2.5yr old - Excessive dribbling/breathing through mouth. Help.

[Doingarunnerquick]

Ok our son is 3 next month. Since he was 5months old he has had a dribbling problem. He is the only child in the nursery to do this (and need to wear bibs constantly).

Hes been to the ENT specialist countless times and has had a MRI scan. The ENT Specialist can not find anything wrong.

Hes very active: www.flickr.com/photos/30625376@N06/8272214721/in/photostream

Sociable (adults and other toddlers), very confident, full of energy and is hitting almost all his milestones. The only milestone he isn't hitting is talking fully. He only talks when he wants to (wants something). Hes using his potty but sometimes forgets.

He dribbles a great deal and I've noted if you hold his mouth closed he struggles abit to 'breathe' through just his nose. Again - the ENT/MRI said no problems with 'oids (sp) etc.

Has anyone had experience of this either directly or through a family member/friend?

Apart from the dribbling issue hes just like any other toddler.

[MrsMushroom]

My 9 year old nephew was the same...he's fine now. He did however and still has, ear trouble....repeated infections and has had to have it excavated as it went into the fine bones in his skull.

his speech is great though. Sorry not much help...I think you should get a 2nd opinion tbh. DS obviously has SOMETHING going on doesn't he bless him?

[Tieni]

Doing I could have written your post! DS the same age as yours and dribbling since 3 months. GP has just given us a referral to a paediatrician but we are yet to be seen.

DS is very active too and didn't talk properly until 2.5 but has now caught up. He seems to have a weakness for colds/flu viruses during which the dribble pours out in rivers. I've never tried holding his mouth shut to see how well he breathes through his nose, but will try this before we are seen at the hospital.

A locum GP recommended speech therapy around the age of 4 but both DH and I are of the opinion that the muscle tone of his mouth is fine, he just produces too much saliva as you can hear him gulping it down.

Not much help for you but a bit of hand holding as someone who knows exactly what you're going through

[mawbroon]

Has he ever been checked for tongue tie? That can cause dribbling and mouth breathing as well as speech delay, but not in every case of course.

How did feeding go? (either breast or bottle, any difficulty with choking/vomitting/gagging with solids?)

DS1 didn't dribble, but he was tongue tied and he has a high palate which encroaches into the space required for the nasal passages which causes him to mouth breathe, although he has a brace just now for palate expansion and we have already seen a reduction in the mouth breathing (he's 7yo)

[Shaiandbump]

My DS was exactly the same and still is
He's 4.11years old and the GP has told
Us he needs an operation which can only be done at the age of 6

[Doingarunnerquick]

Thank you for your replies. Abit more info: He suffered from a lot of ear infections- burst eardrum/leak (the pain) :( and his temperature would be 38+. For quite a while he was on continual antibiotic's and even though the ear infections have subsided (over a year) hes still susceptible to being quite 'chesty'. Recently (first appointment) the Paediatrician mentioned he had low muscle tone around his mouth but noted he wasn't tongue-tied. He has quite an unsually-shaped tongue (quite round rather than pointy like his Mother). I don't know if this could be a factor? (combined with low muscle-tone around mouth/largish tongue for his age). Maybe he'll grow out of it as he expands/grows physically..

Shaiandbump- why 6? Could I ask what the operation etc is called?