Nosey

Here's a short list of items that we have pulled out of Max's nose so far: 

Raisins, corn, peas, ground beef, bark from a tree, cookies, cheese, old cheese from under the couch, rice, oatmeal, pieces of crayon and playdough. Basically, if it's the size of a pencil eraser or smaller, Max is going to try and cram it up into his sinus cavity. I'm really terrified of the prospect of pulling a bug or cat food or something worse out his nose one of these days. 

This little quirk of his is particularly concerning for us, because, not too long ago, Max underwent ear, nose and throat surgery. Plagued with chronic ear infections and snoring (just like his brothers), we knew he was going to have to get Eustachian tubes and have his adenoid removed, and probably his tonsils eventually too. 

This sticking food up the nose thing is all new territory for us. Why on earth is he doing this? It can't feel good; besides he gets mad every time he does it and cries until we help him dislodge his nasal treasure. (My cousin Amanda hipped me to a method called "mothers kiss" to help remove deeply lodged items … so far we've been able to coax out most foreign objects with a little coaching and nose blowing).

Fortunately, everyone has a story of someone in their family or friend-o-sphere that has had a kid obsessed with sticking objects where they don't belong. Last week, Max scared his daycare teacher's at lunch after cramming peaches up his nose. Naturally, we swapped war stories; one of his teachers said their brother stuck a marble in his ear when he was little, another teacher had a friend who shoved an entire crayon up her nose as a kid (and now suffers from sinus issues as a result). 

I can usually find a solution for this kind of thing, but this one is a real doozy. We have to allow him to self feed for his development, but as a result, after every meal with bite-sized pieces, I wonder if he's stashed something away for later. 

So if you have successfully gotten your kid to quit shoving things in their nose, please share! And if not, then share what kind of treasures you've heard of being stashed away in noses and ears.  

Until next time! 

- W