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Original poster

Toddler breathing through mouth

35 replies

AnxiousMum875 · 31/03/2022 18:58

Posted here also for traffic

Hi all

Spoken with the GP but not really getting anywhere on this one.

My 2.5 year old breathes through her mouth. When awake, when asleep, all the time. You can feel she is also breathing through her nose too, but her mouth is open and there is definitely breath coming out.

Now I've been advised by some people that this is totally abnormal and after a check of Dr Google, it seems they are right.

We visited the GP today and he has been very dismissive that this will pass with age. I'm more than happy for him to be dismissive if it's genuinely not a problem, but other avenues seem to suggest it is an issue.

She snores during naps and night-time. She usually had a runny nose.

Has anyone got any experience of this? I'm trying to play it down, but I am very worried. Any advice or help would be so greatly appreciated. Please.

OP posts:
WhatHaveIDone21 · 31/03/2022 20:24

We are going through this with DD2 at the moment. She had glue ear and had grommets fitted when she had just turned 4. She's almost 7 now and we took her to see ENT a few weeks ago as she is always saying she can't breathe properly. They have said she has less than half the space she should have because of her adenoids and she would really struggle when she has a cold.

He did say that they grow out of it but not for a few years. He gave us a spray to try which is supposed to help the inflammation but it hasn't made any difference. We are due back in a couple of weeks and I am going to ask about having them removed. He seemed to suggest this as a next time when we saw him last time.

Madrenetterhere · 31/03/2022 20:26

Adenoids. If u keep pushing with gp they will eventually do something.

Marshatessa · 31/03/2022 20:38

It really started to be very noticeable from around the age of 1yr. He had the operation when he was 2.5. I had to repeatedly go back and forth to GP to get the ENT appointment. He constantly was ran down and got a lot of infections.

He also did have sleep apnea and we had two sleep studies completed at the hospital to see how often he was pausing breathing.

I couldn’t believe the carry on I had to get a ENT appointment through the GP. They were saying they thought it was asthma and prescribing inhalers. I just kept on going back (looking neurotic) and pushing for ENT.

pinguwings · 31/03/2022 20:42

Video her sleep, short sections of snoring especially any apnoeas. Will be so useful to badger the GP and then to show ENT.

My DD had her tonsils and adenoids removed last year, it made a huge difference to her eating, growth, energy levels and general quality of life. Unfortunately we think her adenoids have regrown so we are going through the whole process again.

Calmdown14 · 31/03/2022 23:53

You'll have to push for ENT referral. The waits are very long so best to start now. She may grow into them but may not.
My son was almost five by the time his came out and they were huge. He's still a bit of a mouth breather but it's not nearly so bad.
Identifying the massive adenoids made sense of a frightening episode when he was about 18months when he turned blue and had to go to hospital by ambulance. Everyone was convinced he had as chest infection but his lungs were clear. Turned out it was tonsillitis but I think because he was such a mouth breather he was struggling for air. Thankfully all okay in the end but an example of why they can need to come out

Original poster
AnxiousMum875 · 01/04/2022 08:12

Thank you all for your advice and stories. I think I'm going to try and book in with a private ENT just to speed matters along (or even better, tell me all is OK!).

OP posts:
Stath · 01/04/2022 08:26

[quote SingingWaffleDoggy]**@plixy* and @Hamster1111* I’m the same. To the point where I can hear myself breathing sometimes when I record videos on my phone.
My 4 year old often mouth breathes, I’ve never thought anything of it. Should I be worried?! Confused[/quote]
Mouth breathing can change the physiological shape of your face and lead to incorrect growth of the ‘architecture’.
We have mechanisms to filter out the air we breathe in our nose which aren’t present when mouth breathing.
There are lots of other issues that can be caused by it and underlying reasons why people do it.

WhatHaveIDone21 · 01/04/2022 12:41

@AnxiousMum875 we have gone privately. When we spoke to the GP he said he could refer us but the wait was so long at the moment that it would be a long time before she was even seen.

Blackmagicqueen · 06/06/2022 14:54

I realise this is acouple of months old but I just want to thank you @minipie for posting the website with the audio clip on. I am having some issues with my dc's breathing and have found this really helpful.

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