Drooling

I am concerned about the amount of drool my 30 month old son Ben has been producing. They both have all of their teeth (they got the last ones in at 20 months and those were the 2 yr molars), so I know it isn't a teething issue. Ben drools constantly. This past weekend we noticed that he would sit with his tongue sticking out. My dad will stick his tongue out when he is concentrating on something (or mad), so I thought maybe he got that trait from him. I first noticed it when he was playing with his legos, or trying to build something in the sand. But now I notice that he will just walk around with it sticking out too. If we tell him to stop, he will. He has been a thumb sucker since about 6 months old, so I know that he has the ability to suck. He has always snored when he sleeps. It's not a real loud snore, but enough that I can hear him on the baby monitor. His speech is a behind his brothers, but he has been hitting all of the milestones about 2 weeks after Austin, so the pediatrician wasn't really worried. I talked to him about both of their speech at their 2 year check up and he said that he thought they were fine. Of course two days later Austin starting repeating everything we say. (which isn't always a good thing...) Ben will repeat blue, red, green, cat, dog, star, etc. They aren't clearly spoken, but we know that is what he is trying to say. He also will do this weird sound that sounds like it is coming out of the back of his throat. It's like a growl but muffled. It's hard to explain what it sounds like. They have both had strep throat a couple of times and the last time their doctor mentioned that both of their tonsils were on the large side. I don't know if this could be causing these problems or not. I am going to call the doctor tomorrow and see if I can get him in.

In the mean time, I wanted to see if any of you have had similar problems. I want to be proactive and get him any kind of help that he needs. I'm just not sure what that might be.

Thanks!

 

Yeah my daughter had an inflamed throat and drenched her t-shirt the one day. Take him tomorrow to get checked out.
Heather

 

Elias is 3 years old and is a serious drooler. He also sucks his thumb but only when distressed or tired. I've had both my boys evaluated for speech issues and talked to them about the drooling and if he walks around with his mouth open (which mine does), it's a matter of a) making him conscious of it and b) improving muscle tone. When his chin is wet, I point it out to him and tell him to wipe it. When he's playing, I'll point out (very non-judgmentally) that if he played with his mouth closed he wouldn't get his shirt all wet. EVentually I'll get more directive as he gets older. There is actually a drool clinic at Sick Kids (Toronto - and Canada's I would guess - premier children's hospital) but they do mostly behavioural stuff. The muscle tone is making sure they drink out of cups and or straws but not sippies as much and there are vocal exercises you can do.

Some days I want to put a bib on him but, really, can you put a bib on a 3 year old?

 

I was able to get Ben in this morning and his pediatrician said that he has abnormally large adenoids and tonsils which is causing him to breathe constantly thru his mouth. He said that his throat is irritated because he has his mouth open all the time and his nose is runny because it doesn't drain properly down his throat. He is putting him on Augmentin to clear up the tonsillitis, but I have to take him to an ENT on June 23rd to find out if he needs to have his adenoids and tonsils removed. He feels strongly that is what will happen. I also talked to him about his speech. The whole time we were in there Ben was just babbling along. The doctor feels that he is probably fine, but ECI is going to come out to evaluate him. He said that having his tonsils and adenoids removed could clear up any problems he is having with his speech.

I put a bib on him when we are at home. He HATES it, but it keeps him from getting a rash under his shirt. He refused to wear one at daycare though, so I just send him with a couple of shirts to change in to. Thank you to both of you for responding!

 

Do either of your boys have any issues with speech? I know that I shouldn't compare the guys to each other all the time, but Austin can say about 100 words and Ben probably has 30 words. I do find that Austin will finish Ben's sentences for him. He also goes to Ben's side and helps him ALL the time whether Ben needs it or not. Ben can point out anything we ask him. He knows all of the animals, letters, numbers, etc, he just won't say all of them. We try and work one on one with him as much as we can so that Austin won't tell him what to say, or answer for him. Thanks again for your reply. Sometimes I feel like a lost duck! I am so thankful for twinstuff.com!!!

 

Actually it is the other one who has some speech issues. My guys are 6 months older than yours and a lot can happen in 6 months. I barely remember what my boys were saying 6 months ago. Right now I couldn't count their words (the latest additions were "poker chips" and "philips screwdriver") but Ezra's speech is not that clear. I had his hearing tested and he came out with hearing loss due to congestion. He will have another hearing test in a couple of weeks to see if it is still a problem and, if it is, we will probably do tubes. I talked about it to their pre-school teachers and they said they know so many kids who have had tubes or adenoid removal and their speech improved 100% in short time. In their opinion, it was totally worth it even though Ezra officially wasn't behind in any of the speech milestones.

 

Will is five in two weeks and still has drool issues, as well as some speech issues. He does have some low tones in his face as well as poor fine motors skills. I believe all these things are connected.

As far as tonsils and adenoids, both my boys had them removed when they were three and boy, what HUGE difference it made. It was the first time they ever slept through the night. They haven't woken up since. Their tonsils and adenoids were so big they couldn't breathe well at all. It helped with the drooling issue (though not all the way in Will).

 

Did you have their surgery's done at the same time? The pediatrician said I should have Austin checked out by the ENT too because on his chart it is noted that he has large tonsils. I'm thinking if they both need to have them done, then I want them to do it at the same time. THANKS!

 

My girls had their adenoids removed when they had their second set of tubes put it. We did it for both kids at the same time. Tonsils are a longer recovery time, but I think I would still have it done for both kids at the same time.

 

Jon drooled, had a runny nose, and snored like a freight train until he had his tonsils and adenoids out at 3 years 1 month, and 2 weeks. The pediatrician did try steriods with him before we went to the ENT. He does have a speech delay, but it is an expressive speech delay, so is not related to the other issues.