3.5 Yr Old Constantly Drools

[daycare]

I have a new kid that is here on a trial week. Today is his first day.

He is 3.5 and has great verbal skills.

He listens well and is very sweet.

I am just trying to see what I am working with here and wondering if this is normal or not. I have never had a kid do this before.

Through out the day so far, I will have to ask him to swallow his spit. He constantly drools. He also often has his tongue hanging out of his mouth, much like a child that has downs syndrome. When we are doing a progect or circle time he will stare off into outer space. I will call his name and will get no response. It will take several times of calling his name to get his attention.

According to the parents hes in great health and did well at his last DC.

Does this seem strange to anyone else? I am not going to bring this up to the parents, I just need to know what I am getting into.

[sharlan]

Give him some time to adjust. My grandson "goes away" when he's stressed.

Why was he moved from the other daycare?

[WImom]

I have a 3.5y old boy here that drools too. I did some reading on in and it could be do to a low muscle tone. They gave things to help it like blowing bubbles. I will usually just tell him to go wipe his chin if it gets bad. He has some speech problems but has been much easier to understand lately.

At first I was concerned but he had just been to his 3y appointment when he started so I assumed the doctor knew about it.

I will probably mention it to mom when it nears their childs next well check.

[daycare]

the parents just moved into town from two cities away. Just bought their first house.

I thought that it just might be a nervous thing, but I have never seen a child drool to this extent...

my husband was trying to make me feel better about it and said hes drooling over you...hahaha.

I feel bad, but I just made him put a bib on. He soaked through his shirt...

[small_steps]

My son used to have his tongue hanging out all the time (). He was tongue tied and had to have a simple procedue done to fix it. However, if he is talking well I wouldn't think that would be it. I also have a daycare boy that is 18 months and drools a lot. I know people will say could be teething, etc. No its not that. I think he doesn't know how to swallow his spit, or doesn't remember to, etc. This child wakes up from nap and the whole top of his mat is soaking wet. His shirt is always soaked from drooling so much. He also always has a toy in his mouth. My other kids his age every once in a while will have to be told not to put toys in their mouth, but for the most part it's rare that they still do that a lot. Poor kid even chipped his two front teeth because of walking around at home with something in his mouth. He also doesn't eat well (only eats crackers & snack foods ), but he also still takes a bottle so that could be why he doesn't eat well.
Anyway, I know where you're coming from on that one and wish I had some useful advice to give you. I'm anxious to hear any other providers answers here.

[KBCsMommy]

My oldest daycare child is like that too. He drools all over his shirt and his tongue is always out and hes always licking his face, toys everything!

When he gets drippy I tell him to go wipe his face!!

He was an overly drooly baby, always had soaked shirts.

He was also tongue tied but it was clipped.

His speech is horrible, hes almost 4 and people cannot understand a word he says, he talks like he has marbles in his mouth.

Ive never seen another child like that either so Im glad my lil guy isnt the only one.

My husband affectionately calls him "drools" Because it rhyms with his name!!!

[daycare]

see thats the thing. he has great speech... I thought at first ok maybe tongue tied, but the fact that the speech is good, leads me to think not...

hmm......

[Heidi]

My son was just like KBC's as a 4 yo. Speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy through the school system helped tremendously. So did my insisting that while they were testing the heck out of him, they also do an IQ test. Guess what? 135-140. I didn't do it to show off, but to make sure that his school records reflected his abilities as well as his shortcommings. It's very easy for teachers to make assumptions about a child who talks funny and drools...

ds is 19 now, in the Army, and just landed his dream job...sniper! I don't know how I feel about the sniping part, but I am SO proud of him for all his hard work!

[erinalexmom]

This might be totally off base. But could he be having seizures? Absence seizures are small seizures where a person basically "checks out" and you cant get thier attention no matter how hard you try. They only last a VERY FEW seconds and many people dont even know they are having them. Many people drool with seizures. The Mayo clinic and some other websites have some info on it. People with epilepsi are just as intelligent as everyone else but if he is truly having the seizures and they are left untreated they can cause permanant brain damage. Please check it out just in case

[daycare]

wow my husband and I were just talking about this...

My husband has a medical back ground and is actually on his was to becoming a Doctor.
He has worked as a PA for almost 6 years in the ER.

He just mentioned this to me as I opened this post and read yours...

I will be sure to keep an extra eye on this boy and see if this continues. I am hoping that it is just a nervous disorder. Very hard to tell as he has only been here for his first day today.

Thanks for the info...

[erinalexmom]

LOL Im a licensed practical nurse! :: great minds and all that I quit my nursing job to open in June. I had been in healthcare for 13 years so its just where the mind goes.

[Heidi]

My son's "delays" were definately neurologically based..2 of my 4 children had neonatal (full blown grand mahl) siezures, and two had speech articulation issues, my older one a little more extremely, but the youngest as well. I say my kids are "neurologically quirky"

[cheerfuldom]

one of my daycare girls is 2.5 and still wears a bib all the time. she has low muscle tone, delays in all areas and I have a feeling that a more specific diagnosis is just around the corner. there is definitely something "off" about her although therapy has really helped

[daycare]

update..

so I am not sure I am going to keep this kid or not based on the mom

today at pick up mom says so how did it go.

I said things were great, the kids loved him and he seemed to have a really good time.

She said oh did he drool through his shirt? She noticed that I changed it.

I told her yes, he was drooling quite a bit and he soaked through the shirt he came with.

I left it at that.

So then the DCM says yes he has small mal seizures about 10-15 times a day and this is a result of it... She said I didn't tell you because I wanted to see how well you do your job...

I looked at her with the though in my head WTH, I'm a DCP, not a doctor.

I told her that I didn't feel comfortable not knowing this information and that she needed to communicate to me anything important about her child. This is why we went through a sit down meeting together so that we could discuss how we will care for your child together.

I then told her that I did not appreciate her with holding this from me and that it didn't help me care for her child properly.

She then said, it's not a huge deal, he will more than likely grow out of it. He does not need special attention because of it...

We ended it there...I was still in shock of her words...

I think that I will not continue to care for this child. We are only doing a one week trial instead of two, so I will be letting go more on the 5th day....if not sooner.
ugh....can I plpease get a parent that does not lie, cheat or try to walk all over me.....plese just one...

[Heidi]

I had a dad who interviewed me once, but made up some reason he couldn't bring his 2yo daughter. He was extremely nice, and something about him gave me a good feeling, so against usual custom, I enrolled his child unseen.

He arrived a few days later with a lovely little girl with Downs Syndrome. I was a little suprised, and at first, didn't know what to say. When I recovered, I said "You know, had you told me she had Downs, I would have gladly taken her just the same, is there anything I should know that involves her care?" he filled me in, and she was a wonderful addition to our group.

I think a parent with a child who has a special need may fear a lot. I understand you're being taken aback by her lack of honesty, but why not use this as an opportunity to put the cards on the table? Tell her that you wish she would have been honest, but that you are willing to learn, and give him the same chance as any other child. Now, really this time...is there anything you need to know?

What she did was wrong, but she is coping with a scarey thing. It doesn't mean she's a liar, it just shows that she didn't pick the best way to cope.