Blowing His Nose, or Lack Thereof....

Have you tried a pediatric sinus wash/rinse with your son? He's old enough to try it, and probably the squeeze bottle is easier to handle than the neti-pot, because you can control the flow and your son won't have to tilt his head. Maybe that will help him to clear his nose, and pretty much it's instinctual to blow out the excess saline in the sinus cavities. Just a thought, good luck!

It's such a hard skill to learn. My kids all learned different ways too. One learned in the tub, by holding his mouth and blowing bubbles out of his nose. Another learned by holding her mouth closed and trying to blow out a candle with her nose. The last learned again by holding her mouth but trying to move a balloon across the table. Hope these ideas help!

Tell him to pretend he is blowing birthday candles out with his nose...it worked for my 5.5 year old!

J.,

Have your son practice blowing through pursed lips (like a kiss). Then tell him to close them and blow the air through his nose.

Another way: When he is well (no congestion in his nose) have him try to cloud up a mirror with his nose, to get him used to the idea that air can flow OUT through his nose (mostly it is a reflex, and not a thought-out action). See if he can make a star in the cloud. :) You can try this when he's sick, but it doesn't have as good a result (little or no cloud).

And the good part is, he'll get the hang of it eventually. :)

One thing you can do for his relief is to have him breathe in steam, whether from a shower, or a cup of tea (anything can be sweetened, or you can try licorice tea - naturally sweet).

Good LUck!
M.

Take a bit of tissue and stick it up your nose..yes thats right. Now show him how mommy can be silly and blow that sucker right out on the floor (or in the garbage can) You do it first then I'm sure he'd want to try. What little boy wouldn't?? lol. This is how my husband and I taught our son.

Hi J.,

This seems to be a skill my children were not made to acquire!! They can blow their noses at age 2, and by age 3 have lost the ability. My 9 year old still doesn't quite have it down. So, although I don't have any advice, I would say that this is very common for little kids. They must have gotten the terrible expression "snot nosed little kid" from somewhere, right?!

D.
mom to 5

My oldest could never get this either - then we found out his adenoids were blocking that path which is why he couldn't do it. If all of the other advice/tips on how to teach this to him doesn't work, then he might have a physical (& fixable) problem preventing it. Hopefully not though.