Hello All you great moms!
I'm hoping someone has some advice on how to teach my 4yr old son how to blow his nose. I know it may sound so easy to some but I've been trying to teach/tell how since he was 2 and he still doesnt get it. My oldest figured it out right away but am having trouble with my youngest. He has a really bad cold right now and I still have to use a baby nose sucker for him. I've put him in the shower or over some hot water in a bowl for steam to help drain his nose too. I have told him to pretend he is sneezing out his nose, I've told its like blowing out a candle but through his nose and not his mouth, his older brother and I and dad have showed how we blow our noses. I'm getting a witts end, I don't want him to get a sinus infection or ear infection. If anyone has some suggestions I would be very appreciative. Thank you,
A. M
Thank you to all of you that submitted your advice and suggestions. Unfortunately he still doesnt get it so I just
resorted to the nose sucker. He told me when he gets bigger he will be able to blow his nose all by himself. I guess
its like potty training, blowing bubbles, or tying your shoes, one day it will just click. Again thank you all to your thoughtful suggestions. I did try them all:)
I would read or tell the story of the 3 little pigs and the big bad wolf. I tell my kids to "blow the house down" with their noses. It's a game that way. Worth a try.
Out of frustration one day when my son was crying, I covered his mouth and held a tissue over his nose. It was a mess, but he got the idea. It definitely wasn't the easiest or way of choice, but in a pinch with a cold, it worked. He got the idea. GL!
I would suggest getting Dr. Neil Meds sinus rinse for kids. My son uses it everyday because of medical problems, but it's great for when kids get sick. National Jewish preaches it to their patients. You get a K. and instructions. Have him lean over the sink and pretend that he's blowing out the birthday candles, as he is blowing squeeze the bottle up his nostril and it runs out the other side. My 13 yr. old still can't figure out how to blow his nose properly, but this helps keep the grossy snotty stuff to a minumum. :) Check it out...totally a good investment.
My 3 yr old had trouble blowing his nose, too. We practiced blowing on our hands from our MOUTH. Once he got really good at that, we switched to blowing on a TISSUE from our MOUTH. Then once he was good at that we switched to blowing from our NOSE onto the tissue.
I was going to suggest the candle. I had my now-4 year old try to blow out a candle with his nose and he got to where he could make the flame flicker and we moved on to Kleenex. My almost 3 year old is having trouble each time we try to blow, so I've been taking the little circles of paper out of our hole-puncher and putting them on the table and having him blow them around with his nose. He's getting it, but still does the blow-out-the-mouth thing when we try to blow his nose. Just make sure you clean and disinfect your table after practicing! LOL
Fortunately, once they get it, at least in MY case, my boys enjoy being able to get that icky feeling out of their nose without a sucker thing. In the meantime, saline spray is a good alternative to get things moving in there. There's also a decongestant spray for kids 2 years and up that I use OCCASIONALLY if things are really stopped up in there.
When he is not sick, have him close his mouth and breathe through is nose. Then show him when he breathes hard with his mouth shut what happens with the air out of his nose. This gives him an idea of what muscles cause it to blow and gets the sensation. Wouldn't recommend that with a cold unless you are right there with a tissue, hee hee. This took a while for my son to get it too and I watch little boys that seem to be slower in grasping it then others.
Just the issue of a hard breathe out of his nose will give him the idea, and show him with you doing it. I understand it isn't "easy" to explain have them get it! Good luck.
One thing I haven't read yet (and maybe it's because no one does it!) is to blow your own nose, and show him what's on the tissue. Gross, I know. But when I was trying to get my daughter to blow her nose, she just "sniffed" instead. She could hear the sound and knew it was supposed to come from her nose, and that's the way she knew to make it. We were wiping her nose anyway, and squeezing out a bit anyway, so I just showed her the "snot" on her tissue, and told her that all of that was in her nose, and she had to push it all out by blowing it. I told her to take a deep breath through her mouth (that way, there's no more room to "sniff" through the nose) then close her mouth and blow out her nose into the tissue so she could see her snot. It didn't exactly teach her "how" to blow her nose, but it did show her what blowing her nose was supposed to accomplish. That helped her understand all the other tricks and explanations better. Good luck!
