I know this is not a serious question but I can't seem to teach my 3 year old how to blow her nose. With winter coming she already has has a couple of colds with runny noses. She will let us wipe her nose and I squeeze it to try and get as much out as I can. When we tell her to "blow", she makes a blowing sound with her mouth instead of her nose. I have tried showing her when I blow, have had her blow in and out with her nose so she knows what I mean, she just can't seem to get the idea to blow out all the way. Any advice that worked with your kids?
K. -
I ahd this problem as well! I tried placing a small feather on my daughter's lip and told her to blow air from her nose to make it fly away. We played this game for awhile and she had a lot of fun with it. This got her used to pushing air through her nose with her mouth closed. Then I would put a kleenex up to her nose and tell her to blow air like she did with the feather. It seemed to work.
Good luck!
B.
The best way I have found is to make sure that they close their mouth completely before exhaling. believe it or not my HUSBAND couldn't blow his nose when I met him. have her take a deep breath in then close her mouth and blow out.
Hi K.,
I taught my girls to hum angrily. Have them hum a tune and tell them to make it sound like they are angry. Short burst of angry humming, then have them close one nostril with the tissue and they are blowing their nose. Then switch nostrils. Closing one nostril gets more force into the open one to get mucous out. All the technical explanations in the world did not seem to make sense to them, but angry short hums did the trick.
Okay - this is kind of gross advice - but I have heard of people actually trying to teach their kid to blow bubbles in water with a straw in their nostril - obviously guarding that it doesn't get pushed too far up. They'll think it is so funny they'll try really hard to do it, until they finally get the concept of how to blow out of their nose.
It's normal for 3 year olds not to be able to blow yet, but keep working with her. She'll eventually get it. I think my girls were both around 4 when they started to be able to do it. When I would say "blow" I would cover their mouths to show I meant through the nose. I would also some times pinch the nose gently in and out while she was trying to blow to cue her to come through the nose. It is a good idea to practice when she isn't stuffy because it's much easier to blow out that way.
I had my dd breath in her mouth a real big breath then clothes her mouth and out the nose. It wourked quite well untill she wanted to do it herself about 2nd grade then who had time for a tissue, just breath in the nose. She is much better again now! I also had her breath slowly out the nose to make the most progress for every tissue when needed. Good luck.
I'm not sure if there is a "right" way to teach her. But can you have her practice blowing really hard through her mouth, then during a blow, have her clamp her mouth shut. That way she can get a sense for where the air is supposed to go when she blows her nose?
We make a game out of it...while teaching my older boys my daughter got the hang of it at like 18 months old. I tell them they they need to make a loud noise (the sound of the "stuff" coming out of the nose) into the tissue. I ask them if they think they can be as loud as train or whatever it is they are into. Once they do it successfully I act really surprised and jump as if they scared me. If they don't get it I coach them unti they get it right...then we try to "scare" daddy with the nose blowing in the next room over... then "scare grandma" down the street. They usually will start cracking up which sort of makes them blow harder. Also I try to get them to do this after they might have cried when they usually have a less stuffy and more runny nose. The saline nasal sprays help to losen things when the nose is really dry and it can help the process. The more animated you are when they do it the better...I actually jump almost out of my seat. This technique has been used for generations in my family so it is time tested! Also you can try blowing a candle out with your nose...it could be messy but as long as it is supervised by a a parent it might work as well.
I am going to have a party when my daughter learns to blow her nose!
have her try to blow a feather or cottonball across the table (without a runny nose of course!) for training.
Hi K.,
I had a hard time teaching my daughter to blow her nose as well and what finally worked was having her blow tissues and cotton balls across the table only with her nose- when she wasn't sick. I had her cover her mouth with her hand.
I had to abandon the teaching when she was stuffed up, but then we practiced regularly when she was healthy and she was able to do it the next time she got a cold. She never liked blowing her nose however, and I made up a song about how everyone has to do it sometimes. It sort of worked. she still hates it 17 years later! Good luck.
