You may know hay fever as a seasonal annoyance. But its proper name — allergic rhinitis — signals something more significant: chronic inflammation of the nasal airway. In this episode, we look at what allergic rhinitis actually does to a child's development, and how to spot it.

In this episode:

• Why "hay fever" undersells what allergic rhinitis is and does

• The impact on sleep, eating, mood, and regulation

• Signs and symptoms to look for in your child

• The allergic march — how eczema, food reactions, asthma, and enlarged tonsils and adenoids connect to the bigger picture

Work with Mel at The Face Place:

Nasal Breathing for Kids free guide: https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/nasal-breathing-for-kids

Oral Function Deep Dive: https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/oral-function-consultations

Foundations for Growing Faces Masterclass: https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/foundations-for-growing-faces-masterclass

Instagram: @thefaceplace_oht

If your baby had a cow's milk protein reaction and you were told they grew out of it — this episode is worth a listen.

This episode's guest is Laila Helena from Oh Healthy Baby, a Naturopath and Nutritionist who specialises in babies and infant gut health. Laila and I dig into a connection that we both see often: the link between early dairy reactions in babies and the enlarged tonsils and adenoids that show up a few years later.

In this episode, we cover:

• What CMPI and CMPA actually are, and why babies are more vulnerable

• The gut-immune connection that links early food reactions to later ENT issues

• What gut repair looks like, and why the early years are so impactful

• Other patterns Laila commonly sees alongside dairy reactions and enlarged tonsils

Work with Laila at Oh Healthy Baby: https://ohhealthybaby.com/ | @ohhealthybaby

Work with Mel at The Face Place:

• Free guide written in collab with Laila: Infant Oral Health 101

• Book an Oral Function Deep Dive: https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/online-oral-health-services

• Foundations for Growing Faces Masterclass: https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/foundations-for-growing-faces-masterclass

Instagram: @thefaceplace_oht

You've probably heard that resistive, chewy foods are good for jaw development. That's true — but it's not always that simple. In this episode, we talk about why chewing matters no matter what your child's diet looks like right now, and what you can do to increase their chewing, without changing what's on their plate.

In this episode:

• What thorough chewing does for digestion

• Why chewing is a nervous system regulation tool

• Practical strategies: modelling, slowing the meal down, and more

• Signs that chewing difficulty might point to something structural worth looking into

Work with Mel at The Face Place:

Oral Function Deep Dive: https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/oral-function-consultations

Foundations for Growing Faces Masterclass: https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/foundations-for-growing-faces-masterclass

Instagram: @thefaceplace_oht

Tonsils and adenoids are often treated as just an ENT issue. But they can be part of a much bigger picture involving sleep, oral function, and dental development.

In this episode, we’re looking at what tonsils and adenoids actually are, why they enlarge, and how to think about them more holistically.

In this episode, we cover:

• What tonsils and adenoids actually are
• When it’s normal for them to grow in childhood
• Why they can become enlarged
• What a more holistic, team-based treatment approach can look like

Work with Mel at The Face Place:

Foundations for Growing Faces Masterclass: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/foundations-for-growing-faces-masterclass ⁠⁠⁠⁠

Oral Function Consultations: https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/oral-function-consultations

Social media handle: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thefaceplace_oht⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Most people think crowded teeth are just genetic: something to deal with later. Something that ends in braces.

In this episode, we’re looking at what crowded teeth actually reflect and why this often starts much earlier than people realise.

If you’ve ever been told to “wait and see” or that your child will likely need braces one day, this episode will help you understand what might already be happening now.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why baby teeth are meant to have spaces between them
• What crowded teeth can tell us about jaw growth
• The different ways misalignment can show up

• Why the “wait and see” approach can miss important early signs

Work with Mel at The Face Place:

Malocclusion Blog: https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/blog/malocclusion-in-children

Foundations for Growing Faces Masterclass: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/foundations-for-growing-faces-masterclass ⁠⁠⁠

Oral Function Consultations: https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/oral-function-consultations

Social media handle: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@thefaceplace_oht⁠⁠⁠⁠

Many parents are told that jaw alignment and tooth position only matter once adult teeth arrive. But the foundations for how teeth align later are already being shaped much earlier.

In this episode we talk about how breathing patterns, muscle function and jaw growth all work together during the early years.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why baby teeth should have gaps

• How breathing patterns influence facial development
• The relationship between jaw size, airway space and sleep quality

• Why breathing, sleep and dental development should be considered together

If you’ve been told to simply “wait until the adult teeth come in,” this episode may help explain why early patterns are still worth paying attention to.

Work with Mel at The Face Place:

Malocclusion Blog: https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/blog/malocclusion-in-children

Foundations for Growing Faces Masterclass: ⁠⁠https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/foundations-for-growing-faces-masterclass ⁠⁠

Oral Function Consultations: ⁠⁠https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/oral-function-consultations

Social media handle: ⁠⁠⁠@thefaceplace_oht⁠⁠⁠

In this episode, we explore why nasal breathing is foundational to healthy sleep.

Concerns around restless sleep, teeth grinding, night waking, and daytime behaviour are some of the most common reasons families come to see me. They are also some of the most misunderstood.

Breathing, sleep quality, jaw development, and dental health are deeply connected. Yet they are often discussed in isolation.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why nasal breathing matters
• What mouth breathing during sleep may signal
• Common airway contributors including adenoids, tonsils, congestion, and jaw structure
• How facial development influences breathing
• Sleep behaviours to look for
• Why poor sleep quality affects regulation and behaviour

FACES and SLEEPING Signs

Work with Mel at The Face Place:

Foundations for Growing Faces Masterclass: ⁠https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/foundations-for-growing-faces-masterclass ⁠

Oral Function Consultations: https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/oral-function-consultations

Social media handle: ⁠⁠@thefaceplace_oht⁠⁠

Most of the sleep, breathing and oral function concerns I see in older children didn’t begin at five. They began much earlier.

In this episode, I’m connecting the dots between early feeding difficulties and later challenges such as:

• Sleep disordered breathing
• Mouth breathing
• Fussy eating
• Behavioural challenges
• Crowded teeth

We explore why feeding is such a foundational developmental stage, how early patterns can influence growth, and why many signs don’t look connected at the time.

Work with Mel at The Face Place:

Foundations for Growing Faces Masterclass: https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/foundations-for-growing-faces-masterclass

Oral Function Consultations: https://www.thefaceplaceofm.com.au/oral-function-consultations

Social media handle: ⁠@thefaceplace_oht⁠