Back-to-School Ready: Breathing and Focus in the Classroom

It’s the start of a new school year, and while many Orange County families are getting back into routines, sleep schedules, and sharpening pencils, there’s one back-to-school essential that often goes unnoticed: your child’s breathing habits.

You might not expect something as automatic as breathing to affect how your child learns, but it plays a surprisingly important role. Children who breathe through their mouths instead of their noses may be more tired, more distracted, and more prone to behavioral challenges in the classroom. Most parents don’t even realize it’s happening.

Mouth breathing, especially during sleep, is common in children. Seasonal allergies, enlarged tonsils, or structural issues can make nasal breathing harder. Over time, this becomes the body’s default pattern. But when mouth breathing becomes the norm, it can affect how kids sleep, how they feel during the day, and how well they’re able to focus and stay regulated at school.

Why does nasal breathing matter so much?

When we breathe through our nose, the air is filtered, warmed, and humidified before it reaches the lungs. Nasal breathing also supports better oxygen delivery to the brain and helps regulate the nervous system. It is the body’s most efficient way to breathe. Mouth breathing bypasses all of these benefits.

For a growing child, mouth breathing at night can lead to restless sleep, snoring, and frequent waking. During the day, it may show up as tiredness, poor concentration, irritability, or slumped posture. These symptoms can be easily mistaken for something else. In fact, some children diagnosed with attention issues are actually struggling with fragmented sleep due to mouth breathing or related airway concerns.

Parents often describe their child as "just not themselves" during the school year. They may be more reactive, more distracted, or more emotional. The problem might not be a lack of motivation or behavior. It could be something as simple as how their body is getting oxygen while they sleep.

So what can be done?

If your child breathes through their mouth regularly, wakes up with a dry mouth, snores, or has trouble staying focused during the day, it’s worth taking a closer look. Myofunctional therapy is one option that can help.

Myofunctional therapy uses gentle, targeted exercises to retrain the muscles of the mouth, face, and airway. These exercises support nasal breathing, proper tongue posture, and healthy swallowing. For children, this means therapy can improve sleep and energy while supporting attention, behavior, and overall learning success.

It’s not just about stopping mouth breathing. It’s about giving your child the foundation they need to thrive physically, mentally, and emotionally during the school year.

Paired with other airway support strategies like nasal rinses or allergy management, myofunctional therapy can help your child breathe better, sleep more soundly, and feel more focused throughout the day.

If you’re noticing signs of disrupted sleep or chronic mouth breathing in your child, don’t wait for it to resolve on its own. The earlier you identify and address the issue, the easier it is to change. And the sooner your child can experience the benefits of better breathing and improved focus in the classroom.

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Here in Orange County, I work with many families who are surprised to learn how much their child’s breathing habits affect their school experience. Whether it’s snoring, mouth breathing, or restless sleep, these issues often show up in the classroom as trouble focusing, low energy, or mood swings. Myofunctional therapy offers a gentle, non-invasive way to support your child’s development and set them up for a better school year.