Clicking, Smacking, and Noisy Feeds: What Your Baby Is Trying to Tell You
If you hear clicking, smacking, or gulping sounds while your baby feeds, you’re not alone. Many parents notice these noises and wonder:
Is this normal? Is my baby getting enough milk? Is something wrong with their latch?
The truth is: feeding should be relatively quiet. Those sounds are not random. They are information.
Your baby’s body is communicating something about how feeding feels to them.
Understanding what those sounds mean can help you support your baby more effectively and often prevent bigger feeding struggles down the road and digestive issues related to their feeding mechanics.
What causes clicking or smacking sounds during feeding?
The clicking sound usually happens when the back of your baby’s tongue loses suction with the nipple. That brief break in seal creates the “click” or “pop” you hear.
This can happen for a few different reasons — and the timing of when it happens during a feed often tells us the most. Regardless of the cause of the clicking, the breaking of that vacuum seal will inevitably allow more air to enter baby’s digestive system and cause increased gassiness and even spit up (aerophagia). Babies who click during feeds are often very uncomfortable afterwards.
There are four main causes of clicking that we commonly see.
1. Muscle fatigue: “My mouth is getting tired”
If clicking starts happening midway or toward the end of a feed, fatigue is often the reason.
Feeding is hard work for a newborn. Their tongue, lips, and jaw are muscles that are still developing strength and endurance. When those muscles get tired, babies will start recruiting their whole body to help.
You might also notice:
arching
fluttering or quivering of the tongue or jaw muscles
wiggling or thrashing
pulling off and re-latching
noisy feeding
falling asleep quickly during feeds
This is your baby trying to compensate for muscles that are getting tired. If you identify any of these issues, then the next step is to figure out why your baby’s muscles are fatiguing. Infant PT or OT can help discern the cause and help baby build the strength and endurance they need for optimal feedings.
What helps in the moment:
Pause the feed when you notice the body escalating with lots of squirming
Burp and reset
Offer shorter, more frequent feeds
Support under the chin gently to help the tongue maintain suction
Work on building oral muscle endurance over time
Fatigue doesn’t mean something is “wrong” — but it does mean your baby may need support to build strength and coordination.
2. Fast flow: “This is too much, too fast”
If clicking happens at the very beginning of a feed, it can be your baby’s way of slowing things down.
This is especially common with:
strong or fast letdown during breastfeeding
bottle nipples with too fast of a flow
Your baby may break the seal intentionally to control how much milk is coming in.
You might see:
coughing or choking
pulling off the breast or bottle
clicking early in the feed
wide eyes or startled expression
milk leaking from the mouth
eyes watering
In this case, clicking is actually a protective strategy.
Your baby is trying to manage the flow so they can coordinate suck-swallow-breathe safely.
What helps:
Try different feeding positions (more upright, reclined or side-lying)
Try a slower flow nipple if bottle-feeding
Allow your baby to pace the feed and take breaks
Help baby unlatch when the flow feels too overwhelming
3. Bottle shape mismatch: “This doesn’t fit my mouth well”
If clicking happens throughout the entire feed, the issue may be mechanical.
Sometimes the shape of the bottle nipple makes it difficult for your baby to maintain a consistent vacuum seal.
This can happen when:
the nipple is too short and the base too wide
the nipple shape doesn’t match the baby’s oral anatomy
the latch is shallow
the lips are tucked under instead of flanged outward
baby has a high palate
When the mouth can’t form a stable seal, it repeatedly loses suction and clicks.
What helps:
Try a different bottle nipple shape or flow rate
Check that lips are flanged outward
Support the chin gently to cue tongue lift
Encourage a deeper latch
Ideal nipple shapes include Pigeon, Evenflo, and Lansinoh
4. Oral ties and restricted tongue elevation: “My tongue can’t lift high enough”
Another important cause of clicking is restricted tongue elevation, which is often related to oral ties.
For effective feeding, the back of the tongue needs to lift and lower while maintaining a vacuum seal. This is what allows milk to be transferred smoothly and efficiently.
When a baby has:
restricted tongue mobility
difficulty lifting the tongue upward
tight tissue under the tongue (frenulum)
tension in the mouth or jaw
…the tongue may not be able to stay elevated consistently. Instead, it drops away from the nipple, creating the clicking sound.
In these cases, clicking is not only about fatigue or flow — it’s also about anatomical limitation.
You may also notice:
shallow latch
lips tucked inward
milk leaking from the corners of the mouth
prolonged feeds
frustration at the breast or bottle
frequent popping off
excessive air intake and gas
It’s important to understand that:
Not every tight frenulum is a tongue tie.
Every human has a frenulum under the tongue. A tongue tie is only clinically significant if restricted movement is paired with symptoms like feeding difficulty, clicking, poor milk transfer, or discomfort.
This is why we always look at:
how the tongue moves
how the lips and jaw work together
whether the body is compensating
whether symptoms improve with support
before jumping straight to a release procedure.
Many babies benefit from:
bodywork to reduce tension
neuromuscular re-education (teaching the tongue and mouth new movement patterns)
strengthening and coordination exercises
Sometimes these steps alone improve clicking significantly. Other times, they prepare the baby’s body for a tongue-tie release so healing and feeding outcomes are better afterward.
Why noisy feeding often comes with whole-body movement
One of the most important things to understand is this:
Feeding is a full-body skill, not just a mouth skill.
When feeding becomes difficult, babies don’t just struggle with their mouth — their entire body gets involved.
You may see:
stiff legs
arching
twisting
pushing away
frantic movements
This often means one of two things:
Air is building up and feels uncomfortable
Mouth muscles are getting tired and losing coordination
Both can happen at the same time.
When should you pause a feed?
A helpful rule of thumb is this:
If the body escalates, the feed should pause.
Signs to pause:
increased squirming
clicking becomes louder
arching or stiffening
pulling off repeatedly
gulping or coughing
Pausing to burp, reset, and re-latch can prevent:
more air intake
worsening fatigue
frustration for both baby and parent
If your baby is calm, focused, and comfortable, there is no need to interrupt just to burp on a schedule. Let their body guide the timing.
Why quiet feeding matters
A quiet feed usually means:
good seal
coordinated suck-swallow-breathe
less air intake
less discomfort later
It’s not about perfection. It’s about comfort and function.
When to seek additional support
Consider reaching out for help if:
clicking happens at most feeds
feeding feels stressful
your baby struggles to finish feeds
weight gain is concerning
you see frequent body tension or arching
your baby seems uncomfortable after feeds
gas and reflux-like symptoms persist
Often, feeding challenges are not just about the mouth. They can be connected to:
body tension or asymmetry
nervous system regulation
airway issues
muscle endurance
oral motor coordination
A whole-body approach can uncover what’s really driving the difficulty.
The bigger picture: what your baby is telling you
Clicking and noisy feeding aren’t just sounds.
They’re your baby’s way of saying:
“This is hard for me right now.”
When we listen to those signals instead of ignoring them, we can:
support comfort
build strength
improve coordination
make feeding more peaceful for everyone
Feeding should feel effortless and sustainable.
And if it doesn’t, you don’t have to figure it out alone.