Could the root of your child’s sleep struggles be tied to something deeper, like oral function or how they breathe? In this powerful episode, I’m joined by Dr. Leslie Pasco, founder of MyoWway Centers, to unpack the surprising connection between airway health, myofunctional therapy, and pediatric sleep.
As a seasoned dentist, entrepreneur, and airway health advocate, Dr. Pasco brings a unique, whole-child perspective to how functional oral development plays a critical role in sleep quality, behavior, and even long-term wellness. We explore what most parents (and even some providers) are missing when it comes to mouth breathing, tongue ties, and sleep-disordered breathing, and what you can do about it.
Whether you’re a parent navigating chronic sleep disruptions, an educator noticing daytime behavioral challenges, or a provider looking to better understand root-cause pediatric care, this conversation is full of insight, validation, and hope.
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MyoWay Center for Kids: https://www.myowaycenters.com/
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Episode Highlights:
- What myofunctional therapy is—and why it matters in childhood development
- The connection between oral function and sleep, mood, and attention
- Early signs of airway issues in infants and toddlers
- Why mouth breathing and tongue posture are more than cosmetic concerns
Sleep Struggles Solved + Results Guaranteed
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Welcome to The Kids Sleep Show podcast, where we dive into the magical world of sleep and all things parenting. Join us as we embark on a journey filled with expert advice, practical tips, and heartwarming stories that will transform your little ones into sleep superheroes and empower you to navigate the beautiful chaos of parenting. I’m your host, Courtney Zents, and I’m on a mission to change how the world views sleep and provide accessible sleep coaching resources for all families to build healthy sleep habits in their home for children and adults of all ages. As an award winning speaker, author, and pediatric sleep expert, myself and my team of consultants work intimately with families around the world to teach healthy sleep habits to children and adults. I believe wholeheartedly that sleep is the foundation for which a happy home is built.
So let’s sleep together. Hey, everyone. Welcome to this week’s episode of the Kids Sleep Show podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in. This week, we have a special guest, doctor Leslie Pascoe.
I’m gonna allow her to introduce herself, and we’re gonna learn all about the MiWay Center for Kids. Thank you so much for joining me, Leslie. It’s nice to meet you. Oh, Oh, it’s very nice to meet you too, Courtney, and thank you so much for having me. Tell us a little bit about MiWay.
Sure. I would love to. MiWay Centers for Kids is a myofunctional therapy center designed to specifically aid in jaw and airway development for children from birth on up. We’ve been around for nearly twelve months now. While the concept isn’t new, we’re new, but we are specialized in jaw and airway development.
So, we’re helping kids sleep better, and live better lives. I love that. And sleep, as you know, is my superpower. So, you know, I think for parents that are listening to this, our age range of the Kids Sleep Show podcast can kinda vary. And so parents might be listening going, What’s this?
Right? So talk a little bit about what made you decide to, after a successful career in dentistry and seeing thousands of patients, launch MiWay centers. Right? There was obviously a need for it. And talk a little bit more about what it means, and just, you know, kind of educating parents who may not have heard of what you do.
Sure. Yeah. So honestly, I was, I was a dentist for over twenty five years, practice management consultant, professional speaker, coach to dentists as well. I was a pretty busy person. When I retired out of dentistry, I really believed that I was going to retire.
I pictured myself sailing off into the sunset, you know, jeez, having a nice, calm, relaxed life, eating bonbons and gardening, things like that. But there was this feeling that I had, and I just couldn’t ignore it. And then it’s this pandemic that’s happening. It’s it’s right under our noses, and it’s the human jaw. The human jaw is shrinking.
And, over my years of dentistry, I saw the impact that it was having on, on the health and wellness of, of human beings, and I couldn’t ignore it anymore. So I tried. I really did try, Courtney. But the signs just kept popping up that this is what I should do. And so, I I was retired for about three months, and then I started looking for space to start my away centers for kids.
And so talk about the jaw development. Right? So my kids are nine and 11, and I know you work with, you know, children really young from a baby standpoint too because that jaw is developing as they’re growing. Right? And that’s such a crucial time.
And my kids both have the need for, like, some orthodontist stuff. Luckily, they don’t have any sort of, you know, signs or signals of, like, sleep apnea or anything from a sleep quality standpoint, which is good, I guess, blame the day job for me. But, talk a little bit about, like, why is the jaw so important in the airway and the motor development and air, you know, air properly getting in and out from a from not only a sleep quality, but just, you know, a general quality of life. Like, what what are some common things that, you know, you kinda see as that jaw is developing, and why is it important? Sure.
So the maximum oral facial growth happens during the first two years of life. So the oral habits that we’re creating for our infants, really determines how they’re going to continue to grow, in their toddler years years and even in their school age years, preschool and school age years. And it’s very important that they grow and they develop properly, that they’re breathing through their nose and not through their mouth. I always say mouths are for eating and noses are for breathing. Why is that so important?
Because when a child develops the habit of mouth breathing, whether it’s either postural or habit or both, when a child mouth breathes, they’re telling their brain that they’re in danger because mouth breathing is reserved for fight or flight situations. We’re not supposed to be mouth breathing, only when we’re in dangerous situations. So if we’re mouth breathing, if a child is mouth breathing, whether they’re awake or they’re asleep, they’re telling their brain they’re in a dangerous situation and their body behaves in that fight or flight, that sympathetic nervous system response. And what occurs during that are lots of different things in the body. Certain functions will turn off, other functions will turn on.
But most importantly, for children, is the brain development and their cognitive development. Mhmm. And when they’re breathing through their mouth, they’re actually stimulating the amygdala, the part of the brain that’s reserved for irrational thoughts and behaviors, the I just have to get away type of behavior. And that’s just the life saving behavior. Right?
Trying to survive. What happens during that process is they’re not growing or developing the part of the brain that they really need to develop, that prefrontal cortex, which gives them rational thought and rational behavior. So a child that is not breathing right, they’re breathing through their mouth instead of their nose, whether they’re awake or whether they’re asleep or worse yet, both. They have a forty to a hundred percent more likely chance of being diagnosed with ADHD. And chances are they’re just exhausted.
They’re tired. And I don’t know about you, Courtney. I know you have a lot of kids. You’re a busy person. When you’re exhausted, how much better do you make decisions?
I know when I’m exhausted, I don’t always make great decisions. So these little kids, they’re three, four, five years old, maybe seven. They’re exhausted. Their brains just aren’t functioning properly, and then there’s the possibility that they could be misdiagnosed. Yeah.
Well and I think it’s so interesting because in the work we do, right, with babies and toddlers, you know, you hear of, like, things I’ve picked up, like snoring and such. Like, that’s not normal for a child to be snoring. Right? And so there are signs that are like, hey. You might wanna get this looked at, you know, mouth breathing, the snoring, you know, things like that.
But also to your point, exhaustion. Parents are like, well, their sleep is not so bad. And I’m dealing with, Oh, well, I’m maybe co sleeping with my toddler, but we’re okay with it. Like, I had a client or a prospective client yesterday who was like, Well, we we want your help, but we really don’t want to stop co sleeping. I’m like, Well, why would you hire me?
What are you looking for? Like, you can’t kind of have both because if I teach them good sleep hygiene, it means typically that they’re going to sleep through the night, and then they’re not gonna wanna co sleep. So while I appreciate that you want the extra cuddles, if that’s in your, you know, goal, like, are you gonna go in at 3AM and wake them up to bring them into your bed? Because if that’s the case, then this is not, you know, the right program at this point for you. But irregardless, people don’t look at to your point when the brain is tired.
Right? The first thing as adults, we give up is sleep. I got a deadline. Give it up. I got flights early in the morning.
I’ve got I go to bed every night at 09:00, like clockwork. 09:00, I wake up at 05:00 every day without an alarm. Nine to five every day. And I am waking, rested and refreshed. When your kids have to get an alarm to wake up, it means they’re still tired.
They should naturally be able to go to sleep at the same time and then wake in the morning when they’re finished that cycle at the right stage. They shouldn’t need an alarm clock in in theory. Right? But then when you also have this broken sleep overnight for a variety of reasons, whether it has to do with, you know, the mouth and, the nose or whether it’s just poor sleep hygiene, the brain function after three to four days, they say if you sleep less than five hours a night, it has the same impact on your brain as being legally intoxicated. And I’m like, would you want your kids being drunk every day at five years old?
You know? I mean, the studies are out there with different things like that on the impact of the brain. But a lot of times parents are like, no. They’re, like, sleeping okay. And I I’m like, well, how do you feel in the morning?
You slept seven hours, but you were up four times. So you still got seven hours of sleep, which isn’t terrible. But how do you feel? They’re like, well, I feel like a dumpster fire. I’m like, okay.
That’s how your kids feel too. Right? Because it’s broken. It’s not restorative. That’s when your brain is healing.
Like, all day it’s recording, and then at night, it edits. And so I, you know, I try it’s so interesting because I think the first thing people give up is sleep and it a lack of sleep for whatever the reason causes so many other challenges that, you know, the the the medical side can validate, you know, and this is one of those interesting ones too. I know you work with adults, and I see a lot on, like, the mouth taping now, and that, like, that trend. And I have, you know, mixed feelings on things like that. You know, I think if if there’s a heavy mouth breathing problem, you probably have to look into what’s going on, you know, with the nose, but that’s not my category.
I’ll leave that to you. You know? But it’s just interesting, you know, how it is so much so all connected. Like, what would be some signs, I would say, as parents? If we have a little one, if we have a baby, what should we notice?
If we have a toddler, what do we notice that we would go, hey. You know what? I need to talk to doctor Pasco because she works with clients all over the country virtually, and she might be able to help us. That’s an excellent question. And the things that often get overlooked are just even audible breathing from a baby.
Hearing the noise of breathing from an infant or a toddler, if it’s elaborated or exaggerated breathing, that’s a sign or symptom that there’s there’s difficulty with how they’re breathing, and it should be evaluated. Snoring, even just a little bit. Number one indicator, that there’s a sleep related breathing disorder. Snoring is considered a a sleep related breathing disorder. Snoring is disruptive to sleep.
And while the child may be getting a full night’s of sleep, they’re not really sleeping. So they’re not getting the rest and digest portion of the sleep that they need. Enlarged tonsils, are another indicator. Night terrors, night talking, night walking, bed roving, moving around the bed too much. These are children that aren’t sleeping well, and they’re trying to establish their airway.
Crowded teeth, grinding teeth, not enough spaces between baby teeth, that’s all an indicator that the jaws aren’t growing properly due to muscle function. And usually, it’s the improper placement of the tongue. Speech issues, are also connected to how the muscles of the oral cavity and the face are working. What else is there? You know, one of the ones that we see a lot of that just kinda gets put to the side is, you know, five, six, seven year olds and older, experiencing, nocturnal nocturnal enuresis, which is bedwetting.
And pediatricians are telling them it’s normal and that they’ll grow out of it. It but it’s not. And that is can be associated with mouth breathing while they’re sleeping and not getting enough sleep as well. Interesting. Irritability, behavior issues, inability to focus, increased incidence of strep and, ear infections, the need for ear tubes.
All of these are signs and symptoms of developmental issues related to how their their facial structures in the airway is growing. It’s so fascinating because it is really just all connected. And I think to your point, pediatricians are doing their best, but this is certainly not their area of expertise. You know, you are a general doctor for children, and so you get a general sense of the whole body, but it’s not something I think that there’s time or the knowledge to to, you know, dive into. So I think this is helpful for parents to sit there and go, hey.
Okay. Well, let me check the variables off the list. Right? Okay. This makes sense.
This makes sense. And, you know, it’s worthy of certainly a discussion. And now you have different plans. Right? So there’s therapy that goes into the strengthening of the muscles.
And as the jaw is growing, there’s, you know, some virtual things that, clients do with you as well, apparatus as you talked about. So talk about, you know, what is a typical patient? I know everybody’s gonna be different. Right? But, like, what is the typical course of treatment if they come to you and they go, hey.
I’ve got this. I’ve got that. I know it’s gonna vary greatly. But just to give parents a general sense of, you know, what it looks like, when they come to you to to get that support and help. Sure.
Sure. Yeah. We have therapy for children as early as just a few weeks old even. We have special appliances that are designed. They’re, patented.
They’re manufactured by the Myofunctional Research Center, and, they can be used to stimulate muscle tone and arch development in babies. We have appliances that we use for children as early as being a toddler. Again, those cognitive functions for those children, they’re kind of difficult. So you can’t do traditional myofunctional therapy with those kids because they just can’t. So our appliances have traditional myofunctional therapy components built into them.
And so these children can wear and chew and use these appliances to grow and establish their jaws and airways by improving their muscle function. And those are programs that, you know, last all through their their, infant and toddler years, so to speak. When they get a little older, you know, three, four years old, we have preschool stage programs, which are a little bit more advanced and involve a specific, myofunctional therapy exercise appliance where they can exercise their tongue, their lips, their jaw, and their airway. Along with appliances that guide the jaw development and encourage the lips to stay closed and the tongue being positioned properly and the child to breathe through their nose. And, from toddler on up, I’m sorry, preschool on up, I’d say those programs are anywhere from six to twelve months long.
They’re easy. The parent doesn’t have to spend a lot of time, but they do have to motivate and coach their child and parent their child to to participate in the program and, wear the appliances and use the appliances as needed. The appliances only need to be worn an hour a day, and, eventually, the child moves into wearing them overnight, all night while they’re sleeping. And that helps to guide the the jaw forward and up, which then also opens up the airway and, creates good development of their face and their oral and airway structures. Which I think is so important to your point, like, boundaries and, expectation setting with parents.
Right? Like, there is a positive and a benefit to doing this and that is gonna benefit your child. So sometimes in the moment, you know, I sometimes have to remind my son that if he doesn’t put his retainer in, he’s gonna pay for his braces the next time out of his savings account. Right? And so believe me, it’s gonna drain his savings account.
So it’s one of those where it’s like, you know, there has to be some skin in the game, I think, from parents too and and the investment and understanding the benefit of doing so if a child truly needs it. You know? If they went to the dentist and they were like, oh, you have a cavity or you have a a tooth that’s, you know, resorption or what like, you gotta get this tooth out. Right? Parents aren’t gonna be like, you know what?
Nah. Just leave it. It’s fine. You know what I mean? Like, you take care of it.
Whatever the situation is, this is the same. It’s just I feel like a part where sometimes parents, you know, they get a little sensitive. I see these days to say no to kids. You’re the parent, and you have to see as the parent, I think the the overarching benefit to a program like this for the future development of all those other symptoms and signs that you you, you know, you shared. So I think it’s important for parents to understand, like, this is for the best interest of a child and, you know, that quality sleep.
You know, parents don’t necessarily see how their kid feels in the morning or or, you know, what their brain is doing on the inside. They only see the out outside and the external actions and the behaviors and things that, you know, might not always be the positive. But I think sometimes you jump to the maybe perhaps the wrong conclusion or the wrong diagnosis and you’re missing something over here. So I think this conversation is so important for parents who are listening because if you don’t need something, there’s no harm. Right?
It’s not gonna hurt you to come and go, hey. I think something’s going on with my child’s breathing, doctor Pascoe, and you go, no. Actually, things look good. Maybe go somewhere else. You know?
So I I don’t think there’s any harm in, you know, confirming, again, variables. Right? Okay. They have this check. They don’t have that check.
Like, you know, parents can do that and, I think be able to make a better guided decision on, you know, making the the case for for treatment or or exploring other things that could be going on. You know? Talk to us a little bit about how somebody wants to work with you. Right? Like, if I’m a parent and I’m hearing this right now, and I go, something seems weird.
I can hear my baby. I need to talk to doctor Pasco. Like, what way do clients find you, and what’s the best route to, to explore services with you and whether or not it would be a need? Sure. The best way to reach out to us is through MiWayCenters.com or contact us page.
You can contact us and request an appointment, or you can book an appointment right online right then and there. All of our evaluations are always free. We always want every child to be able to be assessed for sleep related breathing disorders and jaw and airway development. So there’s no harm in reaching out and getting a free evaluation to see if there is something that needs to be attended to. More than ninety percent of children have an issue.
They show the signs and symptoms. So chances are, you know, that there there could very likely be something going on that maybe the parent isn’t aware of that we can see and that we can find out. And in my opinion, it’s better to be safe than sorry. It’s better to do something about it now. You talked about the benefits of, you know, good good health care and, good parenting.
And these benefits for these children from our programs, they last a lifetime. This gives a child the best opportunity to live their best life and hopefully not experience more advanced sleep apnea, issues and situations, avoid medications and CPAP machines and heart disease and diabetes and stroke and, you know, Alzheimer’s now is being connected to, you know, improper breathing. There’s so so we’re setting up these kids, you know, for for a really good life just by at least just taking a look. It certainly doesn’t help. It doesn’t hurt.
No. I think it’s I think it’s great. It definitely helps and certainly doesn’t hurt. And, you know, there’s never a too late. Right?
Like, if you’re just going, hey. There is something that a little left to center, trust your gut and call and schedule an appointment. We do the same here with, you know, those consultations because it’s important. You might say, hey. I need this or, no, I don’t, and that’s okay.
But at least you have a clearer picture going into it. So what we will definitely do is put all of your contact information out in the show notes and make sure people can find you and and reach you. And and, you know, I think anything that, parents question, this is gonna be one of those important things where you go, you know what? Let me just check this off the list. So my final question for you would be, what advice would you give parents who feel, like, overwhelmed and not sure where to start?
You know, some maybe some literature or just book a session and see, you know, if there is something more going on or is there maybe, like, a checklist they can kinda go down? Like, what would you say would be your recommendation? Well, the first thing that I would say as a parent myself is trust your gut. Listen to your instincts. Parenting isn’t easy.
No one taught us how to be a parent, and no one’s really teaching us, you know, how what to look for or or or what to do or what we’re if what we’re doing is right or wrong. But trust your gut because your gut knows. Your your mommy gut, your mommy heart, it knows. So so that’s the first thing that I would have to say. The second thing I would say is, you know, even just so the first thing is even just a little bit of snoring, a little bit of mouth breathing, that turns into a lot more later.
That’s usually the first sign and symptom that we see for the real little ones, and and new moms should be looking for that. SIDS occurs during the first six months usually, and a child trying to breathe, shows different signs and symptoms. And I think that parents should educate themselves, you know, on those signs and symptoms as well. And then, the next thing I would say, because I’m a dentist. Right?
And I saw lots of teeth over my career is crowded teeth are not genetic. The size and shape and color of our teeth, that’s genetic. But crowded teeth are the sign of an underlying development problem. So, yes, they can be fixed with orthodontics and we work with orthodontists all the time. And I certainly encourage that, but getting that pre orthodontic treatment to actually get the muscle function and the the the jaw growing properly makes for a much better result.
Yeah. I love it. Well, we’ll definitely send everybody your way. I appreciate you coming on to the show today to to talk to parents because I do think it’s something that they just sort of dismiss because they just don’t know. You know?
So the more you know. Right? And, we’ll certainly send them out your direction. Thank you so much for coming on today, doctor Pascoe. I appreciate your time and certainly hope to send some, now well rested children your way to get their noses and mouths and jaw lines all set up for breathing success.
So I appreciate you. Well, thank you. I appreciate you, Courtney, and thanks so much for having me. One more thing before you go. Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, or share this episode with someone you know who could use a little more sleep in their life.
For tips and resources, be sure to visit us at tinytransitions.com or follow us across social media. Here’s to better sleep, brighter day, and healthier sleep.
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