Still Drooling at 21 Months

My son is 17 months old and is a drooler too (he's got lots of teeth and has been drooling pretty much since birth). I asked the doctor about it a couple weeks ago and she said everything else (eatting, talking, etc.) is on track and that some kids are just droolers. Congrats, we got lucky and got a drooler. :-) I'm trying to be positive. Good to know that it will eventually end. Another mom told me that blowing a whistle can help and also reminding him to close his mouth will help him to remember to swallow (he drools more when he concentrates).
Good luck!

Hi B.,
Chances are she IS teething. She is about the right age for her eye teeth to erupt. How many teeth does she have right now? She should have 20 teeth by the time all her primary teeth erupt. My daughter got her first teeth at 4 1/2 months old and didn't stop until all 20 were in. It seemed like the eye teeth took the longest to come in but she didn't fuss about them like she did her very first ones and the first molars. I wouldn't worry if she is eating and talking well.
Sincerely,
L.

I would definately let her doctor know your concern. ther may be some form of therapy which would help her to swallow more. a little speech therapy maybe ... I don't know for sure.

L.

B.,

I wouldn't worry about it!!! My daughter was a heavy drooler from 2 months until she was 2 years old! She kept droooling long after she finished teething...it kept going and going then finally it stopped for a few weeks, started again, and then stopped about a month later and we haven't had any more problems. Her pediatrician said that her daughter drooled until she was 2 and then just stopped and it was nothing to worry about!

The hardest part was keeping her dry in cold weather and listening to my father-in-law try to convince me there was something wrong with her. There was nothing wrong...some kids are just drooly!

Lots of luck!

D. and Layla

B.:

My son is now 3 but when he was about 2-1/2 and still drooling a lot I did talk to our pediatrician. She referred us to a speech therapist. Her opinion was that he had slow muscle development in his tongue - he couldn't really reach up and touch his nose or curl it up at all. She did point out that he would grow out of it and there really isn't anything wrong with it in and of itself. It doesn't affect his speech at all that we can tell. I did go to the speech therapist and she had the same assessment - she really explained to me how swallowing works and there is a lot of tongue involement in it. The saliva pools in his mouth because he doesn't swallow it enough. She gave us some exercises to work on tongue movement (licking ice cream cones, trying to get pudding off upper lip with tongue, etc. and things like drinking shakes out of straw to increase inter-oral pressure. I just went twice to get some of the exercises and that was it. We really haven't done them very consistently. He went through a stage where he wasn't drooling as much and just recently he is drooling a bit more again but not like he was where his shirt was drenched. So to make a long story short - she will likely grow out of whatever the issue is so I wouldn't really worry. You're only a few months away from her 2 year appt so just mention it to the pedi then. Good luck. From one fellow drooler mom to another :)

My second child (of three) was the only drooler. We also noticed that he frequently breathed through his mouth instead of nose. Turns out that was because he had chronic congestion due to pollen and food allergies. I couldn't tell he was congested, but the doctor could see it when he looked up his nose.

I don't know for sure if the drooling was related to the congestion and mouth breathing. But the drooling stopped around the same time that we found out about his allergies and resolved those symptoms, so I have always wondered...

Hi
I have the same problem with my 21 month old. i recently went to an acupressurist and he said he has a weak nerve and muscle. In our case, my son is also a picky eater and chews and spits out some of the food. He treated him for the drool but it hasn't worked yet. If it gets better, I can give you the doctors' information.

My daughter was a drooler also she will be 3 yrs old in August and she just stopped drooling on a regular basis about 3 months ago. me and my husband had to continuly reminder to clean her mouth because of teh drool. she started teething at 4 month and never quit drooloing from that point on. i did talk to the doctor he said there really was nothig we could do she would eventually grow out of it. so no need to worry.

My 21 month old also drools constantly, even though he's gotten his eye teeth. The drooling was worse when the eye teeth were coming in, though, and they took about 5 weeks, so we just got used to running around behind him with a washcloth or paper towel (all hardwood floors, we do lots of unintentional mopping). From what I understand, some kids just drool a lot. I'm not going to worry about it until he's around 2 to 2 1/2, then if he's still got the waterworks going, I'll talk to the doctor. As long as there doesn't seem to be any eating or speaking problems, your daughter should be fine, but it never hurts to ask the doctor if you are really worried.

she may have overactive saliva glands. my friend had this but she was an adult and obviously could control it...check with your ped.

Hi B. :)

I have three children, and my youngest one was quite the drooler. He sounds a lot like your drooler toddler at that age, and YES he was still drooling at 21 months.

I asked his doctor about this problem numerous of times, only to be told that it was probably his teeth coming in, and sure enough they did come in eventually before his 3rd birthday. When he was about 2 1/2 or 3 the drooling haulted.

I remember his wet shirts and bibs quite vividly. My other two older children never drooled that way, and I was a little concerned as well. Your little one will out grow it though..hang in there! :)

J.