Poopy Toddler Breath

We had quite the parenting experience last night.

About two weeks ago I started noticing that my youngest son, age 3, had horrible breath. I had him brushing his teeth 3 or 4 times a day. The extra brushing was not helping so I examined his teeth to make sure that they were ok because bad teeth can cause bad breath. His teeth are fine, so I moved on.

Things slowly got worse until last night when he kissed me goodnight. When he did, I almost gagged because his mouth literally smelled like an out house. I went online and lo and behold, true poopy breath often comes from something lodged in the nose of the child.

With some finesse, a small ear loupe, some saline, tissues and blunt tweezers we went to work. We managed to dislodge the offending item and he blew it out himself. It was rotting and unrecognizable, he later told us it was a piece of food.

The only time you should try and dislodge an object from a child's nose is if you can actually see the item. Never use pointy tweezers and don't put anything up their nose that may push it farther in, it could travel into their lungs if that happens. If the first attempts don't work then they need to be taken to a doctor to be removed with their tools.

A couple of methods that I came across last night are to close the clear nostril and blow through the mouth of the child to push it back out. If your childish old enough to blow his or her own nose then cover the good nostril and have them blow as hard as possible. Ultimately my little guy blew it out himself, I had resigned myself to taking him to the doctor today when my final attempt with the tweezers failed. I had dislodged it just enough for it to come shooting out into the tissue. The smell in my living room was horrid when it came out and there was no question that's what the problem had been.

www.whattoexpect.com...

Best of luck to the rest of you parents out there! Kids do all sorts of funny things while exploring their world. I know I learned something new last night, hopefully he also learned to stop putting things up his nose.

Yikes! Aren't kids great? LOL
Glad he's going to be fine without having to visit the doc.
Had a big scare when my youngest was 3. He fell of a couch, with a quarter in his mouth. Two hospitals later, and a doctor was able to push it down the right tube. Wish I could have had a copy of the X Ray, to frame for his wall. LOL
He could have used the reminder about listening, growing up.

reply to post by chiefsmom

They really do keep you on your feet that's for sure!
I was happy to not have to take him in too, it was close for a minute though.

I'm so glad your son was okay! I will remember that about the x-rays, you don't think of stuff like that until later. Two doctors huh? They are mischievous little buggers who teach us a lot. You may want to warn him if he's the one with the new twins.
My husband was the thrasher in his family, always breaking something, usually himself. My lovely youngest takes after him in many ways. LOL!

reply to post by woodsmom


LMAO!!! My 4 year old little boy was complaining of an ear ache for an entire day. His mom being a nurse was checking for the obvious signs of an ear infection and he was showing no sign. She said sometimes kids can get some kind of pain in their ears just as they grow and I passed it off like ok she's the educated one. Well one night when she was at work we were sitting at the dinner table and I noticed he had food on his finger tips. Then I noticed he stuck his finger in his ear when he went to itch it. That was when I realized that he might have something in there after all. I cleaned his ear out with a saline solution and a squirt bottle and noticed stuff came out. I was like cool maybe I got it out. The next day he was complaining again so this time I decided to try an ear candle. I was kind of experimenting on him which he thought was cool and I knew I wasn't doing anything too extreme that could cause any serious damage, but I was hell bent on proving my his mom wrong. Well long story short ear candles are disgusting lol and he had pretty much packed his ear with what looked like to be a parts of brownie or something. Once I was done with that we washed his ear out and he hasn't complained since.

OP... my cousin who is a few years younger than me was a nose stuffer. One time she shoved so much corn up her nose she had to go to the ER and get her sinuses flushed. Im NOT joking. She shoved all sorts of things up her nose. Later on in her 20's.. she had a daughter. ANOTHER nose stuffer. Mini m&ms shoved in there so tight it was amazing. FIshtank gravel.. up the nose.

Im thinking its hereditary. SO who is is? You or your husband that shove things in their nose??

reply to post by VoidWalker


Good Job!

Saline and ear candles are both staples in my house, they are pretty gross, but they work like a charm! My doctor also told me that olive oil will soften their ear wax to then be flushed out, that one works pretty good!

reply to post by Advantage


Haha! I blame that one all on daddy! I didn't ever shove things up my nose.
This little guy always has though, I caught him pretty fast up until now. The first thing was a pony bead about a year and a half ago, I was happy he could breathe through it, and popped it right out with pressure from above it.

Sounds like I will have fun with the grand babies later too! At least I know what that horrible smell means now.

woodsmom
reply to post by Advantage

 

Haha! I blame that one all on daddy! I didn't ever shove things up my nose.
This little guy always has though, I caught him pretty fast up until now. The first thing was a pony bead about a year and a half ago, I was happy he could breathe through it, and popped it right out with pressure from above it.

Sounds like I will have fun with the grand babies later too!

At least I know what that horrible smell means now.

LOL!!

Before finishing your opening post... I was thinking " Oh boy, something stuck in the tonsil crypt or a stinky tonsilith.." Then food in the nose. Yep.. that one is a fun one. My kids never did the nose trick. The middle one was a make up and lipstick eater though.. chronic addiction sorta thing. LOL!

reply to post by woodsmom


I kind of avoid doctors like the plague lol so I try to make due with what I have and he thought it was all fun anyways lol. Now he always wants the ear candles done because he thinks they feel good lol

reply to post by woodsmom


Thankfully, it's not, it's his older brother. He just broke bones. To the point of needing surgery. I do have that X Ray though! LOL And all he did was fall off a bed and landed on his arm wrong.

I'm starting to wonder if it isn't something about being the younger sibling? My sister always put stuff, that wasn't food in her mouth.
One time it was the spring from the old pez dispensers. She manage to not only wrap it around a tooth, but pierce her tongue as well!

Dont take medical advice off ATS...EVER.

Dont take medical advice off ATS...EVER.

reply to post by crazyewok


I'm only recounting my experience last night, and trying to help parents out. It is up to each person to make their own choices. Kids are kids and don't need to be rushed to the doctor for every sniffle.
I honestly thought my son had horrible gas until last night when it was obvious that it was from his mouth.

I'm guessing you don't have children?

reply to post by VoidWalker


I avoid them too, sometimes they are needed, but we as parents are perfectly capable of figuring some of these things out. And are allowed to share said parenting experiences.

Goodness, the doctors that I have been seeing for ongoing health issues failed miserably in figuring out the problem. One week after visiting the Naturopath, I now know that I was dangerously anemic and am already feeling 100 times better, after only a week.

I think that common sense is often overlooked in the rush to get to a professional who is often only there to throw a prescription at you and get you out as fast as possible.

woodsmom
[.

I'm guessing you don't have children?

No but if I did I would not look for medical advice here.

Too many woo woo new age wack jobs.

reply to post by chiefsmom


Oh no. I bet your mom was happy about that one!

I have to agree about the younger siblings. They are braver in my experience than the oldest. I'm thinking that they have that chance to watch the older sibling(s) and learn the basics from them. They then take it upon themselves to be braver in experimenting.

But why the nose (or ears)?

reply to post by crazyewok


As a parent I solved a mystery and helped my son. I simply thought that sharing could possibly help someone out.

Are you insinuating that I'm a whack job? Sir I devote every moment of my life to my children. They see the doctor when needed. They are fed healthy foods and clothed appropriately. And yes I would rather give them honey and lemon for a sore throat than rush them to the doctor. I did my research and fixed the problem. It was a funny childhood anecdote and I was rather enjoying the conversation about it.

If you will ever have kids you might understand, if you don't go bankrupt from medical bills first. Enjoy your day sir.

reply to post by woodsmom


That is so true. Sometimes I feel that we are all just numbers to doctors. They bring you in, give you their best educated guess, and if it doesn't work come back and we will keep narrowing it down until we for sure get it. Quite the racket.

reply to post by woodsmom


well said... I don't see how or why this thread could possibly go negative....

reply to post by Advantage


I was starting to get worried about something like that. Last night it was obviously not gas or normal bad breath. I did my research and it was all pointing to the same thing, something in the nose. When I looked up there with the flashlight, I could see what the problem was. I'm only glad we got it out.

That's kind of funny that the cousin's daughter does the same. I will have to ask my brother in law if he remembers any nose stuffing stories, hehe. It's something to watch for if you are aware of it.