Hi Im posting this for my sister. my nephew is 27 months and a major dribbler still and has always been. My sister doesnt know what to do, whether this is just normal for him and he'll probably outgrow it eventually or if she should start worrying if something may be wrong. Do many other children this age still dribble constantly? He has had to continually wear a bib since a newborn and change his shirt quite a few times during the day because they are wet with dribble. So far it hasnt improved at all with age. Do you think this is a problem that needs looking into or it will sort itself out?
TIA

Hi

My DS now aged 3yrs and 3mths was a constant dribbler until around 9mths ago.
He has speech issues as well and we are seeing a speech therapist for it.
He does has issues with the muscles around his mouth and we have exercises for him todo to try and help him.

Maybe your nephew needs to see a dr/speech therapist or a child health nurse?

We were hoping he'd get better when he had his tonsils out but it made very little difference.

Hope this is of some help.

not sure wether this would be valid, but DH had to have his jaw broken and relined when he was 15 he had a simular issue, so that may be a thing to look at if its a structual problem, but that isnt that common in all honesty.

DS is a few days off 27 months and still has days where he drools more than a st banard but i think that is also coming from his molars coming through as well. He was a cronic dribbler from go and i've noticed in recent has picked up again so maybe get your sister to feel around the back teeth to see if there is any sign of the 2 yr molars coming through as that sounds most likly the case with your nephew
I'm just greatful DS doesnt have dh's jaw and has mine! but teething can cause excessive dribbling and some kids are litterally teething most of the time untill those last 4 come up.

is he still using a dummy? ryan dribbled til at least a few months after we finally got rid of the dummy, but it's stopped now (mostly)

Hi,
There are probably lots of possible reasons which you wouldn't need to worry about, many suggested by PPs. On the when to worry side, are there any other issues, like language delay/speech issues, eating/swallowing problems, poor control of muscles in face, eg mouth rests in an open position????? In any of those cases, I'd see a paediatrician. If your sister is worrying about it, she would probably be reassured by a phone call to her mchn. Hope all is ok for your nephew.

My DS is 2 and a half (tomorrow!) and still dribbles a bit. I now say to him, "dribble" and he sucks it up and dries his face. He has finished teething and is talking at what I would consider an average level, so who knows??
PP- Interesting that you should say:[/quote] poor control of muscles in face, eg mouth rests in an open position??[quote]
All of my DS's photos from day care show him standing with his mouth open, how concerned should I be??

DS was also a heavy dribbler until one kind lady saw him while we were out shopping and told me her son used to dribble until she taught him to swallow. So i tried showing DS, and going through the motion, just swallowing and showing how the throat and lips might move, and you know what - within a week, he had learned to swallow! Basicaly, DS forgot to swallow whenever he would be focussing very hard on something. Occassionally he still forgets to swallow and i have to remind him.

Hi,

My DS is also 27 months and still has some really bad dribbling days.........He talks quite well so I have put it down to teething and am not too concerned........

Thelma

Thanks everyone for you replies, Ill certainly pass them on to my sister. We didnt just put it down to teething because he usually gets other symptoms so my sister knows when he is teething and the dribbling has been a constant since he was a baby.
He doesnt talk yet and his mouth is always open even at rest so maybe with those 3 things combined, there is something for her to look into. I think she probably plans to mention it to the child health nurse next visit and go from there.