Pediatric Myofunctional Therapy

Helping Your Child Breathe, Eat, Speak, and Sleep Better

Does your child struggle with mouth breathing, speech delays, feeding challenges, or restless sleep? These issues may stem from how the muscles in their mouth and face are functioning. Pediatric myofunctional therapy addresses these root causes to support your child’s development from the inside out. At Michigan Pediatric Therapy, we offer expert myofunctional therapy services designed specifically for children. Our therapy helps retrain the muscles of the face, tongue, lips, and throat—creating a strong foundation for improved eating, breathing, speaking, and sleeping.

What is Pediatric Myofunctional Therapy?

Myofunctional therapy is a specialized, exercise-based program that targets the muscles used for essential daily functions like chewing, swallowing, breathing, and speaking. When these muscles don’t work in harmony, it can lead to issues with feeding, speech clarity, sleep quality, and facial development.

Our occupational therapists work one-on-one with children to build strength, range of motion, and coordination in these key areas. Therapy is personalized and engaging—designed to fit your child’s unique needs while supporting long-term progress.

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Core Goals of Myofunctional Therapy

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Encourage Nasal Breathing

Mouth breathing can lead to disrupted sleep, dental issues, and poor oxygen intake. Our therapy promotes nasal breathing to improve sleep, focus, and health.

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Build a Consistent Lip Seal

A strong lip seal helps prevent open-mouth posture and drooling, and improves speech and feeding efficiency.

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Improve Tongue Resting Position

The tongue should rest on the roof of the mouth—not the floor. Correct tongue posture supports breathing, oral development, and speech.

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Develop Proper Swallowing Patterns

Coordinated swallowing reduces air intake and discomfort while supporting digestion and oral safety.

How Does Myofunctional Therapy Help?
Pediatric myofunctional therapy can be life-changing for children with:

Chronic mouth breathing
Feeding and swallowing difficulties
Speech delays or unclear articulation
Sleep disturbances or snoring
Excessive drooling or thumb-sucking
Difficulty chewing or transitioning to solid foods

By addressing the underlying muscle patterns, we help children develop stronger oral motor function, improve breathing and sleep, reduce mealtime stress, and enhance communication skills.

What to Expect in a Myofunctional Therapy Session
Each therapy plan begins with a comprehensive evaluation and may include:

Fun, targeted exercises for tongue, lip, and jaw coordination
Breathing work to encourage nasal airflow
Tongue elevation and resting posture training
Safe swallowing practice and muscle re-patterning
Parent coaching and home programming to support progress

Consistency is key, and we make it fun! Sessions are designed to be interactive and playful so kids stay engaged while building lifelong skills.

Your First Appointment

We’ll go through multiple assessments with you and your child and create a goal-based treatment plan and home programming regimen in order to put your child on a positive path forward.

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Schedule an Appointment Today

(248) 939-4030

We strive to answer your questions, address the issues you are facing, and enhance the quality of your life. Everyone’s treatment varies because we are all different. Your individualized treatment will always be structured to meet 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 needs and enhance 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 wellness.