Nose Blowing - Hudsonville,MI

I tell my son to hold one side of his nose closed and blow into the tissue and try to make a noise like an elephant. I tell him to pretend he's an elephant and his nose is a trunk. He thinks he's blowing water from his trunk and blows his nose really well. I hope this works for you. :)

Both my sons could blow their noses by about two years old but I don't really remember how I taght them. Maybe teach her to sniff and blow gently without using a tissue and then teach her to blow hard into a tissue. The other persons idea about teaching her to blow out candles with her nose might just work, it sounds like a fun way for her to practice. If her tissues are making her nose and lip sore try puffs with lotion and vaseline on lips and in the area between her nose and lips. Good luck. :)

I had the hardest time getting my youngest to blow his nose, too. He's 7 now and just learned a short time ago. I would practice with him by example trying to make a game out of it. I kept telling him to breath hard out his nose while he kept his lips tightly shut then would show him what I meant without using a tissue until he got use to the blowing action. Just have a tissue ready to wipe when it comes out. It took what seems like forever to do it but he eventually got it. He got tired of me using the nose sucker thing on him.

Good luck - S.

Perhaps drying her drainage up or preventing it would be a better solution? What kind of allergy medicine does she take? I have a suggestion if you want it.

We taught to fold kleenex in half and half again. Put over nose. Plug one side and blow. Plug other side and blow. Kids sometimes blow out of both sides and that doesn't work so well. :)

S.

R.,

The only thing I can think of to get the idea of blowing her nose across to your daughter is to hold the tissue over her nose, and tell her to close her mouth, and just breathe through her nose. Once she gets that maybe you can get the idea of breathing through her nose with a bit more force and tell her that is blowing. I know sometimes it can be frustrating. Good luck.

R.,

I'm not sure how to help you teach your daughter how to blow her nose. What I do when my kids can't seem to clear their nose is clean it with warm running water, or with a warm wash cloth. The warm water seems to loosen the congestion. That's how my kids learned to blow their nose. When the nose is stuffed its hard to breathe let alone blow. The warm water helps. I would also put vaseline under her nose and on her upper lip, especially at night to help the chapping. Good luck.

I hear ya! I also have a 4yo and he still can't blow his nose- but his 2yo little brother can!

we have tried EVERYTHING- holding his mouth closed- practicing blowing out candles- yes literally- with our nose. He will blow bubbles in the tub with his nose- but when it comes to a booger- forget it- all of our practice goes out the window! I know how frustrated you are- I am sorry I don;t have any tips for you! *hug*

I feel your pain! My son could not blow his nose until he was 8 years old, and he also has allergies, a sensitive gag reflex and vomiting from the secretions. Not what you wanted to hear I'm sure, but I can tell you what the occupational therapist & pediatrician told me to do to help him learn it. One suggestion was to have him in the bathtub blow bubbles with his nose underwater. Since he couldn't swim underwater we didn't do that one, I didn't want him inhaling when he should be blowing! Practicing in the tub can help though. Another was to have them blow bubbles with a regular jar of bubbles. Apparently, nose blowing takes a lot of muscle use and coordination, and so does blowing bubbles, so they somehow are related. If she masters blowing bubles, then maybe she is ready to blow her nose. Also, tell her you are going to block her mouth and have her breathe out of her nose so she can get the sensation. Lastly, tell her to blow real hard, like she was blowing out candles with her nose. Practice, patience, and more patience. I think you will have to wait until she is ready for it to work. My son missed a lot of school bcasue he was always wiping his nose with his hands and I found that to be gross!
We made a big deal out of it when he finally could do it. Good luck!

HI Ihave not been a mom for long, my daughter is only two, but through the years I have descovered alot of tricks with nieces and nephews. I first tought my daughter how to blow her nose by making a loud "nose blowing" sound when I would blow my nose, and that made her laugh. then of course she wanted to try it and she has gotten better from there. I still don't know that she truley blows her nose now but she does make the sound and wipes her nose with the cloth and manages to accually get rid of some of the congestion. also I know how hard it is to get a tissue near my daughter's nose if she isn't feeling well.so what I do then is hold her over the sink and wash her face with warm water and wash out her nose like you would if you had a bloody nose. that works wonders. the steam and water break up the mucas enough to become runny and easily flushed out. that defeates the nose blowing lesson but takes care of the after math of not getting it out of her sinuses. hope this helped, good luck.

momma27

I had to laugh at your post. I have an eight year old who still can't blow his nose. My 4 yo can do it but not my 8 yo?? I'm always telling him to blow his nose and not let the congestion sit in there. I have no tips for you at all, just support. Let me know if you find anything that works..
L.

I have no idea how, but our 19 month old can. Not consistently, but she's batting about 50%. Anyways, the only thing I can think of is that we blow our noses in front of her, and we'll make the sign of it for her so she isn't scared of the noises, then she just did it from modeling. Hubby & I must blow our noses a lot. :o) Taking her outside in the cool air for short spells will help dry her sinuses a bit too. Be patient & keep trying. Good luck!

Hi,

I'm with Lisa. My 4 year old can't blow his nose...and he just happens to have a cold. So I'll be reading this post to try some of the tips we haven't tried already.

Happy Nose Blowing...

My daughter just turned 18 months old. She had a stuff nose a little while ago for a few weeks. She just kinda started blowing her nose on her own. She has known how to blow out of her moth onto her food for awhile. While she was sick i kept wiping her nose over and over, and she started to like it and would ask "nose? nose?" so i would give her a tissue and she would wipe it. once i showed her the tissue and said blow on it, she blew with her mouth onto it. i told her to do it again and when she did i took 1 finger and covered her mouth which made her blow out of her nose. she made a funny noise and started laughing. i talked with her telling her that that was blowing out of her nose. with a little practice and help from me she was able to do it well in about 10 minutes and now she blows and wipes her own nose, although sometimes she still needs help.

Dear R. B.,

Sorry I can't help you with ways to teach your young daughter how to blow her nose. But I had a granddaughter who always had a raw nose and above the lip where an adult would have a mustache if a male. I applied vaseline often during the fall and winter months when she got raw. It kept her skin from getting so raw and then would heal up. We also put vaseline on her lips each time we went out the door and I rubbed their entire body in with olive oil after bath time because the same little one would get dry skin sores and nothing helped as much as olive oil rubbed in thoroughly. She smelled kind of like a french fry right after being rubbed in with olive oil but by morning most of it would be absorbed by her body and it would keep her from digging herself raw from dry skin itching.

L. C.