Dribbling - been going on for ages...

[Manfwood]

My Ds is 13 months and seems to have been excessively dribbling for months now. I used to put a bib on him all the time but that gets damp and he likes to pull them off now! so he just has to go round with a wet top. He has been teething (has 6 with another on the way) so presume it is just a consequence of that but he seems to have a constantly wet chin all the time. It doesnt seem to bother him although occassionally gets sore bits from all the saliva and his dummy.

Can anyone tell me when this is going to stop??

Thanks

My DS1 is almost four and still dribbles . When I have asked about it I have been told it is probably due to colds which he seems to have all through the winter. It probably is because he is teething and it probably won't stop until all his teeth come through but you may find that he is like my DS1 and dribbles when he has a cold, in which case I am hoping that it ends before it becomes embarrasing. Not sure I like the idea of my teenage son dribbling.

hi Manfwood, my DS is 18 months old and I was asking myself this same question only yesterday. Now that the cold weather is here it has even made his chin rather sore so I'm now putting vaseline on it to protect it. I, and my friends, all think that he has been dribbling ever since those first teeth came through about 14 months ago so i hate to bring you bad news but it could be that it's going to last quite a bit longer. Like yours, my DS isn't a fan of wearing a bib all day so I just change his top regularly, dry one out and then swap over again. Bit tiresome for all involved but more comfortable for DS I think.

DS had almost stopped dribbling - still had sore chin from blowing raspberries outside - but has started again and sure enough tooth no 19 is putting in an appearance. I found over the summer (April - October, 14 - 20 months) he was much better but also fewer colds and no teeth in this period. He hasn't worn a cloth bib for months though - we use a tommee tippee plastic one.

manfwood - my ds is also 13mths and dribbles like a fiend. Still - he has so many teeth its not even funny, and his molars keep coming through in pairs, so you can't blame him, really. I put Aqueous cream on the sore bits, sudacream if it's really sore & a low dose hydrocortizone prescribed by the doctor if it's raw. Otherwise, I hate bibs on babies other than meal timee, so I find mens hankies in fetching tartans and spots, folded over in a triangle and tied round the neck a la jesse james a very fetching alternative.....

Not much to add re the little ones, but demented I was a bit concerned when you mentioned your ds is almost 4 and still dribbling...when you say you have mentioned it, do you mean to your GP or health nurse? I would think it is more than a little unusual for a child to still be dribbling so much past about age 2.

One of dd's schoolfriend's little brother is about the same age (my ds' age) and also dribbles constantly and is very hard to understand. He is having speech therapy and has had his hearing tested a number of times; the dribbling is because of poor jaw muscle development and swallowing control - it can be remedied with the right exercises apparently. Has your ds had lots of ear infections/glue ear? Did he have feeding difficulties as a baby, or unclear/delayed speech? I think these are all inter-related somehow. I might have the wrong idea, but I think you should press your GP for a specialist referral, just to be certain everything is okay. At his age I imagine he will be starting nursery soon and he might get teased if he is still dribbling... Hope you don't think I am being nosey here...let me know what you think.

Mollipops, my oldest ds dribbled till he was four, but only after specific triggers. He did it when he was full of anticipation ie getting his hands on an icecream or when he was concentrating ie building a lego car. So he dribbled when he was happy.

Interesting what you say about your friend's child: my ds has mild hearing problems and at 4 years had a touch of glue ear - never got to the grommit stage. However, his speech was very clear. He was an early and confident talker.

He still dribbled a bit when he started nursery, but as far as I know, never got teased, and by the time he started school it was a thing of the past. I mentioned his dribbling to doctors and teachers from time to time, but they didn't seem that worried - he had long dribble free periods. If it had been a constant thing then it might have been a more serious matter.

sorry to hijack the thread, but I just wanted to say to demented that we had a 4 year old dribbler too.

mollipops, thanks for your concern, I didn't want to go into details earlier as I didn't want to hijack the thread. However here is my DS1's tale, just wish I had had Mumsnet at the time, may have helped keep me sane.

Basically my DS1 was developing normally meeting all his milestones on time or before time, said his first word at 12 months, went on to learn a few more, had his MMR jab at 14/15 months (this jab may have nothing to do with anything and is a whole other thread so I am not intending to spark of another MMR debate) then he appeared to lose the words he had learned and made little effort to learn new ones. My HV came round for his two year check and was shocked to see how little progress my DS1 had made with speech, she began to ask me all sorts of questions that led me to believe that she was thinking Autism, questions about how he asked for things, how he was socially, then to make matters worse he sat in front of her and meticulously (sp?) lined up Tellytubby dolls in his wooden trolley before he trundled away with it (something he had never done before that day and has never done since). She referred him to a paediatrician and when I was there I broke down and told her I was worried about Autism, HV then denied she was asking me about Autism but he was then referred to a Child Development Centre to see a paediatrician there and he was also given a proper hearing test at the hospital. This paediatrician noticed the dribbling and found out that he had a throat infection that had been going one for months (did have him at my own GP a number of times who fobbed me off) and he felt that DS1 had transient hearing loss (comes about with colds etc). His hearing was checked (in the summer of course when he was not ill) and found to be fine and they said probably glue ear causing this transient hearing loss and if it got any worse to come back to them. DS1 has also been seeing a speech therapist who was concerned about the dribbling also but seems quite happy that it is connected to his colds etc, his speech is now basically normal now only he has decided to develop a slight stutter when he is trying to explain himself or is getting excited, otherwise we would have been discharged from the ST by now. Paeditrician has discharged him even although he was dribbling at his last appointment (choked with the cold again) and appeared to be a bit dull of hearing, saying he would refer him for another hearing test if it didn't get better after the cold. I think because this is the only time he dribbles it is not any great concern, although I am keeping an eye on it and the hearing. What you say about the feeding difficulties is interesting though, he was a nightmare to b/feed and we ended up mixed feeding from five weeks, however he took to solids well and we never had much problem getting him to eat lumpy food or finger food.

tigermoth, glad my DS1 isn't the only one.

Demented & Tigermoth - thanks for your messages and sorry to hear of the problems you have been having - especially demented with your HV - sounds awful but glad to hear everything has worked out.

Ds's dribbling is not related to colds as he has only had the occasional one so sure it is just general teething etc and it doesnt seem to bother him and affect his contstant babbling. i may try the hankerchief round the neck idea instead and see how this works.

Thanks a lot