When Can Babies Blow Their Nose? Signs Your Little One Is Ready

When you have a stuffy nose, it is just so easy to grab a tissue and blow your nose. But for babies, their snot is another story. They aren’t born with the ability to blow their noses. In fact, most children don’t learn to blow their noses until around 2 to 3 years old.

In their early stages, babies can’t blow their noses because they are still beginning to develop the motor skills needed for coordinated actions. And since they cannot clear congestion on their own, as their parent, it is your responsibility to help them out. An infant nasal aspirator is a helpful tool that you can use in getting all the gunk out of their noses.

So, when can babies blow their nose? Find out in this article.

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The Key Distinction: Babies vs. Toddlers and Skill Readiness

For babies and toddlers, blowing their nose is not an instinct; it’s a learned motor skill that needs breath control, imitation, and the ability to follow instructions, which we know that these abilities don’t fully develop until they reach toddlerhood.

Infants (0-12 months) cannot blow their noses yet because:

They have no voluntary breath control
Cannot close their mouth and exhale through their nose on command
Don’t understand instructions like “blow”
They are still developing their motor coordination needed for directed airflow

Toddlers, on the other hand, learn nose-blowing between 2 and 3 years old. Their bodies and brains start developing the skills needed for it. Toddlers start to:

Have better breath awareness
Follow simple instructions, like “blow”
Copy what adults do
Develop enough motor control to coordinate the mouth and nose

Babies clearly need your help clearing congestion, while toddlers can gradually learn how to blow their noses with your guidance and practice.

Anatomical Limitations: Why Infants Cannot Blow Their Own Nose

Nose-blowing actually requires a combination of developed anatomy, muscle control, and cognitive understanding, none of which babies have yet.

Underdeveloped breath control: Babies do not have voluntary control over their breathing, and they only rely on reflexive breathing. So, it is physically impossible for babies to blow their nose.
Small nasal passages: Your baby’s nasal passages are very small. It is so small that it can’t generate the pressure needed to remove the mucus through nose-blowing.
Limited muscle coordination: Infants still don’t have the motor coordination to perform certain actions required in nose-blowing.
Immature understanding of instructions: Even if your baby could blow their nose, they still wouldn’t understand how to follow instructions like “blow”

The Typical Age Range for Learning to Blow the Nose

Infants under 12 months cannot blow their noses yet due to underdeveloped breathing control, while toddlers gradually begin developing the needed skills.

Around 15 to 18 months, some children start showing early signs of readiness, such as copying actions or blowing air through their mouths, though they still cannot fully perform the task. Most toddlers learn to blow their noses between 2 and 3 years old, when they have better breath control and stronger muscle coordination.

By the time they reach 4 years old, many children can blow their noses independently. During the infant stage, however, clearing congestion remains the parents’ responsibility, usually with the help of tools like an infant nasal aspirator.

Developmental Milestones Required for Nose Blowing

Children need several developmental milestones to be able to blow their nose, including:

Voluntary breath control: The ability to exhale air on purpose, rather than rely on reflexive breathing.
Improved motor coordination: Coordinating mouth closure, nasal airflow, and facial muscles at the same time.
Ability to follow simple instructions: Understanding directions like “blow,” “close your mouth,” or “breathe out.”
Body awareness development: Recognizing the function of their nose and becoming aware of the sensation of nasal congestion.
Airflow practice through play: Activities like blowing bubbles, pinwheels, or candles that help strengthen controlled exhalation.

Safe Alternatives: Clearing Congestion in Babies and Infants

Since infants cannot blow their noses on their own, there are safe and gentle methods you can use to help clear congestion. Two of the simplest, yet effective options are saline drops and infant nasal aspirators.

Saline drops are a very helpful tool if your baby’s mucus is too thick or the boogers are too hard to remove. Keep in mind that you just want the mucus to loosen in your baby’s nose, and their nose is much smaller than an adult’s. Here’s how to use it:

Lay your baby on their back.
Put 3 to 4 drops into each nostril using the nose dropper. The nose drops may make the baby sneeze.
After giving saline drops, hold your baby with their head back for about a minute. This will give the saline time to thin the mucus. Then, suction with a bulb syringe.
Wash the dropper, jar, and bulb syringe each time after use. Throw away unused saline.
Do not use any other type of medicine nose drops, unless prescribed by the doctor.

An infant nasal aspirator often comes with a spray, can soften the mucus by spraying it with saline, and then suction it out. Here’s how you can use this device:

Lay your baby on a flat, safe surface with their head slightly tilted back.
If needed, apply saline drops first.
Attach the soft tip of the nasal aspirator and power on the device.
Gently insert the tip into your baby’s nostril.
Use suction briefly.
Clean all parts after use to maintain hygiene.

Effective Strategies for Teaching Toddlers the Skill (Age 2+)

The Immitation Technique

There are a few tricks to helping toddlers learn nose-blowing and many learn through imitation. Watching you and the rest of the family will be an incentive to imitate and learn the methods of nose-blowing.

Mouth

Teaching your toddler first to learn to blow air through the mouth by having her blow bubbles, pinwheels, and pieces of tissue rather than going directly to nose-blowing can ease the learning curve.

Nose

Have her feel the air that comes from your nose when you close your mouth. Blowing with the mouth closed and then slowly showing how to use a tissue to block one side of the nostril can be very interesting for your toddler because she might not have noticed the feeling of air blowing through her nose before.

Practice

The old saying practice makes perfect is proven and tested. Be patient with your child. Show her what she did wrong and praise her when she accomplishes the skill. Soon, nose-blowing will become normal in your child’s routine.

Making it Fun: Games and Tricks to Encourage Nose Blowing

Children love to learn through play, and when it comes to teaching them basic hygiene, doing it through play is a smart way to help those lessons stick.

Finger over lips game

This game is an easy way to show kids how to blow air from their nose. To practice, gently place your finger over your child’s lips and encourage them to keep their mouth closed while blowing air only from their nose.

Underwater bubble games

If your toddler loves to play during bath time, this game is perfect. While taking a bath, show them how to blow bubbles through your nose underwater and then ask them to try. Have them gently put their face in the water, close their mouth entirely, and blow air only from their nose. Then, when their nose feels stuffed up, tell them to apply the same technique as they did during the underwater bubbles game.

Cotton ball races

Teach your child how to blow air from their nose by having them move a cotton ball, a feather, or a little ball of tissue paper across a flat surface as fast as possible, using only their nose. Then, make it a competition by clearing off a table and seeing who can get their cotton ball the furthest.