# Blowing in baby's face



## yasinsmama (Mar 9, 2008)

Is this an old wives tale, or does it really help when they are choking, or help them to swallow?
I thought it only makes them hold their breath??


----------



## RasJi7 (Sep 25, 2007)

not sure. i had never seen it until i moved to the my husband's country in the caribbean. they blow on their forhead though. i have no idea if it works but they do if baby starts to cough or gag.

off topic: my friend here is from the dominican republic and when a baby has hiccups they take any string that might be hanging from your clothes and lick it and stick it on the baby's forhead to stop the hiccups- how cute?


----------



## leanbh (Mar 22, 2007)

i have no clue about in an emergency.

i only just discovered it makes dd laugh at about 10.5 months.







i don't think i would ever do it before babe knows you're playing. i think it's kinda mean.


----------



## GISDiva (Jul 13, 2007)

Someone gave us this advice not too long ago when our DS started screaming for no apparent reason and forgot to breathe, thereby turning a scary shade of gray. They said they used to do it to their daughter when something similar happened.


----------



## tallulahma (Jun 16, 2006)

i do itt for hiccups.


----------



## RoseDuperre (Oct 15, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tallulahma* 
i do itt for hiccups.

Does it work?


----------



## fek&fuzz (Jun 19, 2005)

my brother blows on the top of a baby's head if it has the hiccups. only babies that are related to him, not stranger's babies who are hiccuping.


----------



## Amandamanda (Sep 29, 2007)

my dd LOVES when you blow in her f ace! she loves it so much that once i was holding her and i yawned and she got all smiley thinking i was taking a deep breath to blow at her! im not sure in an emergency but she does always gasp when we do it, so maybe there is truth to it.

i love doing it, she starting full on laughing for the first time when we did it, and she always smiles and laughs. it can even get her to stop crying and be in a good mood!


----------



## FingerLakesMom2B (May 20, 2008)

I had never heard to do this, but I have done in instinctively when my 11 day old daughter chokes or gags and holds her breath for a second. It seems like it startles her and makes her take a deep breath in.


----------



## LawrenceDoula (May 2, 2007)

Yes, it makes the baby take a breath in and hold it for a second. We also do this when we go swimming and want to practice going under with our babe. Fortunately he likes it!


----------



## rcr (Jul 29, 2008)

DS thinks it is hillarious.


----------



## marrymeflyfree (Jan 5, 2008)

When I helped teach a mommy&me swim class about a hundred years ago, we'd have the parent blow in the babe's face before taking them under. They instinctively take in a deep breath and hold it for a sec. It helped get them under the water for the first few times, and they were generally less scared of it after that intro.

I guess it would be helpful for a baby who is holding its breath for whatever reason, but I wouldn't do it for a babe that is choking on an object. The deep inhalation could lodge the item deeper in the trachea.

We have done it a few times to our 3mo....she thinks its hilarious.  Big smiles after that deep breath!


----------



## aurora_skys (Apr 1, 2008)

hmm.. maybe it does work? i wouldnt trust it in an emergency tho lol.
when im getting my dogs to swallow pills i blow on their noses and they swallow immediately so maybe its a similar thing for babies??


----------



## Nicole_ac (Mar 25, 2008)

I didn't know that! I just do it for fun, mine loves it.


----------



## JessicaS (Nov 18, 2001)

Yep, I do it to ds when he is hollering so much he doesn't breathe

We also do it before taking a baby under water.


----------



## RoseDuperre (Oct 15, 2007)

I'm going to try this the next time hiccups are going on for a long time!


----------



## gaidinsgirl (Aug 15, 2006)

..


----------



## yasinsmama (Mar 9, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *RasJi7* 
not sure. i had never seen it until i moved to the my husband's country in the caribbean. they blow on their forhead though. i have no idea if it works but they do if baby starts to cough or gag.

off topic: my friend here is from the dominican republic and when a baby has hiccups they take any string that might be hanging from your clothes and lick it and stick it on the baby's forhead to stop the hiccups- how cute?









That's funny, my family is from Morocco, and when baby has hiccups, they find a piece of red string and put it on the forehead. They say it's supposed to make the baby look up, and forget about the hiccups.

ETA: I didn't mean to blow in baby's face in a real emergency, just like when they are gasping, or coughing & can't catch their breath.


----------



## IfMamaAintHappy (Apr 15, 2002)

Flis would choke a LOT, and we blew in her face, and she would stop choking and breathe. It still works, actually, and she's 2! We do it for Jack and it works on him as well.


----------



## trinimommy (Nov 3, 2007)

My family is from Trinidad and they do the string on the head thing too for hiccups. I do the raising of the arm when choking too...never heard of the blowing thing...will try that.


----------



## OllieMama (Jun 5, 2007)

Ds is a hot sweaty baby, and last summer when he was about 5 months old, we were lying down and he was nursing to sleep. He was basically asleep but would never willingly unlatch, and would usually wake if I tried to break his latch. It was usually like 20 times (no exaggeration) I'd gently break his latch and he'd wake up and want to nurse more, over and over, no matter how long he'd been nursing in his sleep. It was making me crazy. Well anyway unrelated to that, like I was saying, he was always really sweaty. One naptime, I thought if I blew lightly on the top of his head, it might feel nice for him and help him relax more. Well I did it, and he instantly popped off and rolled onto his back zonked out. I think I either didn't aim very well or I covered more area with my blowing than I thought I would. Anyway, that became my trick. I would blow cool air gently on his face when he was nursing in his sleep, and he would happily pop off and stay asleep. It was a miracle, and saved my sanity. He only got annoyed a few times, when he wasn't actually asleep enough for it to work. Now at 16 months, it doesn't work at all. But it was great while it lasted.


----------



## BigMama2008 (Dec 27, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *yaseensmommy* 
Is this an old wives tale, or does it really help when they are choking, or help them to swallow?
I thought it only makes them hold their breath??

Until I saw my DH do it with DD and it worked.







Go figure.


----------



## jayell79 (Jun 18, 2007)

I'm not sure about blowing, but my Grandpa taught me to raise my arms when I choked. It seems to help you get a good breath in so you can cough whatever it is out. He always said to raise both arms because it forces you to straighten your spine and opens up your diaphragm.


----------



## becoming (Apr 11, 2003)

I don't know about the choking/gagging thing, but I know it helps with giving liquid medicines. We call it "squirt and blow" around here.


----------

