6 Months Old Daughter Always Has Her Tongue Out

Updated on October 13, 2011
K.D. asks from North Hollywood, CA
18 answers

My 6 months old daughter ALWAYS has her tongue sticking out and she's done it since birth. She's meeting all her milestones and is alert and curious. But has anyone experienced this?

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S.K.

answers from Los Angeles on

My son did this- he actually sucked on his tongue while it was out, like a comfort thing. He did it until about 6 months ago- he is now 6 years old! He did have some speech delays which "may" have been related to the tongue sucking, but he has totally caught up to all his age-appropriate milestones and is doing great in school. I wouldn't worry about it...

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R.O.

answers from Houston on

YES!!! my 2 and a half month daughter is exactly the same!! she is ALWAYS sticking out her tongue ever since she was born and i'm a bit concerned because her pediatrician told me this is rare and it could be something mentally wrong with her but its too soon to check for that but she said that as long as my baby doesn't drool 24/7 and eats right she should be fine. she actually seems like a perfectly healthy happy baby but i'm still kind of worried and would like to know if anyone's baby does this since birth and still does and if they grew up to be completely normal?!?!?

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T.H.

answers from Las Vegas on

My grand daughter is 4 months old and although she has started to ease up on the tongue thing, she was doing it when she was in the womb. My daughter had a 4 D Ultrasound at 7 months and we laughed at how much the baby had her tongue out during the 45 minute to 1 hour session. The screener at the Ultrasound place put us at ease by thinking it was sooo cute, so we gathered it must be normal and nothing to worry about, since she sees babies all day long. She did it a lot at birth, and it was so cute to remember her doing it in the womb and now seeing it live. It seems to be easing up now at around 4 months, but she is perfectly normal, healthy and advanced in her skills. I think for your daughter, it has probably become habit for her and she likes the feel. Take lots of pictures because once she stops, you will want to remember that stage!

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R.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

Consider that it's most likely normal, but it's not a bad idea to check for a couple of "zebras." Ask your pediatrician to check her for a sublingual thyroid. This can be missed with the standard hypothyroid screen given to infants and can result in other problems later on. Also, check to see if there is any other anomalie in her throat or nasal passage that might make it necessary for her to stick her tongue out to breath normally.

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E.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

My niece had her tongue out for the first few years of her life. Then she stopped. She is a beautiful 8 1/2 year old now.

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M.B.

answers from Reno on

My daughter did this as well and grew out of it. She did it for about 4-5 months (I forget exactly how long) but she doesn't do it anymore and it's been a long time since she has.
It seemed to coincide with teething and her front teeth (top and bottom)...
We too have pictures and thought it was pretty cute at the time. Sad how quickly those things go away. I honestly had forgotten about "the tongue" until I read your post. :(

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D.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

My son did this for a few weeks when he was 6 months old, too! We thought it was pretty funny actually and have numerous pictures of him with his tongue sticking out. No need to worry though. I think it's just a function of them growing and discovering things about their bodies, and in this case, your daughter has found her tongue. She'll probably stop doing it soon.

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K.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

cute and completely normal...My 4th daughter does this, and I was worried, because none of my other kids did it. Took her to a neruologist, turns out its normal! He said tongues have 1000 times more sensors then even your fingers. He siad that there is even research that babies who stick out their tongue all the time become exceptionally bright. Some people talked about tongue thrust and I don't know anything about that, but my daughter sticks it out almost to a point, and that was normal and totally cute. I worried like you too though, but I feel much better now, and of course preparing her for USC Medical school at only 9 months!

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M.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

My baby girl (10 months) has done it since birth but usually only when she's really tired. Sometimes it's cute and she looks like the Gerber baby, and sometimes she looks like she has a problem. She's meeting all her development milestones and is super smart and happy! Don't worry.

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S.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

My best friend had the same thing with her daughter for about a year. The doctor said something about her tongue just being too big for her mouth (how scientific!). She's 2 1/2 now and the problem is long gone.

Take lots of photos of this tongue phenomenon--I bet your daughter will love hearing about this little quirk and seeing cute photos of it as she grows older! We all love hearing about the goofy little quirks we had as babies, right? It's always so nice to hear pre-memory stories about oneself!

Good luck!

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D.S.

answers from Memphis on

earlier after my childs birth but it has stopped since then,

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K.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

HI K., I agree with LP, it's sounds like it may be tongue thrust. I'm not sure how early they will identify it. I would talk to your pediatrician. Watch to see where her tongue is when she is drinking, eating, and swallowing. If she is mashing her food with the body of her tongue and the tip is still out, when she uses her bottle and you can see her putting pressure on the nipple with the tongue more toward the middle, and especially watch her when she initiates a swallow to see if you can still see the tongue tip as well as the tongue pushing forward/outward, all these things may be signs of a tongue thrust. Good Luck.
As LP said, if necessary, there is therapy available to help that when she is older called myofunctional therapy. This site gives more detailed information about tongue thrust and therapy if that is what you are in fact dealing with: www.hear-more.com/myofunctional.htm

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G.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hey! My nephew did the same thing, accept his tongue would stick out to the side and up. But he did it for almost a year, he's a little over two now and we haven't seen the tongue for almost a year now! So, not to worry. The doctor explained it and said his tongue has grown faster than his mouth so its easier for him to let it out then keep it in all scrunched up. Weird but apparently it was true!

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L.P.

answers from San Diego on

Later on you might check with an orthodontist to see if it's a tongue thrust. If it is, it's no big deal because there is therapy to fix it.

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J.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

My kids had big tongues as babies - but their mouths grew and everything is fine - NON STOP TALKERS! ;)

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S.C.

answers from Las Vegas on

I played with my tongue constantly, and it was out all the time when I was a baby. I eventually earned the family nickname "Charlie", based on a character in the book Flowers for Algernon. The older I got, the less it stuck out. I met all my milestones and had a normal childhood. I attended school all the way through college graduation, and and am now a mother of a handsome 7-year old son and beautiful 5-year old daughter.

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S.L.

answers from Las Vegas on

Hi, my daughter is 6 months old and she has her tongue out all the time since birth as well. It was a concern to me so I mentioned it to her pediatrition she said that she thought her tongue was fine but she would refer to a ENT anyway. We went to see the ENT he stuck his finger down her throat during the exam. He said he could feel something. He said it could be a cyst or her thyroid may not have drop down like it should have. He said something definitely is pushing her tongue out and it need to be looked at ASAP, so he sent her to another ENT that he felt was able to handle her situation better. Monday she is going for a MRI and I'll find out something. I would say something to your baby's dr to make sure it's nothing to worry about.

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M.B.

answers from Los Angeles on

My nephew has been and is still the same way. He's two now and it hasn't stopped him. He is very bright and fun.
M.

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