How to Teach 3 1/2 Yr Old to Blow His Nose

M.,
That is so funny because I have the same exact problem. When I tell my son to blow out of his nose, he blows even harder out of his mouth. I will watch and read the advise of others too.

Hi M.,
I am a mom of a 6 year old and am also a respiratory therapist. Try this:First tell him that you were reminded about a trick for blowing his nose that you were told about from someone in your family. (an Aunt/Grandparent/cousin/etc). Make sure and tell him the family member's name. Also let the family member that you choose know what you are going to try.It is a good idea to pick someone that he likes and trusts. Tell him that after he blows his nose in this new way, you are going to give him a reward of some kind (his favorite snack/treat/a new toy/a trip to the toy store/etc)then, AND THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: Have him blow it WHILE you are telling him what to do. DON"T EXPLAIN OR DEMONSTRATE IT TO HIM FIRST)
Tell him to take a deep breath, Close his mouth as tight as he can, and then blow. (while he is blowing say things like Blow, Blow, keep your mouth tight, tighter, good job, blow harder,harder, blow, good, good, and then of course, help him wipe his nose (sooner than later he will be wiping his nose himself).In between each time you do this tell him what a GREAT JOB HE IS DOING,what a good boy he is and that he is learning to blow his nose like a BIG boy. Repeat the blowing technique until his nose is as clear as possible,then tell him he did a fantastic job (even if he did not do so good) and give him his reward. It has been my experience that it only takes a few times doing it this way for most little ones to learn how to do it. After he finishes blowing his nose,make sure that he knows that reward is only for the first few times. Just until he gets the hang of it.(When something like this comes up in our house, I tell my son that this is the way that all the kids in my famiy ..his cousins, etc. have done it. I tell him this about a lot of things in this manner. For example, I say... "In OUR family, the Tooth Fairy that visits our house has always done it THIS way, ever since I was a little girl."
I Hope this helps. Good Luck!

Try having him "sniff with his nose like a bunny" when he is not to stuffy. Show him a picture of a bunny. "Mouth closed like a bunny! Sniff in! Sniff out!" Or think of other animals that keep mouth closed while sniffing. (Most.) Be patient and enjoy him. The years go by fast.

Hi M.,

I made a game out of blowing air out of our noses, and call it Nose tickles. I am the mama to 4 boys ages 9,6, and twins that are 4. This is how I got them all to do it: Start by asking him to blow little snorts of air out of his nose ( following your lead of course...), and then say ok now I'm going to tickle your arm with my nose...Then start blowing little puffs/snorts of air along his arms, cheeks, and especially the tummy ( this one actually tickles and will instill joyous laughter amongst all!). Once my boys got the hang of doing that, I then started to teach them to blow a little harder, and we went right into trying to blow the nose. This has worked 100% with each of our sons. Now if I could only get them to hold the tissue them selves, and blow snot all over their lips!!!! I hope this helps.

A little about me:

I am married to my best friend, and have the privilege of being a stay at home mama, as well as a home school mama. We are a Christian family, and I love studying the word of God. I love to sing, cook, camp, hike, and spend time with friends and family1

I learned a few years ago that blowing your nose only produces more mucus build up and can lead to sinus infections. As soon as I stopped, my sinus problems went away. I think it is a bad habit to teach anyone. I got my information from several different doctors including Dr. Dean Adel from Channel 7 news. It is also in a fact book about gross facts - I can't remember the exact title. It is better to wipe and sniff in and allow it to sneeze naturally out.

Dear M.,
Have him take a deep breath and hold it then quickly give him a jelly bean or piece of fruit roll up to bite down on while he blows the air out his nose.
It might take a few tries, but having something in his mouth that he doesn't want flying out will help him.
Don't put something in his mouth and THEN let him take a deep breath, he might gulp it.
He'll get the hang of it and be able to keep his mouth closed when he blows his nose.

Hi M.,

I have six children, I only had problems with one learning how to blow their nose. My daughter for some reason did not like blowing her nose and it took forever for her to learn. She would blow a tiny bit but not enough. She was at least 8 before she got the hang of it. She is now 13 and doing just fine. Good luck!

D.

Similar to the candle blow out (with out the flame), the way i got my boys to blow as to put a tiny piece of tissue on the table, have them cover their mouth with their hand, and blow out their nose to move the tissue. They would try while blocking one nostril at a time as well. Of course, you want to work on this when they don't have a nose filled with snot. Once he has the hang of that, try telling him to keep his mouth shut (without the hand) and just block the nostril. Then try with a tissue to the open nostril while blocking the other. Good luck.

I watched something years ago that showed how to teach a kid to blow his/her nose. They said to take a candle and let them blow it out. then cover their mouth and tell them to try to do it with their nose. Rather or not this will work, I do not know, but the show seemed very confident it would.

Hi M. - I taught my kids as a multiple step process:

1. wipe away draining discharge
2. press lips together
3. blow through nose - teach to "crinkle" nose and exhale
4. wipe again
5. repeat as needed

By teaching "steps" it makes blowing much more effective. If child ever has a really bad cold with lots of mucus production, it is very important that they are able to blow it out.

3-1/2 year olds like "games" so I made it a game.

Once when my oldest daughter (now 25 and engaged) was visiting at my mom's house, she told grandma that she needed a kleenex because she had "music" in her nose. We still laugh about that one!

Best of everything to you and your family! :o)

I'm so glad you're trying, because nothing is worse than a pre-schooler who can't blow his nose...snot city! I remember working at my daughters' co-op nursery school and having to wipe many a boy's runny nose...yuck! The way I taught my daughters was to press a tissue (or perhaps a soft cotton hanky!)on one nostril while getting them to blow out of the other nostril. Good luck!