If you have experience with Speech therapy....

[ShanaMama]

Can I pick your brain?
The recent posts about SLP got me thinking... maybe one of the parenting gurus here has advice for me. DD has poor control of her lower lip, which causes her to drool. She has a paci at night, which I think causes/ exhaserbates (no way I spelled that right!) the problem.
She's now almost 18 months, & this was already a problem at around 8-9 months. At that time she had a feeding evaluation & one thing the therapists mentioned was making her aware when she drools. They said to pat her mouth & say "you're drooling". For some reason, I found that a little distasteful, so I never implemented it. Now I'm wondering if I should.
I mentioned it to my ped, who really wasn't concerned. I just started feeding her cereal & milk, hoping that the action of trying to keep the milk in her mouth, rather than dribbling out, would be one way to make her aware of mouth control.
Anyone have ideas or experience with this? TIA

[Mamma2004]

I am *not* a parenting guru but I am the Mamma of 2 1/2 y.o. DS who has had issues with drooling. He is markedly better than one year ago but the problem still exists. This year I refuse to deal with saturated bibs all day long so I just remind him to swallow...constantly...and I do tell him when he's really drooling.

No great advice, I'm afraid. I just wanted you to know that you're not alone. Our ped. assures me that DS won't be drooling in elementary school so I am trying very hard to be patient and have faith.

Good luck!

Stephanie

[pinkmomagain]

My sister's son also has a problem with low tone in mouth, drooling. He is in speech therapy (he is 3 yo). He did need to have his adenoids and tonsils removed and I think this somehow related to his mouth being open/lower lip slack (because I think they were enlarged and he used his mouth to breathe.) I remember her often reminding him to close his mouth and swallow as per advice from someone (maybe SLP).

Sorry this post is rambling...but maybe something in it would help. Also, it might be worth having her re-evaluated...it's been over six months since the last one.

HTH,

Gina

[brittone2]

Not a parenting guru or a SLP, but I worked in early intervention before DS was born (as a physical therapist).

IMO it might be worth getting an EI eval at this point. How is her speech? Is it only the drooling or is she a little behind in terms of her speech as well?

Two things come to mind as possibilities, although I'm sure there are more. It could be poor oral muscle tone or possibly a sensory issue.

At 18 months that kind of drooling IMO would be worth an eval. You can self refer to early intervention even if your doc doesn't think it is problematic.

In the meantime there are some things that you can work on without causing any harm. Play games involving making funny faces in the mirror. Make a face and see if she'll copy you. Encourage her to drink lots of thick liquids like smoothies, milkshakes, etc. from a straw which will help strengthen some of her lip muscles. Play games like blowing through a straw to push a cottonball across a table. Have her blow bubbles, kazoos, etc.

IMO an 8 month old drooling excessively is definitely less of a concern than an 18 month old. Since it is persisting at this point, personally I'd call EI and get the eval. If they don't think there is a problem, they aren't going to recommend services, so you have nothing to lose. At the very least they'll still give you some suggestions on things to work on in the meantime at home.

I hope this made sense. I'm in a rush so my apologies if this isn't hte most coherent ;)

[ShanaMama]

Thanks for the responses. I think I made it sound worse than it is. She is not, as the OP said, drooling all over bibs. I just think she's drooling more than she should be.
I can always go for another evaluation, but she didn't qualify for services last time, & I am sure she won't qualify this time. She speaks well, to my ear. She has a very large vocabulary (40-50 words), but not enunciated well. I thought that was normal for this age, but then again, I guess it couldn't hurt to evaluate.
I think the ped wasn't concerned because it's not super excessive, and she doesn't have the other symptoms OP described, like mouth breathing, delayed speech.
I think I'll try some of your suggestions, like blowing bubble, blowing through a straw, etc. She does drink nicely from a straw or regular cup- no sippy or bottle.
Thanks everyone for your input.

[brittone2]

Depending on your state, if it is an oral motor issue, she'd likely qualify regardless of her actual speech IMO. Also, drooling at 18 months to me, really is worth a look unless it is intermittent and caused by molars coming in, etc. If she's been drooling for months, even if not heavily, I'd request an eval.

The fact that she didn't qualify last time doesn't necessarily have any bearing on whether she'd qualify this time IMO. It has been a long time, and if the drooling is persisting, I think there is a decent chance she might qualify, or at the very least they'll give you some activities to work on.

If it is an oral motor issue of some type, the thing w/ EI is to get her in (assuming she'd qualify) while you can. The problem is once they turn 3, the system changes dramatically. I'm sure she wouldn't need long term therapy but if an oral motor problem is detected at say 2.5, you have a lot less time in the cushy system that EI is compared to the school system.

Just some thoughts :) It may not be enough to qualify her, but it very well may be IMO. My two cents is that it would be worth a look.

[ShanaMama]

That's a good point, Beth. Last time she was evaluated for feeding issues, which were mostly resolved by the time the evaluation came along. (It was behavioral- my little personality!)
I had her evaluated thru DOH or BOE, I don't remember which. They told me at that time that she would need to be significantly delayed in 2 areas to qualify for services. At this point, I don't know whether this would even qualify as a significant delay in one area, but as you suggested, it's definitely worth a try.
I am from the 'catch it early rather than wait to see if it will resolve itself' camp, so I'll make a point to schedule an eval.
Thanks for your input.

[crl]

My DS drools. Not so much anymore at 3 1/2 but at 2 he was still drooling quite a bit. Not constantly, but often enough that it shows up on his shirts in several candid pictures. He was eligible for EI services. He had expressive speech delays that were mostly about articulation. I'd go ahead and get your DD evaluated again. No harm if she still doesn't qualify for services and if she does, it's so much easier when they are young!

Just my two cents,