toddler still dribbling at 4 years old...

[curpring]

ds has just turned 4 and is still dribbling quite a bit. he speaks fairly clearly, though has a bit of difficulty with s. Just wondering whether to go to speech therapy drop in or whether there is a medical reason such as large tonsils (which he has) - health visitor has always said it will sort itself out but i'm anxious as he starts school this year and i don't want it to affect him socially. does anyone else have experience of this?

Is he able to breath through his nose? If not, then it is more likely to exacerbate the dribbling. Little ones often play looking down and gravity encourages the saliva to drop!

Here are a few things to try:

-remind him to keep his mouth closed and swallow his saliva. If he can't breath through his nose, just encourage the swallowing.

-help him become aware of wet v. dry. He probably feels that having a wet chin is normal. He needs to be able to recognise when his chin is wet.

-remind him to wipe his chin when needed. Sweat bands can be used on wrists if really bad.

Praise him for trying any of these tactics (even use a sticker chart if he responds to them) and remember he is sill little and there is time for this to resolve.

I think I'll get wristbands for my dh - thanks for the idea daft!

Worth seeing a SALT, imo. Ds1 (3.9) dribbles, sometimes a lot (so his tops look wet), sometimes not at all. I put it down to teeth and didn't give it much thought (bad mother ). His pre-school spotted it too, and realised that it was when he talked a lot and made certain sounds, and got him a referral to a SALT.

Her initial thought, when chatting over the phone, was that ds1 had enlarged adenoids. However, when we actually saw her she realised that he still has a tongue tie. He had it snipped at about 5 weeks old, but not properly. He has been referred to an ENT specialist and will have to have it snipped again under general anaesthetic.

It hasn't affected his language at all but, now it has been flagged up to me, I can see that he does say certain sounds with a slight lisp (and dribbles as he says them). Sounds fine in a 3yo, but wouldn't in an adult, so well worth dealing with now.

agree with the others, best to get him checked out

you do know that he's not a toddler though don't you? not being funny but sometimes it's easy to 'baby' them

I'm an slt.

If his speech is clear and easily understood, I would leave him for a bit. As it is only one sound he has difficulty with. What does he stay instead of 's'?

If he has a blocked nose that prevents him from keeping his mouth closed, then he should be referred to ent and that most probably needs to be doen via GP. An slt will write to GP requesting the referral.

thanks very much for the advice daft and mrsjd - i will try out your suggestions. he is often a bit 'blocked up' even when not coldy - could be enlarged adenoids which may go along with his enlarged tonsils. compo - thanks for the comment. just a slip when thinking of something to post as the heading