I have an almost 15 yr old DD who WILL NOT blow her nose. Last year at her well child check we talked to her doctor because there were other issues beyond the not blowing her nose (snoring and not breathing through her nose) and were referred to an ENT. After discussion with the ENT we had her tonsils and adniods taken out. That has taken care of her snoring and to an extent her noisy breathing, but she still refuses to blow her nose. How do I get her to understand that it isn't healthy for her to walk around with snot clogging her sinuses and making her talke funny. She would rather just wipe her nose until it is raw and bleeding than blow it. I guess that I should mention that her nose is not runny at all and if it is she just wipes....but when she really needs to blow she won't. I just don't know how to make her understand that we don't want to hear that she is stuffy and could use a good nose blowing (without me having to get on her case about it---if I do that then she will but only half-heartedly). Please help me out.
Has she given you any reason as to why she won't blow her nose? I had a bf once that said he didn't like to do it either.. he just thought it was gross or something LOL I thought he was weird...
You could always threaten to use a nasal aspirator on her....!!
Hello J.,
If she is afraid to blow her nose or if it is painful she might want to try using a neti pot for her sinuses. I use one due to horrible allergies and sinus problems and it is gentle, natural, safe, and has no side effects. It gently flushes out the sinuses by pouring water through them. It might help. You can find them at Walgreens, CVS, Target, WalMart and they are fairly inexpensive.
Our son did a great job blowing his nose and then decided that it was okay to walk around with snot dripping down his face. He honestly just got lazy.
What we did was started withholding toys/activities, etc. If his nose got snotty while watching a show, we paused it and wouldn't start it again until he blew his nose. If he was playing with toys, we would tell him he couldn't play with them until he blew his nose. If we were getting ready to go somewhere (play outside, go to the mall, etc.) we would tell him that we could not leave until he blew his nose. It worked rather well and we don't have the struggle anymore.
so if she is at school, she goes around with snot hanging out of her nose?
doesn't she get self-conscious?
ask her "why" she will not or cannot blow her nose... but I"m sure you did that already.
Does nose blowing hurt her ears? Sometimes blowing too hard hurts the ears.
You are not alone! My 15 year old brother is the same way!!! with allergies so its a daily thing. Even with his siblings telling him its gross or that his friends or gf can see or hear he's snotty it doesnt motivate him...there has to be some serious yelling from Mom to get him in the bathroom to blow it all out! Good luck on this one...
An after thought, I remember being that age and it would gross me out to no end to blow my nose and would have to do it in the shower or while I was washing my face (that sounds gross to I know, but I felt clean afterward)
The other thing I thought was when we all turned 15 my Mom gave us the being a lady speech and took us to get our first makeover and bought us a few cosmetics. It was special, momentous and gave us that sense of being lil ladies...maybe that would help.
Ok, as a child and even into my teen years, I didn't like to blow my nose either. I would gag, and nearly throw up any time I blew my nose. As I got older, I eventually overcame this, but I always felt that no one understood why I could not blow my nose. I just couldn't stand the gagging and near throwing up each time I tried.
My son, who is 4 1/2, will not blow his nose. I have tried to coax him, teach him, but he refuses. Luckily, he rarely has runny, snotty noses. He does get some crusty stuff in his nose, but he's learned to spray some saline into his nostrils, which loosens what's in there so he can get it out with a tissue, or it makes him sneeze, often sneezing the contents out into a tissue.
With the difficulty I had blowing my nose growing up, I do not feel compelled to force him to blow his nose, as long as it's not creating any major health or hygiene problems.
My sister has always refused to blow her nose. She's always said it hurts. Now that she is an adult and has chronic sinus infections, she has learned that there is something wrong with her sinuses that does make it hurt for her to blow her nose and also causes the repeated infections. She said the doc told her even if she blows it, she will still get them. I don't know the details beyond that, but maybe talk to the ENT again about it. Also, to keep them clean, you should see if she will do the sinus rinse or neti pot that you can get now. The rinse is actually a bottle you squirt up there, no head tipping requred. That might help her a lot.
