Chewing is exercise for the face
We tend to think of chewing as a way to break food down. For a baby, it is much more than that. Every bite and every gnaw works the jaw, tongue, lips and cheeks together, and the more often they work, the stronger and better coordinated they become.
Chewing also does something you cannot see. When your baby bites down on something firm, the muscles pull on the jaw, and that pressure helps guide how the jaw grows and adapts over time (Kiliaridis, 1995). In other words, the jaw develops partly through use.
That is the simple idea behind this guide: more chewing works the growing mouth, supporting its development.
What is developing in the first few years
Your baby's mouth changes enormously between birth and starting school. A few things are happening at once:
- The jaw is growing fast. It grows fastest between about 5 months and their first birthday, and by then it has already reached around 60% of its adult length (Liu et al., 2010). It needs to make room for teeth to come through in line, and space for the tongue to move freely.
- The chewing muscles are getting stronger. One study found that the forces produced by the main chewing muscles become almost three times stronger between birth and age 4 (Liang et al., 2024).
- Coordination is building. Babies learn to move the jaw, tongue and lips together in organised patterns. By 12 months, the basic coordination of chewing is already well established (Green et al., 1997).
- Feeding skills are forming. How babies bite, move food around and swallow is shaped by what they practise in early childhood (Palmer, 1998).
Genetics, habits and overall health all play a part too. Chewing is not the only factor, but it is one you can add more of, every day.
→ Read more: Does Chewing Help Your Baby's Jaw Develop? · How Does Chewing Shape Your Baby's Oral Development?
Chewing starts before teeth
You do not need to wait for the first tooth. Baby gums are softer than adult gums, but they are firm, padded ridges, and babies use them with real strength from their very first feeds.
The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne notes that babies can develop the mouth, jaw, tongue and lip movements needed for eating, and manage gradually firmer textures, using gum pressure alone (RCH Melbourne, 2023). Teeth make chewing more efficient later. The practice can start well before they arrive.
Timing matters too. The first year is when babies most readily accept new textures (Harris & Mason, 2017). A large UK study of almost 8,000 children found that those who did not meet lumpier textures until 10 months or later had more feeding difficulties at age 7 (Coulthard et al., 2009). Starting chewing practice from around 6 months makes the most of a window that is already open.
→ Read more: Why Babies Should Chew On Hard Foods Even Before Teeth Arrive
Why texture changes the workout
Not all foods ask the same of the jaw. Researchers who measured jaw muscle activity in young children found that firmer textures consistently produced more muscle work than soft ones (Simione et al., 2018). Studies of diets with different textures have also found that foods needing more chewing lead to greater jaw muscle activity and can influence bone growth (Lieberman et al., 2004).
Soft foods such as purées, porridge and yoghurt are important. They are easy to manage and help babies learn to swallow safely. They just do not need much chewing. Firm, resistive foods offer something different: something your baby can bite on but cannot break apart straight away.
Researchers are still exploring how much texture shapes the growing jaw, and some studies have linked softer diets with smaller jaws and less room for teeth (Boo Gordillo et al., 2024). The practical message is simple: alongside soft foods, give your baby regular chances to chew on something firm and safe.
→ Read more: Why We Should Bring More Texture To What Babies Eat · Ultra-Processed Baby Foods and Jaw Development
Chewing, feeding and talking
The jaw, lips and tongue your baby uses to chew are the same ones they will use to swallow, babble and, eventually, talk. So it is natural to wonder whether chewing helps speech.
The honest answer is that they are linked, but they are not the same skill. When researchers recorded the jaw muscles of 15-month-olds, they found the muscles worked together in a different pattern for first words than for chewing or sucking (Moore & Ruark, 1996). Speech is not simply chewing put to a new use. It is its own skill, learned through listening, copying and lots of practice.
Where chewing fits in
What chewing and speech share is the equipment. Both depend on a jaw that moves with control, and on lips and a tongue that can work on their own. Children first learn to steady and control the jaw, then gradually learn to move the lips independently of it, and this fine-tuning carries on well past age 6 (Green et al., 2000).
Chewing is one of the everyday ways the mouth gets that kind of workout: biting, holding, and moving food from side to side. It builds strength, stamina and awareness in the same muscles speech relies on. That is why speech and language therapists often look at eating and drinking alongside talking.
Helping both along
- Give the mouth plenty to do. Firm textures, drinking from an open cup and a varied range of foods all give the jaw, lips and tongue different kinds of practice.
- Talk, sing and read together. Speech grows from conversation. Face-to-face chat, copying your baby's babble and naming things through the day matter most.
- Follow your baby's lead. Every child develops at their own pace, for eating and for talking.
If you ever have concerns about your child's feeding, chewing or speech, talk to your health visitor or GP. They can refer you to a speech and language therapist, and in many areas of the UK you can contact the service directly.
More chewing, every day
Adding more chewing does not need to be complicated. A few simple habits make a difference:
- Offer a hard munchable after a feed. Hard munchables are firm items your baby holds and gnaws but cannot bite pieces off, such as a teething biscuit that holds its shape. NHS speech and language therapists also suggest a large raw carrot or celery stick, about the size of a fat marker pen, for gnawing rather than eating (UH Sussex NHS, 2024).
- Chew on both sides. Gently encourage your baby to move the munchable from one side of the mouth to the other, so both sides of the jaw get the work.
- Pair soft with firm. Some parents spoon-feed a soft meal while their baby holds and chews a larger, firmer piece at the same time.
- Build up gradually. Move from smooth to lumpy to chewy textures as your baby grows in confidence.
- Stay close. Always supervise, and take any munchable away before pieces can break off. Avoid foods that are small, hard and break easily, such as nuts or raw apple chunks.
- Finish with a brush. Chewing and brushing go hand in hand. Gently brush gums and new teeth twice a day, from the very first tooth.
→ Read more: What Hard Munchables Actually Are · How To Build Hard Munchables Into Your Baby's Daily Routine · Navigating Hard Munchables Through Different Stages · Oral Care From Day One
Over 100 years of chewing
None of this is new to us. Our founder, Dr Harry Campbell, was a Harley Street paediatrician who wrote about chewing in The Lancet in 1903. He believed babies needed something firm to chew on to help their jaws and teeth develop, and in his 1936 book, What Is Wrong With British Diet?, he wrote about diet, jaws and teeth for families.
Bickiepegs teething biscuits were created in 1925 to put that idea into practice. Over 100 years later, they are still made from just wheat flour and wheat germ, baked in Scotland, and trusted by health professionals and by generations of families.
→ Read more: Meet our founder
