PRESENTER: Want to have her in neutral to start.
We always like to start with a nice, calm baby that's
in this nice awake, alert state.
This is the state for learning.
So we're just going to start with some cheek rubs.
We're going to go 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
And then squishy faces 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Now, we always want to ask permission to come in the mouth.
So I'm going to pick her up with my other hand.
And I'm going to say, can I come in?
Can I come in?
Do you see how she's opening?
So then I'm going to go in.
If her mouth is shut, we're going to respect her cues.
Then I'm going to rub on her gums
as if she has teeth on the bottom.
2, 3, 4, 5.
There we go.
And then I'm going to turn my finger over and push it up
on the top at the back, where she's going to eventually have
molars.
And do you see how she's kind of chewing on my finger?
AUDIENCE: Mm-hmm.
PRESENTER: You want to actually see her go chew, chew, chew,
chew, chew.
She kind of did a little there.
Let's get your finger out of your mouth.
And go chew.
[CRIES]
OK.
So if she cries like that, we're going to respect her cues,
and we're just going to let her suck.
Because she's telling us, that's too hard for me.
We're like, OK.
So then we're going to do a little tug of war.
I'm going to put my finger on the roof of her mouth,
pushing up on her palate.
And when I push up, that's going to trigger her suck reflex.
And then I'm going to slowly--
oh, do you see how she just popped off?
AUDIENCE: Mm-hmm.
PRESENTER: She had no suction whatsoever.
So I'm going to let her suck, and then I'm going to slow--
oh.
She's breaking that seal.
So this is the tug of war.
This is to try to get that tongue stronger.
So suck, suck, suck.
I'm going to slowly pull out.
And she doesn't want to play.
You don't want to play tug of war?
Suck, suck, suck slow--
there we go.
There's a little bit.
So you can do that tug of war 5 to 10 times.
She's she's not really into it.
She's just like, whatever.
So then I'm going to take my finger
and flip it over and just push down on her tongue
and then pull out.
And the goal is to try to get her tongue to stick out.
See how it's coming out over the gums?
AUDIENCE: Mm-hmm.
PRESENTER: Can I come in?
Doo, doo, doo.
AUDIENCE: And you want it to go over the gum?
PRESENTER: So I'm touching the middle of her tongue,
and then I'm going to pull it out.
And usually, you'll see that tongue stick out
like a little froggy.
AUDIENCE: OK.
PRESENTER: Boop, boop, boop.
Again, I'm asking her to let me come in.
And--
AUDIENCE: She's saying no.
PRESENTER: --she's telling me no.
Did you see how her eyes went from active and engaged
to, like, I'm over it?
AUDIENCE: Yes.
PRESENTER: So this means she is communicating to me, I'm done.
AUDIENCE: OK.
PRESENTER: OK.
So we're going to respect her cues.
I'll see one more time if I can show you a cheek exercise.
Can I come in?
There we go.
Thank you.
So I'm going to go in her cheek and just pulse.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Do you see how the first couple ones,
she closed her cheeks on my finger
and her tongue kind of moved?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
So this side, you saw she wasn't as active.
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
PRESENTER: So we're trying to get this side
to do what that side-- this side was perfect.
Hi, little one.
This one really went [INAUDIBLE].
The muscles contracted.
AUDIENCE: So are these exercises that prevent
the tie from coming back?
PRESENTER: These are exercises that help strengthen
and coordinate the tongue.
So we use these as suck-training exercises
with babies that have no ties, where
we're trying to teach strength and range of motion.
And these are great for babies that
have a tie that we're going to release to help reteach them
how to use that tongue, to move the tongue to all planes.
AUDIENCE: Got it.
PRESENTER: And then there's one more exercise.
We're going to go in, and we're going to touch the tongue.
And we're going to see if it follows your finger.
So I'm going to touch the side of the tongue.
And then I'm going to tell it to follow me.
So it's follow the leader.
So I'm going to go touch, touch, touch on the side.
Come follow me.
There it goes.
Touch, touch, touch.
Come follow me.
Touch, touch, touch.
Come follow me.
And then touch, touch, touch.
Come follow me.
Touch touch touch.
See how her tongue's coming straight out instead
of following on that side?
There it goes.
And then she's getting better and better.
Now, if she starts to cry, we're just
going to put our finger back in and just let her suck.
So the goal is that our tongue needs
to move side to side, in and out,
and up and down to have full range of motion.
So we can teach and train that tongue
how to do that with these exercises.
AUDIENCE: Got it.
PRESENTER: All done.
Good job, baby.
AUDIENCE: All right.
Should I stop this?
PRESENTER: Yeah.