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Advice needed for dealing with....


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(you'll never guess) my 9 year old son.

 

 

He has recently (as in the last couple of months) begun spitting everywhere, including on the floor in the house. :ack2:

 

We have consistently made him vacuum and mop the floor in whatever room he's spat in; but, obviously, this hasn't worked. I've asked him why he spits and his answer is, "I don't know." He's not being malicious or spitting out of anger, frustration, defiance, etc.

 

So, today dh walked into the den where said son was lying on the couch only to find a puddle (really!) of spit on the floor. Dh began putting the train set away so ds could clean the floor and ds lost it. Full on screaming, stomping, you name it. Ds was sent to his room to calm down and is currently screeching. I was very proud of dh (and me) as we've really worked on not yelling quite so much at the kiddos. Dh very calmly told ds that the train would be put away and he (ds) would clean the floor.

 

I asked ds why he did this and he said that the spit was "gooey" and he couldn't swallow it. This is a child who has not given me any reason to suspect that he has any sensory issues. But, obviously, he can't keep spitting on the floor.

 

Help! Any suggestions? What are we missing here? I'll check back soon. Off to supervise floor cleaning.

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I think you have two different issues - the spitting & the WHERE of the spitting. Some cultures accept spitting (our public pools have lots of signs & pictograms asking patrons to NOT SPIT - for a good reason: We have a large population for whom it's normal to clear their throat & spit - esp in a hot tub or sauna when things get loosened up :tongue_smilie: TMI?)

 

So the why is one thing -

 

maybe post nasal drip ?

 

maybe allergies ?

 

For the second issue, I'd instruct him that he has to go to the washroom, spit in the toilet & flush. OR, if he is alone in a room, he could spit in a kleenex. IMO it's not appropriate to spit into tissues around other people so I'd just give him some options for where & when it's appropriate.

 

The other thing is that maybe it's a bit mimicry of sports heroes? There was a youtube funny compilation of team sports guys rolling spit around in their mouth & getting ready for a big hork. Hockey guys are pretty bad with this. (Why oh WHY do cameras zoom in on these guys? :confused:)

 

And I seem to remember that in Tom Sawyer there was a big competition among boys to learn to 'spit proper'. There seems to be some boy thing about spitting.

 

& if you're in an area where chewing tobacco is still widely in use - then I'd really suspect you're looking more at 'looking cool like the big guys'.

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I would take him to the doctor. There could be a physical/medical reason why this is happening. In the mean time, try ignoring it. If he can't stop and doesn't know why, you don't want to have regrets later, if you find out that there is a reason and you punished him for it. Tread lightly, you just never know. :grouphug:

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(

 

I asked ds why he did this and he said that the spit was "gooey" and he couldn't swallow it. This is a child who has not given me any reason to suspect that he has any sensory issues. But, obviously, he can't keep spitting on the floor.

 

.

 

Could he be mildly dehydrated? Thick saliva can be a symptom.

 

My dd (who does have sensory issues) used to have this problem when she was younger but she'd insist on spitting into a cloth. I had always had a hard time getting her to drink enough liquid...it's like she doesn't even feel thirst. Now she understands that staying hydrated is the way to avoid the "thick spit".

 

Do you think your ds is drinking enough water? Are his lips chapped?

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I'm with specialmama. I switched toothpastes a year ago and had a crazy reaction. I kept salivating, so much so that I couldn't get to sleep at night. It felt like I was almost drowning. I switched back to my sensitivity toothpaste and the problem was gone within a week. It was scary until I figured it out though. Colgate Total was the problem. My dental hygenist said that my reaction was common in people who have sensitive teeth. It's like my mouth was over producing saliva to get rid of the toothpaste.

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I would take him to the doctor. There could be a physical/medical reason why this is happening. In the mean time, try ignoring it. If he can't stop and doesn't know why, you don't want to have regrets later, if you find out that there is a reason and you punished him for it. Tread lightly, you just never know. :grouphug:

 

:grouphug: Yes, see a doctor. If it's a tic (tourette's), he needs medical help, not punishment.

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I'll try to answer everyone here rather than have a huge multi-quote reply.

 

Hornblower: No, not TMI. Tobacco in all its lovely forms is common place where I live and spitting is definitely a part of the culture here. I think you're right re: the two issues. Certainly spitting in the house (esp on the floors) just isn't acceptable. I know he's not imitating sports heroes or the older boys/men who dip/chew/etc as he really doesn't see any of that. Not that we don't have lots of men using various forms of smokeless tobaccy in my neck of the woods [my former partner at work is a dedicated, um, chewer (?) & spits into an empty coke bottle:ack2:]. But allergies could be contributing to this. Maybe redirecting him to the bathroom to spit in the sink/toilet would be better

 

specialmama, Kalah, CathieC: His check-up is coming up soon and I'll be sure to mention this to his doctor. The sudden-ness of this lovely new habit could certainly mean something medical is going on with him. Thanks for mentioning it.

 

Laurie: Now that you mention it, he does complain that his lips are dry and is constantly licking them. We've used Vasoline, vitamin E oil, and various chap sticks to help him. He's been complaining about his lips for longer than he's been spitting. Hmmm...I'll definitely work on getting more water into him. That way I'll have more to tell his doctor.

 

Thanks to all of you. You've given me some ideas to help him and also to rule out any medical problems.

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