My Almost 3 Year Old Still Drools...

My brother was a big drooler. My mother was referred to an ENT and was told that he just had large tonsils. There was no medical need to ever remove his tonsils only because he drooled a bit more than normal. Growing up we all just made him aware when he was drooling and he grew to control it most of the times. From time to time as he got older, when he would talk fast he may have drooled a little but caught it right away. He's a grown man now and I can't remember the last time I saw him drool. I'd say he finally out grew it!

My friends little boy has the same problem, and she was told to have him drink out of straws to help strengthen his mouth muscles. It seems to be working, he's gotten a lot better at controling his drool, and it's only been about 2 months since they started this. Hope that can help!

Hi G.,
Are you sure it's eczema under his tongue? It sounds like it could be candida, which is a type of fungal infection. It's diet related and can be fixed easily. I'm a Naturopathic Doctor and work at The Health Doctors in Warrenville: 28379 Davis Parkway Suite 803 (off of Diehl rd, west of Winfield rd, by the Super Target); ###-###-#### to make an appointment. My hours are: Mon 10a-1p; 3p-6:30p; Tues 3p-6:30p; Wed 9a-1p; Thurs 10a-1p; 3p-6:30p; I may not be in this Wednesday b/c my babysitter is unavailable & I'll be in later this afternoon. I look forward to meeting with you!
Dr. A. M., ND

HI
I didnt have the issues with my child drooling but have some with ENTs.Please make sure that you take your child to a pediatric ENT. When my son was that age we went to a "regular" ENT after the appointment she stated that it was out of her expertise and referred him to a PEDS ENT. It was an unnecessary delay not to mention expense.There arent as many PEDS ENT but I think its work getting the right person to see your child.

My son's ENT is out of St Lukes in Chicago and Lutheran General in Mt Prospect. He also sees children at his office in Skokie.His name is Dr. Walner...and he is super!!Hope it helps.D.

It could be reflux, you could also see a Gi and with his food allergies there is lots that make the drooling.... yeast in the espohagus , you cant see it only when they scope and take biopsies, EE and reflux does that and any soars in the mouth will make more salivia and one drool to heal faster etc. get him to the dr
good luck
keep me posted
J.

I remember something like this with one of my friend's daughters. Long ago, so I am not sure the exact age but the girl put a bib on her daughter all the time to get her to notice the drooling and it annoyed the little girl enough that she became more aware of what she was doing and stopped it.Three year olds are starting to notice their likes and dislikes and put their own feet down a little more than a baby might. Plus perhaps that eczama can be tackled with vaseline or something. Did you rule out all medical reasons for the drooling?

Hi G.,
I don't have any advice about the drooling but I do have a suggestion about the eczema under his lip. My 3 yr old daughter has very dry skin that always get worse during winter. The worst place is always right around her mouth. I put Aquaphor on it several times a day & it really helps. It has the consistency of Vaseline but is stronger & really helps with dry, chapped skin. I use it all over her body & I, myself use it too. Good luck.

I am just like Shawn. My son also drools and at his almost 2 year appointment I began to get worried about the drooling and his poor articulation. I spoke to the pediatrician about it and decided to get a speech evaluation. For my son he has a slight language delay and has low tone (low muscle tone) in his cheeks, tongue, and lips. He has been going to speech since May. He is now on an oral motor program to help with muscle tone. Even if his speech is okay they can provide exercises to help with the drooling.

After all the ENT talk I wonder if that is something we should look into as well??

This exact thing happened to my son (about 22 months at the time) He drooled and I wasn't content with how his speech was developing. I took him to a speech path. who also recommended an audiological eval and to see an ENT. Which we did around 25 months. The ENT did an eval and also did some sort of scope down his nose, which concluded his anoids were blocking about 95% of his nassel passage. He (the ENT) recommended surgury to remove them. Which I was freaked out about. (I was also 8 months pregnant with my daughter at that time) So about 2 weeks before baby # 2 was due, my son had the surgery. The ENT was FABULOUS, the surgery took under and hour (out patient) and a few hours after that my son was eatting bananas.
By the time baby #2 arrived my sons speech exploded and the drooling completely stopped and we never looked back since.
If you want an ENT's name let me know, the DR. who my son saw was so wonderful.
K.

My son was the same way. At 2 1/2 we took him for a speech evaluation. He had a hard time closing his mouth all of the way. He needed to be taught to keep his mouth closed. He had a hard time with a lot of the exercises the speech therapist tried because he has some sensory issues. It took us about 4 months and then he didn't drool anymore. I think because my son had the sensory issues he didn't even realize he was drooling. We had to continuously remind him that his chin was wet and to wipe it. I was always worried about him drooling on the toys or other kids at school. Good luck it will get better.

When my daughter was one, we had a similar problem. She had an open mouth posture most of the time and that included drooling. We had her evaluated with a speech therapist because she wasn't talking. IT turned out she needed speech therapy to correct a low muscle tone in her cheeks, tongue and mouth in general.. Now she is 4 1/2 and doing great.

Hi G.,

My son, who turned 3 in October still drooled a lot too. He also walks on his tip-toes most of the time. His speech therapist suggested it was a sensory issue. When I took him in for his 3 yr check-up, the dr. asked me if he snored (he doesn't) and checked to see if his tonsils were normal size and they are. He tended to think my son wasn't aware that he was doing it so, I started reminding him by tapping my chin whenever he would do it. This helped a little, but then he started preschool through our school district because he no longer qualified for the speech therapist to come to our house once he turned 3. There he receives both speech and occupational therapy in a preschool setting twice a week, and he has made so much progress in just two months. He hardly ever drools now, and he is speaking in sentences all the time! We're still working on the toe-walking, but I'm confident he will become aware of that too in time. One step at a time, right? So, we are thrilled with our decision to send him. We almost decided against it because we felt our son was too young for preschool and didn't think he needed special ed just for two little nuances that we figured he might grow out of, but then we realized that it couldn't hurt. I couldn't be happier with the program and am so glad I decided to let him him go.

My oldest drooled for a long time. We have a speech therapist in the family who gave her a bunch of exercises to do that would strengthen her mouth and lip muscles. She had excellent speech, but would often walk around with her mouth hanging open. The exercises did the trick after a couple of months. She hasn't drooled since and she's almost 5 now. Good luck.

my now 5.5 yr old did the same thing, he did eventually stop- although occasionallly it still leaks out :)

I babysat an almost 5 year old who drooled. I just talked to him about it and he did stop. I sort of think no one had done that before. I recommend that you follow your doctor's suggestion.

A mom I babysat for had the same concern for her daughter. She had her daughter evaluated by a team on experpts (occupational, speech, developmental, and physical therapies) through Easter Seals.
After the evaluation, the speech therapist noted her child's drooling. Suggestions she gave were to help strength the child's mouth and facial muscles. The child's muscles were weak because she was almost 3 and was still using a bottle (this could also be caused by prolonged pacifier use). Some of the suggestions were to have her child blow bubbles, or blow a whistle, and using a straw instead of a bottle or spout sippy cup.

If your child is still using a bottle or pacifier, you may want to wean him off of it (or stop cold turkey) in order to help with his facial muscles' development. You may also want to switch from sippy cups with spouts to sippy cups with straws. (This will also help with speech development, as I have learned with my own son).

Good luck with everything. I hope these suggestions will help!