4yo excessive dribbling

[Lavenderbluex]

Hi all,
Looking for some advice.

Ds2 (just turned 4) has been an excessive dribbler since birth. I brought it up with gp and dentist on numerous occasions who both said he would grow out of it.

Nursery referred him to SALT at the end of last year due to his dribbling and speech delay (he is bilingual and his speech does seem to have improved a lot. The SALT therapist sent a letter to the GP advising a referral to ENT due to his dribbling which she witnessed at the appointment.

I took him to the GP who refused to refer him and said that it was normal for them to dribble up until 5 year old. She said to monitor it over the next year.

His dribbling hasn’t improved at all and he has a bad dribble rash at the moment. He is very tall and in 6-7 year old clothes, I’ve had strangers comment on the dribbling.

Has anyone else experienced this? His younger brother has been referred to ent for recurrent tonsillitis and I’ve been told he has very large tonsils. Ds1 has only had tonsilitis twice but his tonsils also look large. I’m wondering if it’s related to enlarged tonsils or adenoids.

Any advice appreciated!

This is his rash currently. He has had it for a few days and I’ve been putting Vaseline on it and drying whenever he dribbles. Tonight it seems to have spread and looks much more irritated. Planning to call the gp in the morning but if anyone has any remedies I would appreciate it.

You can get patches worn behind the ear to reduce drooling. I have taught several children who needed them. Assume would be a GP who would prescribe them?

Try Kit and Kin magic salve for the rash.

https://www.medicinesforchildren.org.uk/medicines/hyoscine-hydrobromide-patches-to-reduce-saliva-production/

https://kitandkin.com/products/magic-salve?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21806623560&gbraid=0AAAAACxQCmrxbvu9cLC21M3BEVebvOI81&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkoj6zqzejwMVTp6DBx0RUhBFEAAYASAAEgLpjvD_BwE

Hi Op, we have a nearly 4 year old excessive dribbler. Saw SALT who wasn’t really worried, suggested putting little sweat bands on her wrists and encouraging her to wipe her own mouth with them (because I expressed concern over other children being horrible because she is still in bibs). I feel like that’s just something else for other kids to notice though. We have done a lot of discussing the difference between wet and dry, recognising when her mouth is wet and to wipe it, swallowing her spit & closing her mouth etc. It has improved things a bit but not enough to stop the bibs all together. It gets so much worse if she is tired or ill too. Not heard of those patches pp mentioned so will also look into those. Do you put him in bibs? Is he in school?

You can buy cotton neck bandanas with poppers. Much better than bibs lots of plain colours and patterns.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bandana-Children-Special-Suitable-Adjustable/dp/B07GZY85DP

This is what I meant by bib! Still had a 3 year old ask at DD’s nursery why DD is wearing a bib though.

My son was like this and no one took me seriously for years. He was eventually diagnosed with a severe underbite, enlarged adenoids and tonsils, lip and tongue tie and was under sensitive around his mouth.

Tonsil and adenoid removal helped him breathe through his nose so he could keep his mouth closed which made him naturally swallow more. Cutting the lip and tongue tie helped his tongue moved properly and improve his swallow. Currently doing braces and Myobrace to strengthen his lip seal and correct the underbite.

Happy for you to PM me.

Thanks all so much for the recommendations! I don’t put a bib on him as he just rips them off. He looks much older than his age and is often mistaken for a 6-7 year old so I’d worry he would get made fun of.

We have a nurse appointment today for the dribble rash and gp appointment for the dribbling so hopefully he gets the referal! Thanks again.

@Lavenderbluex if you have the time could you please update us if you find anything helpful/that works? Likewise we are worried about teasing and would love to find a solution!

I sure will do! I doubt the nurse will say much today ( his seems to have improved a lot today so worried she thinks I’m being a hypochondriac!) But I’ll defo update when I see the GP.

Im really irritates how they refused to refer him last time when the SALT has specifically wrote
to them. They all say it’s normal but he dribbles literally constantly. My younger son rarely ever does even when teething.

It’s irritating when you can see with your own eyes that all the other children don’t do it isn’t it! I don’t think they see it as a real medical problem, but your DS is struggling with sore skin as a result so it really is! Show them the pictures and say it’s a constant cycle. We are lucky DD doesn’t get sore skin but also I feel like they think it’s not an issue too. SALT were really nice but had no fixes sadly other than the discussions I mentioned previously.