and that's something that we talked a lot about. I didn't think about
the anxiety side of it. Yeah. The way we breathe either triggers our rest and digest or fight
in flight and kind of a funny side story. I got my master's in breathing and during grad school,
I developed panic attacks because I wasn't breathing. So it's like, what I'm learning
about breathing. But then I just learned, okay, this is a stressful season for me. Learn breathing
tools. And I haven't had one since. So the breath really is powerful. And I think we take it for
granted until there is a child or someone any age where it's off balance. It's not at the baseline.
It's not where one might want it. But yeah, it is powerful either for or against us. So we want to
harvest that for good. Well, yeah, obviously.
You are listening to Airway First with today's guest, Brittany Bailey. You can find out more
about the Children's Airway First Foundation and our mission to ensure that every child has access
to screening, evaluation and treatment of all children's airway disorders before the age of
six on our website at Children's Airway First.org. The CAF website offers tons of great resources
for parents, including videos, blogs, recommended books, comprehensive medical research, and so much
more. If you haven't already, check out the Airway Huddle, our Facebook support group for parents of
children with airway and sleep related issues. You can access the Airway Huddle support group at
Facebook.com, backslash groups, backslash airway huddle. Are you interested in becoming a guest
or do you have an idea for an upcoming episode? Shoot us a note via the contacts page on our
website or send us an email directly at info at Children's Airway First.org. As a reminder,
this podcast and the opinions expressed here are not a medical diagnosis. If you suspect your child
might have an airway issue, contact your pediatric airway dentist or pediatrician. And now let's
jump back into my interview with today's guest, Brittany Bailey.
All right, so a lot of what I do is talk to guests about what to do if you suspect your child has an
airway issue. But I want to switch that up just a little bit with you if you're open to this. So
curious about what are some of the tips and guidance you can provide to parents that will help
them support children that you know they're already dealing with airway issues. You know,
they're already there. They don't suspect that they know what they're here.
Yeah. I think number one, it is coming to the fact that stuff takes time. I think that's the hardest
thing about the breast because you breathe all day long and say until a family realize there was
an airway issue, that breast pattern was so established. And now going through a modification
or a change, however it may be for that child, sometimes the body is like, whoa, whoa, what are
you doing? Even though things are getting better with the airway size or space or structures,
shifting the breast can be daunting and kind of nerve wrecking to the body just because it's
something new. Even though it's something good, something new. So I think really creating that
space to have that transition period in the patients was huge. Just sometimes people go, well,
I'm more anxious now. Like this isn't working. I'm just going to give up. But it is that recalibrating
phase. So that's a big thing, I think, just with any change in life. Sure. That grace.
And I think talking about the breast is powerful, really bringing the mind to it also as parents,
but as kids, like asking the kid, oh, where is your breast today? If your breath was a color,
what would it be? If it was an emotion right now, what emotion would it be? Or you have them draw
what they're feeling with their breath? And I think the more kids realize the breath isn't
just something that happens without thought. They really characterize it. They really create it as
a friend in a way in their mind. That just gives them all the more ownership and power of the breast.
And yeah, I think just really acknowledging the air is a big one. And asking, do you like
nose breathing or do you like mouth breathing? And why? Why do you like that more than the other?
And that awareness thing is just huge in that, in that those steps moving forward, I think,
to get better breathing behaviors. And also one kind of little boost of confidence I would give to,
even though there may be like sometimes people feel very overwhelmed. That's like, oh, my child is
mouth breathing and they are emotional, which is stressful. Like it's overwhelming and it's daunting.
I think really kind of stepping back when looking at the breath and realizing, okay,
they had to breathe that way for a reason. And that's not wrong. But now we're going to move
forward and make just different choices, different breathing behaviors. And sometimes there will be
days where mouth breathing happens or you hear snoring. And but you did it the day before. Why
is it happening now? If steps are being taken to help that, you know, it's a roller coaster and
healing or progress isn't linear. So those up and down will happen. But I always say every relaxing
breath you can take is a deposit into your wellness. And so just the more deposits you can make,
the withdrawals that happen with life, when stressed, when sick, when just having one of
those days won't be as detrimental. So any effort, any progress, you know, any attempt
at helping the airway and breath really does matter. And I think it's hard for parents when
they're so up close. And they're in it, you know, they don't get a break. They would do anything for
their child. And this isn't going as fast as they want. Dwarf, this is happening. I think just really
patting themselves on the back and saying, I'm, I'm helping them. I'm helping their airway that
takes time, but we're doing something. You know, I think it's scary when people go through life,
not choosing to acknowledge the airway and its impact on our health, you know, but can't fault
someone not knowing the reason why, but I think parents just kudos to parents who are
just taking steps, even if they feel like baby steps, they're steps. Every step is a
right direction. Right. And one of the things that I think is really interesting about having you on
here, having read your website, but, you know, getting to talk to you now is you really do put
an emphasis on the mental impact that goes with this. And not a lot of people talk about that.
We do talk about, in signs and symptoms, you know, when you're looking for a child with an airway
issues, you go down the list at some point, ADHD comes up or behavioral issues. So we, we understand
that, right? What we don't talk a lot about is the languishing impact that having a breathing issue,
having an airway dysfunction, having an airway disease, this whole group over here, the long
term mental impacts of that or the impact of having it not only just on the child, but as the parent,
as a parent, you feel like, oh my gosh, I've let my child get here. Right. And so now they have this
lingering thing over them that they're having to deal with. And, you know, for me, one is a parent,
but also as a person with an airway issue. I appreciate the fact that, you know, you really
are putting this out there that there is a mental component to not what just what not being able to
breathe can do to your body, but you know you can't breathe, you know something's wrong.
You may not really understand it, but you know you're different. You know there's a problem,
you know you're struggling in some form or fashion. Yes. Yeah. And, and I sadly, like a lot of that,
I think for me comes from personal experience. I have a chronic illness and it is something that
is highly overlooked and misdiagnosed and it took about 17 years to figure out what it was.
And so through that, I was a teenager and my parents were those parents going, what is wrong
with my child? Like we are doing everything we can and I knew I was different. Right away,
13 years old, I was out of my norm of I lost friends. I, school was harder. I had to quit my sport.
So experiencing that, it wasn't an airway driven thing, but just experiencing that and knowing
how people looked at me as an issue. Doctors looked at me and said, what are you doing wrong?
You're just stressed. They blamed my parents, even though my parents, they would take it from me if
they could. I did everything growing up that way and seeing how sadly some professionals looked at me.
They didn't look at me as a human. They didn't look at me with layers, with emotions, with dreams,
with goals, with thoughts, with hobbies. You know, that hurt. That was a bummer. And
through that, I feel like if we can give hope to one family and see them as a human where,
you know, what is talked about at their dinner table after a really hard appointment,
they got hard news. What is discussed in the dinner table and what do they want to do with
their life and hobbies and goals. And, you know, we're all humans with so many layers. And so
it is just me coming alongside these families. It's they're the heroes of their story and of
their journey. And if we can just bring joy, I mean, really ask where the name comes from,
bring joy, even if it's in a sliver of hope to these kids, to these parents so that,
you know, even just a little glimmer really keeps people going forward because there are
those moments where it's like, oh my goodness, this is so hard. And for me, I can't speak for
anyone else, but for my chronic illness, a lot of physical pain constantly, the emotional side
was the hardest is the hardest for me. You know, so even just saying some having someone look at me
and my family and say, I see you, I hear you, like what you're going to, you're a warrior.
Like, how can we just continue to grow? And the more you know, the more you grow. And so that's
what I want to be for others. What I didn't have through professionals, what my parents didn't have,
seeking help for me. Yeah, that's really where that's driven from. Just being what I,
I hope there's more of nowadays, but there wasn't for me and my family. Yeah, yeah, I love that. And
now I truly understand the jewel of full breathing. Yeah, I love that. New parents,
you know, they're, they're coming to the realization, okay, my child does have some kind of
breathing issue. You know, whether they're a mouth breather, they're a chronic snore,
they're starting to see the signs. What do you recommend? What are the first steps?
You know, that could go so many ways when working with newborn or baby of any age. I love to have
a broad team of of course, you know, their, their PEED doctor and lactation and body work.
On my side, it is just teaching the little one what to do with the tongue. Really, it is through
a parent assists, you know, the parents really assist and do intro oral teaching. And it is just
teaching that little one how to breathe to bring the tongue up because whether it's from a tongue
tie, not having good latching. Again, it's not instinctive for that tongue to go up and for
the lips to come together. So it's really having that team to really address all angles because
not everything is perfect for everyone. But for me, it is just right from the start teaching the
kiddo how to use the mouth because they're they're exploring the mouth. They're exploring
the tongue and things are going in the mouth and stuff like that. So it's, it's very at times
preventative. Some people come to me and they're like, hey, my oldest had this. How can we kind
of rewind for this one? And potentially families, right? Yes. Yes. So it's structural. There are
genetic components with ties if tie was a part of it. But then also you can learn breathing
behaviors from people around kind of how you hold your stress and how you breathe and how you react.
So sometimes it is preventative with little ones. But sometimes it is how can we get that
structure from the beginning to be as optimal as possible with the behaviors and with breathing
because sleep apnea can happen really at any age. At any age. At any age. Yeah. So and and oh,
sorry, go ahead. Oh, no, go ahead. I don't really think I had anything. I was just,
I could talk about this topic forever. But it is, yeah, just seeing those signs and really thinking,
okay, is the tongue low and even mouth breathing for babies is not normal. It's normal, but not,
it's normal in the sense that it happens a lot. But it's not normal. It's not cute. It's not ideal.
It's not good. That's a cultural change we have to put in place. Yes. Yes. And oh, yeah, that's,
that's my husband. He snores. That's normal. I was warned about this before marriage. I'm like, no.
Oh, yeah, that's not normal. No, no. So I'm going to put you on the spot for just a second. And
because in doing some research and things and talking to some of our parents on our Facebook
group, a lot of conversation around sippy cups. So I'm watching your face. So
I mean, a lot of what we're seeing and the questions that keep coming up and quite honestly,
you know, I'm not sure, you know, how do you answer this? Are you supposed to go from
ideally breastfeeding? Right? We know that's, that's ideal. That's what we want. That's going to,
you know, help the jaw on the tongue and from that straight to a regular cup. Or, you know,
if we do what culture has taught us, we go from breastfeeding to a sippy cup to a regular cup.
Is the sippy cup damaging? The sippy cup is not ideal if I answer it in a textbook manner.
Because if I'm thinking correctly, the sippy cups have like a spout out.
Yeah. Right. So what is tricky about that, much like a pacifier or a thumb, like if you're sucking
your thumb, it keeps the tongue low. So the sippy cup comes in, that spout goes of course into the
mouth and the tongue is below it. So then that when they swallow, they're not getting that full tongue
palate contact with their swallow. And that is crucial. So sometimes with sippy cups, you'll see
more kind of choking or gagging, just kind of, you know, something went down the wrong pipe kind of thing.
I think like when in public, if you're going on to the zoo and you don't want to have a mess or
something, okay, time and place, I think, you know, life happens. But I think overall, we do want to
teach the open cup, you know, that skill really early on, because then it does require that tongue to
go up more, which that'll help the palate develop. It'll help the tongue be strong and stretch what we
can. And then it'll teach the proper swallowing wave in a way we want as much of that tongue to be
up. If the tongue doesn't go all the way up, that's really where it is teaching like tongue
thrusting with swallowing other dental and orthodontic implications down the road. So ideally, no, we don't
want sippy cups. But yeah, time and place, if you're going to someone's house and they're like
totally neat and tidy and you don't want to make a mess, okay. But then you have a bad kid. Yeah.
Yeah. But majority of the time we do want the open cup. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah.
And then when you when you say tongue all the way up, are we talking all the way back,
like to the back of the jaw? We want as much, yeah, as much as we can. And for a lot of people,
you know, maybe they're trying this right now, is there listening or whatnot? You may feel like
your tongue is like, like clogging the back of your throat. And that's really a muscle tone component.
So it's acknowledging how can we make that tongue a little more uniform and with swallowing,
we do not start that right away. That takes several sessions. So I usually start that like
session six, because there's just so many steps before that to get to in regards to the strengths
and endurance and awareness and coordination. Got it. At the end of every episode, I like to open
the Florida, our guests just anything you would like to share with parents, anything you would
like to guide them on or just something to leave them with as far as, you know, this journey
they're on with their kids. Yeah, I think I, you know, I alluded to it earlier, just those steps
being taken forward is huge. And parents, you know your child, you know your child best and that gut
instinct and you matters, definitely give voice to that. If you have a gut feeling or whatnot.
And it's good to ask questions. You know, we really have to be our own advocates. And there are
awesome people that will join you on your team. And there are people that may have different views.
But definitely ask the questions, do the research, be the advocate. You know, you are the voice for
your child. And you're doing a great job. And just researching, sitting down after a long day of work
and feeding your family and sitting down and researching at the end of the day. I mean,
that's amazing. And everyone should be commended for that. And they again, every ounce of,
every ounce of a good breath that you can help your child with matters. It really does matter.
And you know, there's that saying of it takes just that one degree to boil water,
you know, every, every breath adds up. And so keep at it. It's a long road, I'm sure. And
but, but you're doing great. And it's, it's worth it. You know, from the breath comes everything
else. So this is probably the most powerful thing you can do for your family and your child and
yourself. Awesome. Thank you. Joyful breathing. I appreciate everything that you've shared with us
today. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. It was wonderful. I really appreciate it as well.
Thank you. Thanks again to today's guest, Brittany Bailey for sharing her story and medical insight
and to each of you for listening to today's episode. If you're new to our podcast, please
don't forget to subscribe. And if you enjoyed today's episode, leave us a review or a comment
telling us about what you enjoyed most. You can stay connected with the Children's Airway First
Foundation by following us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also join us here
at our Facebook parent support group, the airway huddle at facebook.com backslash groups backslash
airway huddle. If you'd like to be a guest or if you have an idea for an upcoming episode,
shoot us a note via the contacts page on our website or send us an email directly at infoat
children'sairwayfirst.org. Remember this podcast and the Apprentice expressed here are not a
medical diagnosis. If you suspect your child might have an airway issue or sleep-related disorder,
contact your pediatric airway dentist or pediatrician. And finally, thanks to all the parents and
medical professionals out there that are working to help make the lives of kids around the globe
just a little bit better. Take care, stay safe and happy breathing everyone.