A flipped spoon and chin prompt to increase mouth clean.

Dempsey et al. (2011) worked with a 15-month-old who refused liquids. They tried three ways to help the child swallow: a flipped spoon alone, a chin prompt alone, and both together. They watched how often the mouth stayed clean after each sip. The study used a single-case design so they could see clear changes in one child.

The combo won. Flipped spoon plus chin prompt gave the biggest jump in mouth clean. Either tool by itself helped a little, but together they worked best. The child swallowed more and spilled less when both prompts were used at the same time.

Dugan et al. (1995) came first. They showed that changing spoon size can act like a price tag—smaller spoons make eating cheaper and kids accept more. Jack adds a new tool: flip the spoon and add a gentle chin tap. Murphy et al. (2014) also played with utensils. They found that starting with a Nuk brush cut expulsions for some kids. Jack’s flipped spoon gives you one more utensil trick to try. Serel Arslan (2022) looked at toddlers with Down syndrome and found lots of natural swallowing problems. Jack shows that, no matter the cause, simple prompts can teach a toddler to swallow better.

If you have a client who holds liquid in the mouth or lets it drip out, pair a flipped spoon with a light chin prompt next session. You can run a quick single-case probe—baseline, flipped spoon only, chin prompt only, then both. Track mouth clean after each sip. In 30 minutes you will know if the combo works for that child. No extra cost, no fancy gear, just a spoon and your finger.