Baby Won't Open Wide? Get the Gaping Reflex Back On Track
Trying to help your baby open their mouth wider—whether for the bottle or the breast or chest? It’s not just luck. It’s a reflex—and one that can be cued, strengthened, and brought back online if it’s gone quiet.
In this post, I’ll show you what the gaping reflex looks like, how to cue, and how to rebuild it over time. This isn’t about forcing anything—it’s about helping your baby reconnect with something their body already knows how to do.
Just a quick note: Some of the videos in this post focus on latching at the chest, but the same reflex applies during bottle feeds too.
Babies are born with these reflexes—and they matter no matter how your baby is feeding.
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That wide, open mouth you’re hoping for? It’s not a skill your baby has to learn from scratch—it’s a reflex that’s already built in. It just needs the right invitation to show up.
The gaping reflex is your baby’s natural response to
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Trying to help your baby open their mouth wider—whether for the bottle or the breast or chest? It’s not just luck. It’s a reflex—and one that can be cued, strengthened, and brought back online if it’s gone quiet.
In this post, I’ll show you what the gaping reflex looks like, how to cue, and how to rebuild it over time. This isn’t about forcing anything—it’s about helping your baby reconnect with something their body already knows how to do.
Just a quick note: Some of the videos in this post focus on latching at the chest, but the same reflex applies during bottle feeds too.
Babies are born with these reflexes—and they matter no matter how your baby is feeding.
Click to see what’s in this blog and jump to a specific section. –
That wide, open mouth you’re hoping for? It’s not a skill your baby has to learn from scratch—it’s a reflex that’s already built in. It just needs the right invitation to show up.
The gaping reflex is your baby’s natural response to chin contact. When the right part of their chin makes solid contact—especially with a surface like your chest tissue, bottle, or even your finger—their mouth should instinctively open wide. That’s the reflex firing.
But just like any reflex, it can get quieter if it hasn’t been used in a while. Sometimes babies get used to latching without much chin contact, especially if we aren’t intentionally cueing it during feeding. The good news? The gaping reflex is really easy to wake up—often within just a few days.
Cueing the gaping reflex is really easy. All you should need to do is to touch your baby's chin to stimulate the reflex, like in the series of pictures below.
How you offer your baby the bottle or position them with feeding should cue this reflex in real time, but you can also do it with your finger, like in the pictures below.
This is a feeding cue for your baby, so it works best when your baby is feedable, but not hungry.
This is a great way to test to see if your baby's gaping reflex is responsive or not. If it is, then you can start using it right away in feeding. If its not responsive, then you'll need to spend a little bit of time building it back before you can use it in feeding, and I'll show you how to do that in the section below.
Use your pointer finger to give the cue.
Use your knuckle to gently touch your baby's chin.
Use your pointer finger to give the cue.
Use your knuckle to gently touch your baby's chin.
Leave there for 1-2 seconds and watch for a response.
The Cue in Action
This is what the cue looks like in real time. You’re not pulling or pressing—just offering the prompt. Most babies will respond within 1–2 seconds.
The way you build the reflex back—or strengthen the response—is by asking it to fire over and over again. Each time you give the cue, you're reinforcing the connection between your baby's chin muscles and their brain.
You don’t need to hold the cue longer or press harder to make it work.
Think of it like knocking on someone’s door—clearly, confidently, and politely. You offer the cue, wait a few seconds, and then offer it again. This repeated prompting is what helps bring the reflex back online.
Giving the cue 5–7 times in a row is plenty for one setting. You can repeat giving the cue multiple times a day, until you get a reliable response, and then you're ready to use your feeding position to activate it instead.
Here's what this looks like on a real baby, in real time.
Click for sound
Troubleshooting Problems
If you’ve been giving your baby the cue and they just aren’t responding—don’t stress. It’s okay. This reflex is one of the easiest to wake back up.
You just have to give the cue 5–7 times in a row, about 5–7 times a day, for a few days in a row. In my experience, almost every baby will start gaping within a week.
They may not open as wide as they can for a yawn just yet... but they should start to respond to the cue by opening *some*. That’s what you’re looking for first.
Here are a couple other helpful things to know:
Timing matters: This cue works best when your baby is calm and feedable—but not hungry. I call this the “I could eat” stage. Kind of like if someone invites you to a restaurant and you’re not hungry yet… but you *could* eat.
Age is important: This is easiest to do with babies under 4 to 4.5 months. Older babies can still respond to the cue, but it may not be as consistent.
If your baby responds but doesn’t open all the way, keep building the cue response—but also consider body tension. A tense body can make the jaw tight too.
Practicing With Confidence
And that's truly all there is to working on building the gaping reflex. Learn to cue it, and then give the cue over and over again until the connection between those muscles and your baby's brain is better connected.
It's no different than practicing piano to develop coordination—except it's much, much faster because you aren't creating new connections, just clearing the cobwebs away from one that hasn't been used in a while.
The best part about reflexes is that you don't have to be super specific or precise to use them... babies definitely aren't when feeding. Getting in the general area is usually enough.
And if you get your baby responding to this reflexive cue, then it's time to start using it while you are latching.
Need a refresher on how to use this reflex when you are feeding? Here's a blog that walks you through how to position your baby to help them gape before they latch.
Want More Support?
If this blog was helpful, here are a few related posts you might like.
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Have More Questions?
The gaping reflex develops early, so premature babies can be born with it—and we want to support it during feeding as soon as it works.
I’ve seen this cue work even for babies up to 11 months old. But in older babies, you won’t see the same repeat pattern as you do in babies under 4 months.
If your baby isn't responding, just keep offering the cue. There’s truly nothing to lose by trying it gently over time.
About the Expert Avery Young, IBCLC is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant who’s spent more than a decade helping parents understand their baby’s reflexes, build confidence, and make latching and feeding feel better. Read more about Avery →
If feeding feels confusing, inconsistent, or harder than it should, you don’t have to navigate next steps on your own.
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