- Are you concerned about how much your baby is drooling?
Or you just want to know
why your baby has a constant stream of saliva
running down their face?
Then make sure you keep watching
as we talk about why babies drool,
how to manage the drooling,
and most importantly,
when you can expect the drooling to stop.
But before we do,
make sure you click on that free PDF document
in the description box below,
which covers the developmental milestones
you can be expecting for your little one
in their first year of life.
This will give you an invaluable piece of mind,
as you'll know when to be expecting skills,
and when to be concerned.
Also, if you want to make parenting significantly easier,
and make sure you start now
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where you learn the tips and tricks I've learned
over the last 10 years,
practicing as a pediatric occupational therapist,
and being a mom to two children.
Now I know drooling can be extremely frustrating
for us as parents.
So let's firstly, cover the benefits of saliva.
Saliva in your baby's mouth helps to keep their mouth moist.
It also helps in breaking down the food
and when the foods in their mouth,
it moistens up food which makes it easier to swallow.
It also aids in washing away any food
that might be stuck in their gums.
And lastly, it helps to prevent tooth cavities.
So where you going to notice is that
around eight to 12 weeks of age,
your baby is going to start to drool.
And this isn't because they are teething.
It's because at eight to 12 weeks of age,
the human body starts to make saliva.
And unfortunately for babies,
this saliva just comes straight out of their mouth,
and onto their chin and their chest.
And it's because they haven't yet learned
how to swallow the saliva,
and they predominantly sit and lie with their mouth open.
So the saliva just comes right on out.
You're also going to notice at three to six months of age,
there is an increase in saliva
coming out of your baby's mouth.
So they're drooling a lot more,
and that's because at three months of age,
they start to mouth their hands.
And at four or five and six months of age,
they start to mouth toys.
And the motor receptors in the mouth signal to the brain
that it's time to produce saliva,
because it doesn't know that it's not food.
So there's going to be an increase in saliva production,
which is just going to come at as drool.
At nine months of age,
you might notice your baby's no longer drooling
when they're doing the gross motor activities,
such as crawling, sitting or rolling.
But they might continue to drool
when they're playing with toys in their hands.
And that's because they're continuing to mouth those toys.
Your baby will stop drooling
at around one and a half to two years of age.
And that's when they've learned the ability
to actually control the saliva in their mouth
and swallow it, and then no longer placing toys
in their mouth to stimulate that saliva production.
Now well-meaning parents might tell you
that when your baby's drooling,
it's a sign that they are going to start teething,
or they're in the process of teething.
Unfortunately,
there hasn't been a direct correlation with this.
What you will notice is that when babies are teething,
they're starting to put more items in their mouth
such as their hands or toys, which, as we discussed,
can stimulate the motor receptors in the mouth
to produce more saliva,
which will then cause drooling.
Now at around one and a half to two years of age,
your baby is going to develop the muscle control
to actually control that saliva,
and swallow it when it's in their mouth.
And they'll stop drooling.
If your baby's over two years of age,
and continuing to drool,
you might want to raise this with your doctor,
just to see if there's any reasons
for that ongoing drooling.
And also if they're really young in the first year of life,
and it's a constant stream of drooling,
you can also raise it with your doctor or pediatrician,
just to ensure that there's no physical reasons
that that drooling is occurring,
like in enlarged adenoids or tonsils.
So now that we know drooling is completely normal
up until one and a half to two years of age,
let's talk about how you can manage your baby's drooling.
The very first thing is to try and ensure
that your baby's skin is kept as dry as possible,
because the constant moisture as a result of drooling
can cause a rash.
So what you want to do is wipe away the drool,
and you do this by using a clean, gentle, soft cloth.
You don't want to use tissues or baby wipes,
'cause this can cause further irritation.
And when you're wiping it off your baby's skin,
what you want to do is dab rather than do a heavy wine.
You can also use a bib.
Bibs are fantastic,
because they just go around your baby's neck,
and they clip on.
The clip on ones I find are better and easier to apply.
And it ensures that the clothes stay dry,
and you just have to switch out the bibs quite regularly.
If your baby's drooling a lot.
Do note that the patterned bibs are easier,
and kind of hide the drool,
because there's so many patterns you can't see it.
And also the darker colored bibs,
so the black one hides the drool as well.
You can get bibs that are waterproof.
So they have a plastic backing on the back,
and that prevents the water
from seeping through the bib, onto your baby's clothing,
which might be extremely beneficial.
Now, when your baby is using the bib,
you want to make sure you're watching your baby
at all times, and you're obviously take the bib off
when they're going to sleep.
You can also talk to your baby's doctor or pediatrician
about using a moisture barrier ointment or cream
to prevent irritation of the skin.
And lastly, if your baby's using a pacifier or a dummy,
you can consider reducing the amount of time
your baby's using that.
So maybe just using it for sleep,
or when they're extremely fussy
because when they're using a dummy,
there's a buildup of drool underneath the dummy,
around the rims of the dummy, and that can cause a rash.
So that's it parents.
Those are the reason your baby's going to start drooling
at around eight to 12 weeks of age.
And they're going to continue to drooling
'till around one and a half to two years of age.
Hopefully those tips will help you
manage the constant drooling,
and hopefully I'll see you next week,
where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.
(upbeat music)