How to Teach a Toddler to Blow Her Nose
Not that we’re calling Rilla a toddler yet. Just because she is now toddling all over the darn house does NOT mean she’s a toddler, do you hear me? She’s a baby. A BABY. I’m just saying.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, I’ll move on. Scott taught THE BABY to blow her nose this weekend, making him four for five. I think I get credit for teaching Jane, but the rest of the noses go in his column. He used my trick for most of them, though. And it occurred to me that this little trick might be a good Works for Me Wednesday tip, because it has indeed worked for us, many times over (and not just on Wednesdays).
Here’s what you do: you sneak in a nose-blowing lesson with that tried-and-true toddlers’ favorite pastime: Making Animal Sounds. What does a cow say? Moo. What does a pig say? Oink. What does a BULL say? And here’s where you snort air out your nostrils. (You want to do this BEFORE the child has a goopy nose, did I mention that?)
If you include ‘what a bull says’ in your litany of animal sounds, then when the day comes (probably tomorrow) that your wee one has a nose that needs blowing, you get your tissue ready and ask Little Snookums what a bull says. Snort! Little Snookums has just blown her nose!
When Jane got sick at the tender age of 21 months, she was famous at the hospital, FAMOUS I tell you, for being the only immuno-compromised kid under two whose nose didn’t have to be suctioned out with one of those baby-snorker gizmos. What does a horse say? Neigh! What does a sheep say? Baa! What does a bull say! Whoosh! Gross? Yes. But mighty effective.
Rilla does not know what a bull says, nor what a bull is. Scott just taught her to snort. He don’t need no stinkin’ tricks.
mrscrumley says:
That is a great trick! Thanks for sharing.
On June 6, 2007 at 5:09 am
Jennifer says:
That is a WONDERFUL tip. I truly thought we were the only parents who struggled with this. And the straw! Oh my goodness, my daughter was 5, I think, before she could drink from a straw.
On June 6, 2007 at 5:43 am
Melissa says:
Clever idea that I’ll have to try!
On June 6, 2007 at 7:55 am
Emily says:
That is the most brilliant trick I have heard in, um, ever. My husband and I are in awe. 🙂 We are SO teaching our toddler what a bull says. As soon as he gets over his current snuffly nose!
On June 6, 2007 at 9:23 pm
ThoughtfulMom says:
I’m trying this tomorrow! Thanks for the idea!
On June 6, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Jennifer says:
And too think, I’ve been doing it the hard way all these years…LOL That’s ingenius! I’m letting all my mom’s with toddlers know this little trick! What a great idea!
On June 7, 2007 at 7:24 am
Anonymous says:
How to Teach a Toddler to Blow Her Nose
A simple and brilliant idea for teaching a little one to blow his or her nose.
On June 7, 2007 at 7:35 am
SeaBird says:
Hahah! What a great idea! We will soon have two little bulls running around here!
On June 7, 2007 at 11:26 am
Karen E. says:
That is a great tip!
I bet Scott don’t need no badges either.
On June 8, 2007 at 8:42 am
Mike says:
Neat trick…
How did you teach the snorting technique? My 3 year old has a sinus infection (or something) and I’m surprised to say, he doesn’t know how to snort! Snorting is a an important step to getting past a sinus problem, in my opinion, but the boy has no technique!
On January 5, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Andrea says:
I can’t wait to try this. I suspected that I would need to try something during the well-baby moments. I read an article a while back on how to teach your child to calm themselves down. They called it “bunny-breaths” . . . two quick inhaled breaths and one long blow out. Once they knew how to do it, then when they are upset you can tell them to do thier “bunny-breaths” and because it mimics the breath rythms of crying, except in a more controlled manner, it just naturally eases them out of their uncontrolled state of emotional distress. It gives them back control. Has worked fantastically for my oldest (now 5 yrs old).
On April 19, 2013 at 8:31 am