Covid or just a good, 'aul cold?
Regardless, if your little one has a stuffy nose, we all know that can mean anything from disrupted sleep to ear pains and just generally feeling uncomfortable as they cannot breathe properly.
However, if you have ever tried to instruct a toddler or child how to properly blow their nose, you will also know this can be all sorts of challenging. Why? Because somehow, the mechanics of just how this is done does often not click with kids until they are older.
Enter the pinch-and-release method – a simple method every parent should be armed with, we reckon.
Here is what you do:
With a tissue in hand to cover their nose and collect any snot, gently pinch your child’s nostrils on and off rapidly as they attempt to blow. The idea behind this method is that if your child isn’t understanding the airflow part of this, the nose pinching gives them a physical reminder of where the wind should be coming out.
Sound easy enough? It really is.
Tell them to close their mouth
Another great trick we came across recently which is also very effective is to tell kids to try to pretend they are blowing out the candles on a birthday cake – but remind them they have to keep their mouth closed while they are doing this, so that all the air is coming out through their nose.
In fact, according to paediatrician
Dyen Hes, the number one mistake parents make when teaching a child to blow their nose, is forgetting to tell them to close their mouth.
"Start by telling your child to close their lips together tight, then get a tissue and tell them to make wind out of their nose to blow the tissue. When the tissue moves, they are blowing their nose."
