My Daughter Can't Blow Her Nose!

I read that kids can't really learn to blow their nose correctly until they are at least 4 years old.

I started handing my son a son tissue - he is 2years old - and at the same time would have a tissue for myself so I could show him how to blow his nose. She needs to understand the difference between blowing and sniffing, try to get her to take a deep breath, keep her mouth closed and blow it out. Of course, she will eventually learn how to blow her nose but it's not an easy thing to teach a child (not like stacking blocks). It took me several weeks of consistently working with my son and encouraging him to blow, now I can't hand him a tissue without him trying to blow his nose even if I ask him to wipe his mouth. I have used the nose sucker that you buy in the store and he hated that thing, which also helped in him learning to blow his nose on his own - he's definetly not a pro at it but he does understand the concept.

Kids are more inclined to do something if they see Mom and Dad doing the same thing so blowing your nose in front of her will hopefully help.

I told my son to try to be an elephant and blow his trunk. That seemed to work for him, but it didn't work for my daughter. She is still a sniffer and she's 9!

My kids always want to sniff there nose and not blow. I always tell them to take a deep breath and blow it out there nose. When she is not sick you might want to try breathing tech that have her breath and blow threw her nose. At the age it can be hard. My oldest are 8 and I still have to tell them how to blow there nose and there are times that i have to tell my other half to blow his nose.

Best of luck with the nose.

My son caught his first cold at 16 months, and we caught that one together. He thought it was funny when I'd blow my nose, so he wanted to do it too. He also abhors the nasal aspirator, so we were both thrilled to see that thing go.

I would let her put her fingers under your nose to feel the air whoosh as you gently blow out, so she can get the idea, and practice. If she just doesn't want to blow - don't worry about it. I hated to blow my nose as a kid (it felt yucky and dirty to let the mucus out), and all I did was wipe with tissues and sniff until I was ridiculously old. She'll be less comfortable, but she'll be fine if she doesn't blow her nose.

My son (now 4 1/2) did the same thing for a long time. I just told him to take a big deep breath, close his mouth and breathe out his nose. This took some practice too but he finally got it! Until then, just wipe it when it runs. She'll figure it out eventually.

I'm having the same problem with my son. But I was talking about it with my mom yesterday and she said he did a great job blowing his nose for her when she saw him on Sunday. She told me she put her hand over his mouth when she told him to blow. This caused him to blow out his nose instead of his mouth. Tried it after I talked to her and it worked like a charm. Once again, Grandmom was right. Darn : )

Good luck!
T.

r.

Another idea...have her put her arms up in the air, and then bring them down to her sides swiftly at the same time while blowing threw her nose. I know it sounds crazy, but it worked for us.

Now of course I have a kid who would prefer me wipe his nose anyway. Oh Well.

My three year old was having the same problem. We used the nasal aspirator on him when it was really bad. After a couple of times he has figured out the difference between pulling it in and blowing it out. He still doesn't get it right all of the time, though.

Although he doesn't like the aspirator, after using it once and getting so much of the congestion out, he now asks for it when it is really bad. He knows that the discomfort of the aspirator is not as bad as keeping the congestion in.

I don't know if this will work for you. My son is pretty cooperative, agreeable and easy going. She might fight you on it. But it might be worth trying.

For the congestion, the doctors are saying now not to use the different cold medicines. My family has always used Vics. They make one for babies and toddlers now that also works great for preschoolers. Also, Johnson and Johnson makes one. It might help it run a little thinner so make it easier for her to get out or her body to handle it. Also, plenty of fluids to thin out the mucus. Our family also uses a home remedy to help with the congestion. Although it might not sound great, it works really well and doesn't taste bad. Take the outer skin off of an onion. Put the onion in a big pot of water and boil it till the onion is soft. Then take the broth made by the onion. Put it in a cup with a teaspoon or 2 of sugar (or sweetener of your choice) and have the child/adult drink it. The onion helps break up the mucus.

If you or your child have a problem with the onion taste. You can add chicken or beef bouillon instead of sugar to make it more like a soup broth.

Good luck. I hope this helps.

This may sound gross, but just show her how to blow withOUT a tissue - boogers on the upper lip are such a *lovely* visual. Kids think it's funny and you can have a contest to see who can get the most boogers out. Then you have her wipe herself clean w/ a tissue. After that, she should be ready to blow her own nose.

If everyone's noses are clear when you want to teach this, put little bits of tissue paper on a table and see how far she can blow them with her mouth closed.

hi im a mom with a 3 year old daughter myself who is battling the same thing. u can try 1 tsp dark colored honey the antioxidents will help her feel better and maybe resort to one of those blue extracters we use when they are babys. the honey works as a cold med would.(got the info from her pediatrician)of course u can mix it into any drink u like. good luck

My youngest son had the same problem until I noticed that he was very interested in the gorillas in the Tarzan movie- we watched the parts where the gorillas snorted and pretended to be gorillas. I used 'do a gorilla snort into the tissue' until he got it- it didn't tak long!