Most importantly—stay relaxed, smiling, and positive.  Be playful and show your baby or child that not everything is going to be painful.  The exercises are not meant to be forceful or prolonged.  Stretching exercises with quick and precise movements are best.  A small amount of spotting or bleeding is common while doing the exercises, especially in the first few days.

Lip Stretches

The lip is the easier of the 2 sites to stretch and if you are doing both lip and tongue, start with the lip.

Place your finger under the lip and move it up as high as it will go, until you feel resistance.  Then, gently sweep from side to side for several seconds.  Remember, the goal is to open the opposing surfaces of the lip and gum so they cannot stick together.

Tongue Stretches

Insert both index fingers into the mouth and dive under the tongue and pick up the posterior part of the tongue and lift towards the roof of the baby’s mouth.  The tongue needs three separate stretching motions:

  1. Once you are under the tongue, pick up the posterior part of the tongue as high as it will go towards the palate.  Hold it there for 3 seconds, relax, and do it again.   The goal is to completely unfold the diamond so that you can visualize the entire diamond.  The fold of the diamond across the middle is the first place it will reattach.
  2. Place your finger in the middle of the diamond and do a gentle circular stretch for several seconds to dilate or open up the diamond.
  3. Turn your finger sideways and do a rolling pin motion to try and keep the diamond as deep as possible.  Start at the fold “center” of the diamond and move to either side of the diamond top and bottom to loosen up the muscles of the tongue and floor of the mouth.