Toddler 411: Stop Putting Things Up Your Nose!

Mamas and Papas - I need your advice!

For the past few months M has been obsessed with her nose. There is constantly a finger up one nostril or the other and I am telling her 100 times a day to "get your finger out of your nose." But lately instead of a finger she has started sticking things up there.

The other day I caught her with the pointy end of a paintbrush up there. I have found her sticking crayons up her nose. And even more frequently I am doing goldfish-ectomies with the Nose Frida and pair of tweezers!

What is the deal with the nose obsession?

Does she get this from me? My father is obsessed with his nose, largely in part to his terrible sinuses...which as I have mentioned countless times on here I have inherited. We are always blowing or squeezing, or itching or spraying something something up our noses...and yes I am totally guilty of the pick now and again. Did she learn this by watching me (as the old 80s drug PSA used to say)?

At the first sign of snot I am on her like Donkey Kong with the Nose Frida, sucking out any snottiness, and now she expects the relief so she is always asking for "boogie sucks" when her nose starts to run. Have I created a nose-obsessed monster?

Or is this fairly normal? Do your children like to stick things in their noses?

And when she does this, what kind of reaction should I have? I freak out of course and yell at her because I am so scared that she will damage her sinuses or nasal passage and lose her sense of smell or something crazy like that. She doesn't seem to get the point though because she is still sticking things up there - case and point the piece of carrot I removed an hour ago.

I will never forget when I was young (probably 5) and I stuck a bead in my ear and we had to go to the hospital. I remember it like it was yesterday - those long skinny scissor like tweezers they used to remove the wooden sphere. I have visions of me at the hospital with M in the near future getting that same instrument put up her nose!

How do I make this stop? Do I not draw attention to it? Do I yell more (that seems to be my M.O.)?

Help a Mama out!

Mama-Guyver: DIY Snot Sucker

I have written twice in the last year about my love for the Nose Frida (& here.) It seriously is a must have for every mom out there. I have such a pet peeve about snot running down kids faces, that I am tempted to whip it out of my diaper bag and Nose Frida every child I see with a runny nose. Why would you not want to relieve your child of a stuffy/runny nose immediately! They can't use Afrin (I know, terrible for you, but I can't live w/o it when I am sick) so might as well use the next best thing.

So when I was caught down in Newport, RI this weekend without my Nose Frida (or my Boogie Wipes) I was so mad at myself. M became very sick overnight with a fever, throwing up and a crazy stuffy/runny nose (I have been sick and it was a matter of time before she caught what I had). I immediately ran out to CVS to see if they carried the Frida or Boogie Wipes, but I wasn't in luck. I purchased a nasal aspirator bulb to give it a try, but didn't get my hopes up as I have never been a big fan of them.

After a couple of failed attempts to suck snot with the aspirator I gave up and just started wiping her nose constantly. Well, this just made her nose raw, and made her cry every time I came near her with a tissue. I was so mad at myself for not being prepared for this to happen! But then I thought (as I do with most things I come across) "I can make one myself!" And I went to work...

Watch out boogies - I'm coming for you

In a few easy steps I had created my own "snot sucker" of sorts (pictured right):
1. Remove the pointed end of the nasal aspirator bulb (this Little Noses version popped off, but you might have to cut it off)
2. Take the pointy end off of an adult bottle of nose spray. The key here is that you need something to stick just at the end of the nostril that is as big as the nostril, so that you create a seal. I also had to cut off the end of the tip to make the hole bigger.
3. Push new pointed end into opening of bulb.
4. Cut small hole in opposite end of bulb. You must have a nice tight seal around the straw so keep it small to start.
5. Insert straw into hole. I used the straw from a sippy cup, but you could probably use any straw. Longer the better.
6. Start sucking!!

Because of the size and shape of the bulb, do not worry about getting snot in your mouth (gag!). The snot stays in the bulb easily.

While this didn't work as well as a true Nose Frida, it worked 10 times better than the bulb itself and I was able to relieve M of some of the stuffiness and stop the snot from running down her nose. I couldn't have been happier to get home early this morning though and use the Nose Frida. You could not believe the difference in her mood after I did use it - she was able to breathe and was instantly more comfortable!

So help your kid out - stop wiping away the boogers and start sucking them out!! They will thank you for it...and so will I!