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Teaching kids how to blow their nose

 
Learning to blow your nose must be one of the hardest things for kids to learn to do! Most are experts at blowing air out of their mouths, but blowing through their nose is a whole new technique they need to master. Try these simple steps to help your kids learn how to blow their nose.
Have you ever tried teaching your kids how to blow their nose?

Learning to blow your nose must be one of the hardest things for kids to learn to do!

Most are experts at blowing air out of their mouths, but blowing through their nose is a whole new technique they need to master.

Try these simple steps to help your kids learn how to blow their nose.
 

Practice makes perfect


Don’t wait for your little one to get a cold or hay fever, practice beforehand with them gently forcing air out of their nostrils.

Make it fun by turning the process into a game. Perhaps get them to hold a piece of paper flat with both of their hands and put the paper up to their chin. Drop a feather onto the paper and ask them to blow out of their nose to move the feather.

Explain that the same way they blow out of their nose to move the feather is the way that they'll need to propel mucus (boogers!) out of their nose.

You should only do this exercise with very light objects like feathers, small strands of wool etc so as to not put too much pressure on their nasal cavities.
 

Tissue techniques


Once your little one understands how to control the airflow out of their nose, they are ready to try it with a tissue.

Try holding the tissue for them to show them where to place it just under their nostrils.

Try not to pinch at the nostrils or wipe at their nose until they’ve finished blowing. It may take a few attempts!

Ultimately your little one will need to learn how to gently push air out of one nostril at a time, not two.

The best way to clean out your nose is to hold your finger over one nostril, so that you can push air out of the opposite nostril. Then, you repeat with the opposite side.

For younger children, you can explain this technique by holding your finger to their left nostril while they blow out of the right nostril. And on the opposite side, carefully press in their right nostril while they blow through their left nostril. Don't forget to have them hold the tissue under their nose while they’re practicing.

At first, your little one will probably need to blow their nose with two hands, but as they get the hang of it, they'll learn how to take turns blowing out of their nostrils and into a tissue, one-handed.
 
Teach them that no-one wants to see the contents of their tissue and show them how to use a tissue to cover it up before placing the tissue in the bin or flushing it down the toilet.

Encourage them to avoid passing on germs by using one tissue per nose blowing.

Remind them to wash their hands thoroughly afterwards too, just as they would after using the bathroom.
 
As with most milestones, learning to blow their nose can take some time, a few gentle reminders and a little practice.
 

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