spitting

[rebbecca]

My son will be 2 in february. He has been a great baby and toddler but I have one big problem, he spits all the time. On the ground outside, in the house on the floor, in the trash can, and everywhere else but when he gets mad he will spit in your face if your holding him. I have told him no and put him down and walk away. And no I do not and well not hit him cause of it.
But it has gotten to the point that I have to wear shoes in my own home because I am tried of stepping in it. And I also have to mop once a day cause of it.
Any suggestion for my spitting little guy....

[girliegrl1723]

where did he learn this behavior? i just ask b/c my husband is a frequent spitter (as most guys are) and i'm wondering if it could be a learned behavior. my son is only 9 months, but if he eventually picks that habot up from his dad, boy will i be mad! i don't know what you could do to get him to stop. i am dreading having to deal with these type of things myself. sorry i'm not of much help. i will keep thinking about it tho...

[rebbecca]

I think he may have picked up from his dad or even his brother. it is so gross.....

[sweetmamajen]

ugh...hard age! If he must spit, try to condition him to only spit either outside (which is embarrassing nontheless) or in the sink or toilet.
Does he seem to have a lot of saliva??

[sweetmamajen]

how hard would it be to get your husband and other son to stop spitting?

[rebbecca]

my son would be ease to stop, my husband is a different story. he does have a lot of salvia because of teething. but i will try the outside and trash can. Own bathroom is upstair and i am not running up there for just spitting, and he is to short for the sink by himself. thanks for the suggestions.

[girliegrl1723]

you know what? maybe next time you see it on the floor, or step in it (ew!) you could have him help you clean it up. then explain thats why he needs to spit in the garbage or outside. then if he does it on the floor again, have him get down on his hands and knees with you again to clean it up. i know he's only two, but he may get the point.

[mom@homenow]

Did you ever read the book National Velvet? Velvet's little brother had a "spit bottle" he carried everywhere. Completely grossed his sisters out but the mother let him have it. Your son is a lot younger but maybe you could give your little guy a small empty soda bottle and tell him it's to spit in, then you could clean it out periodically. Your question reminded me of that book, I haven't read it in decades but I sure remembered that spit bottle! ;-)

[rebbecca]

I can try it thanks

[grohegirl]

Okay... My 3 year old picked up the spitting thing from another little boy at pre-school. If the spitting is an act of defiance... in my opinion, it needs to be corrected. Now, I am not advocating spanking... but, when my 3 year old started doing this with me, I remembered something my grandmother did with me for talking back and being defiant - and it worked. I washed his mouth with soap... (not a lot of course, just enough to get the taste in)... or I have made "sassy" sauce with horseradish and mayonaise. Everytime he spits at you... just put a tiny bit of that on a spoon and stick it in his mouth. He'll stop. You might have to wrestle him down the second or third time... but I doubt you will have to do it much more after that.

[grohegirl]

I needed to add to my comment, because your son is so young. Please note that the solution I used above is for an act of defiance (with a 3 year old). You could modify it to be age appropriate. My son also drooled until he was 2 1/2, even after he had all his teeth. Have you had his tonsils checked? We took out my son's tonsils at 2 1/2 becuase they were enormous and causing him to have speech difficulties and the drooling. Look into his tonsils and adenoids (adenoids) and see if they are enlarged... that could have an effect on the drooling.

[rebbecca]

i will ask the dr thanks