Does Tongue Tie Cause Picky Eating? What Parents Need to Know
If you’ve ever wondered whether your child’s picky eating is “normal” or something more, you’re not alone—and you’re right to ask. One often overlooked culprit in feeding challenges? Tongue-tie.
Also known as tethered oral tissues (TOTs), tongue-ties (and lip ties) can affect more than just breastfeeding—they can impact how your child chews, swallows, and experiences food. And yes, they can be a hidden root cause of picky eating.
In this post, we’ll break down:
What tongue-tie is and how it shows up in toddlers, preschoolers, and older children
Why it often goes undiagnosed
How it connects to picky eating and oral-motor delays
What you can do if you suspect a tie
When to seek feeding therapy—and how we help
What Is a Tongue-Tie?
A tongue-tie (or ankyloglossia) occurs when the tissue under the tongue (lingual frenulum) is too short, tight, or thick—restricting the tongue’s natural movement. This restriction can lead to difficulties with:
Latching and breastfeeding (in infancy)
Transitioning to solid foods
Speech clarity and articulation
Chewing and moving food around the mouth
Swallowing correctly and safely
A lip-tie (labial frenulum restriction) can have a similar effect, especially on how a child closes their lips to clear a spoon, drink from a cup, or create oral pressure.
These tethered tissues fall under the broader category of tethered oral tissues (TOTs), which can also include buccal ties (or cheek ties!).
🚩 Signs of Tongue-Tie in Toddlers and Preschoolers
You might expect tongue-tie to be caught at birth, but many children are misdiagnosed or missed altogether—especially if they fed “okay enough” as infants. We will talk more about that below!
Common signs in older babies and toddlers include:
👅 Oral-Motor Red Flags
Difficulty moving food side to side in the mouth
Gagging, choking, or spitting food out frequently
Holding food in the mouth without chewing (pocketing)
Tiring quickly during meals
Difficulty clearing food off a spoon or straw
😫 Feeding Behaviors
Refusal of chewy, textured, or “mixed” foods (like casseroles or stews)
Preference for soft, dissolvable snacks (puffs, yogurt, purees)
Refusal or avoidance of more fibrous foods like meats and vegetables
Meltdowns at mealtimes or aversive reactions to food textures
Grazing instead of eating full meals
Picky eating that’s not improving with exposure or time
So… Does Tongue Tie Cause Picky Eating?
The short answer? Not directly.
But it absolutely contributes to it—and here’s how.
When your child’s tongue can’t move properly, eating becomes hard work. And just like you’d avoid a workout that causes pain or fatigue, your child begins to avoid foods that require effort, discomfort, or coordination they don’t have.
This creates a vicious cycle:
This is what I call Cycle of Eating Regression™. When chewing is hard, kids stop trying. But the less they chew, the weaker those muscles get — and they lose even more foods. It’s not just pickiness. It’s a cycle that needs to be broken.
When a child has limited tongue mobility, it becomes difficult for them to chew and move food around effectively in their mouth. As a result, they start to avoid harder-to-chew foods and gravitate toward softer, easier options. But this reduced demand on the oral muscles leads to weakness and even muscle atrophy over time. As those muscles get weaker, chewing becomes even more challenging, making the child drop even more foods — including ones they used to eat — which further limits their diet.
What Happens When Oral-Motor Skills Don’t Get Used?
When a child avoids chewy or textured foods, their tongue, jaw, and cheek muscles get less practice — and muscles that aren’t used begin to weaken or atrophy over time. I often see this when evaluating children with ties: not only is the range of motion restricted, but the muscles themselves are underdeveloped or fatigued easily.
This is why many kids start out eating a wider variety, then begin dropping foods one by one — often starting with:
Meats (which require sustained chewing)
Crunchy vegetables
Mixed textures (like tacos or casseroles)
At first, it might seem like they’re just “becoming picky.” But what’s actually happening is:
Chewing becomes more effortful due to weak or uncoordinated muscles
They subconsciously start avoiding those harder foods
They don’t feel in control of their body during eating
Their brain perceives that as unsafe and says: “Don’t do that again.”
❗And here’s the key: this isn’t a conscious decision.
I’ve worked with adults who still don’t understand why they never liked meats or vegetables as kids. They just knew it felt hard or uncomfortable—but they couldn’t explain why.
So don’t expect your child to articulate it either. They’re not being defiant—they’re responding to a deep nervous system signal that says, “This doesn’t feel safe.”
This is why tongue-tie and picky eating are so often intertwined. And why oral-motor therapy and nervous system safety are just as important as exposure to new foods.
Over time, this can lead to:
Delayed oral-motor skills
Reduced food variety
Texture-based aversions
Anxiety around eating
What Makes This Different from “Just Picky Eating”?
Many children go through a normal picky phase, especially between ages 2–4. But when the root cause is biomechanical, like a tongue-tie, no amount of exposure, praise, or “just one bite” is going to fix it.
You might already be doing all the “right” things:
Offering variety
Modeling curiosity
Avoiding pressure
But if your child physically can’t chew or swallow certain foods properly, those efforts won’t create long-term change until the underlying issue is addressed.
What Is Normal Picky Eating?
Some pickiness is a normal part of child development—especially in toddlers and preschoolers. But “normal” doesn’t mean your child barely eats or refuses whole food groups. Here’s what typical picky eating looks like:
They have more than 20 foods they eat consistently
They may reject a new food at first, but aren’t afraid of it
They express hunger and will eat when they’re hungry
They may have strong preferences, but mealtimes are relatively low-stress
They go through food jags, but circle back to those foods later
They might prefer certain colors or textures but still eat from a variety of categories
Their list of foods is growing over time—even if slowly—not shrinking
They’re meeting milestones and gaining weight appropriately
In other words: picky, yes—but still functional and progressing.
But when picky eating is rooted in an issue like a tongue-tie, the behavior looks different:
Food refusal grows over time
Fear or gagging at sight/smell of food
Dropping previously accepted foods
Meltdowns at mealtime
Avoidance of entire textures or food groups
That’s when you know: this isn’t just a phase. It’s time to dig deeper.
Want to know if your child’s picky eating is within the normal range or something more? Take The Picky Eaters Test to find out what level of support they need.
Why Tongue-Ties Are Often Missed
Here’s the kicker: many pediatricians and dentists don’t assess functional impact, they only look at anatomy. So a child might be told their tie is “minor” or “won’t affect feeding”—even when they’re living off goldfish crackers and refusing meat or vegetables.
But function matters more than appearance.
A mild tie in appearance can still have a major effect on movement, coordination, and fatigue at mealtimes.
That’s why an evaluation by a feeding therapist who understands oral-motor skills and TOTs is crucial.
💬 And here’s the truth: Most pediatricians, OB/GYNs, and even dentists receive zero training on tethered oral tissues. Some professionals even deny they exist or dismiss their impact altogether.
But ask any parent whose child had their ties properly released—with the right provider, the right timing, and proper aftercare—and you’ll hear how life-changing it was. Ask any provider trained in ties and they’ll tell you how deep the impact really goes—from feeding to sleep to speech and beyond.
🎧 In fact, ties are what led me to become a feeding therapist.
I’ve seen firsthand how powerful the right support can be. If you want to hear the story behind why I started Foodology and how one tie release changed everything, listen to my story on the podcast here.
What to Do If You Suspect a Tie
If you suspect a tongue-tie, here’s your next best step:
1. Get a Feeding Therapy Evaluation
Not just any feeding evaluation, one that assesses oral motor and sensory tolerance from someone who specializes in feeding specifically. Not all therapists have training in those areas!
Before jumping into a release procedure (called a frenectomy), your child needs a full oral-motor and sensory assessment. We want to know:
Can they lateralize their tongue?
How are they chewing and managing saliva?
What textures do they avoid and why?
Which muscles are weak and affected.
What is their postural support and jaw strength like?
🛠️ We offer personalized assessments and insight through the Unlocking Mealtimes Roadmap to anyone in the world. We identify which of the four feeding pillars—gut, sensory, oral-motor, and mindset—are contributing to your child’s challenges- and also very importantly, which area we need to focus on FIRST.
2. Support Oral-Motor Skills Before and After Any Release
It’s one thing to identify a tongue-tie. But knowing what to do next—and in what order—is where most families get it wrong.
Here’s what we see all the time:
We evaluate a child, identify clear signs of oral restriction, and start talking through the process of preparation. Before we even have our next session… the procedure is already scheduled.
🚫 Wrong move. Please wait.
We tell parents over and over (and over) again:
❗ Do not rush into a release procedure until you’ve been cleared by your feeding therapist.
Here’s why jumping in too soon can actually make things worse:
Tongue- or lip-tie release is a procedure, yes—but it’s also a rehab process. Your child’s mouth needs to be prepped with stretches and exercises before the release, so their body and brain are ready to use that “new” range of motion afterward.
And here’s the kicker: after the procedure, you’ll be doing stretches several times a day—often for weeks. (Unless the provider uses sutures, which isn’t common in small children unless done under anesthesia.)
If you skip this prep and post-op plan? You risk:
The wound healing right back where it started
The procedure failing altogether
Creating trauma and defensiveness around the mouth
Your child refusing future feeding or oral-motor work
In other words: You could spend time, money, and energy… only to end up with more resistance than before.
🙈 What If Your Child Hates Mouth Work?
Let’s be honest: many toddlers are wiggly monkeys.
If your child already resists tooth brushing or won’t let you near their face, post-op stretches will be a battle. And that’s not fair to them—or to you.
💡 This is why we say: the order you do things matters.
You can’t just dive in because a provider said the tie “looks tight.”
Feeding readiness isn’t just about anatomy—it’s about mindset, sensory readiness, and skill.
🎧 Want to hear more about why sequencing matters in feeding therapy?
Listen to our podcast episode: Why the Order You Work on Feeding Issues Matters
⏳ When Is the Right Time for a Release?
That depends on:
Your child’s age and developmental stage
Their temperament and tolerance
Whether they’re fearful of food or oral input
Their postural and oral-motor readiness
And whether YOU (the parent) can confidently follow through with post-op care
Honestly? Some of the hardest ages to manage a release are around 18 months to 2.5 years—they’re mobile, alert, opinionated, and can’t fully understand what’s happening. On the flip side, infants and kids over 5 or 6 tend to do much better with the process.
And here’s a big truth:
Sometimes, the tie isn’t the first thing we need to address.
If your child is deeply fearful of food, avoids even “easy” textures, or is locked in a mindset of “I can’t eat,” the tie might not be the main problem right now. We need to start with mindset, sensory work, and trust-building before we go near oral restrictions.
Why Our Mealtime Roadmap Exists
That’s exactly why we created the Mealtime Roadmap — to guide families through these situations the right way.
It’s not just about what to serve at meals. It’s about:
Building foundational oral-motor skills
Strengthening jaw, tongue, and cheek muscles—safely and gradually
Helping kids tolerate sensations in and around the mouth
Preparing them for what’s next—whether that’s chewing solids, weaning from the bottle, or expanding food variety
Only then do we consider things like supplements or referrals for medical procedures—when the child (and the family) is ready.
Please—don’t skip ahead.
The order matters. The process matters. And we’re here to guide you through it.
👉 Start with the quiz on the right side of this page. Once you know where your child stands, we’ll help you choose the right path—whether that’s starting oral motor work, calming the nervous system, or getting more nutrition in.
🎯 Click here to learn more about the Mealtime Roadmap and finally feel confident that you’re doing the right thing in the right order.
🧰 Related Tools & Resources
If your child’s picky eating feels extreme, persistent, or frustrating—and nothing seems to work—it might be time to look under the tongue. Literally.
Tongue-ties don’t just affect babies.
They can impact chewing, food preferences, and confidence well into toddlerhood and beyond.
The good news? With the right support, kids can learn to chew, swallow, and even enjoy new foods—once their bodies (and brains) are ready.
Remember: Tongue-tie releases can be life-changing—but only when done at the right time, with the right support.