This Mom’s Viral Hack For Getting Things Out Of Your Kid’s Nose Is Genius

I have to be honest: I'm surprised my toddler son has yet to get something stuck up his nose. This kid loves putting everything in his mouth — food, the cap to a marker, one of his toy cars, the cat's tail. You name it, it's in there. So you would think, at one point, he'd go for his nose. I'm waiting for the day, and when that day comes, I'll know what to do because this mom's viral hack for getting things out of your kid's nose has prepared me for the inevitable. And it is inevitable.

Tiffany Jenkins, who runs the popular Juggling The Jenkins blog, posted a hilarious video two weeks ago to her site's Facebook page explaining to fans what happened when her daughter shoved something up her nose. The day started like any other, Jenkins said in her video, until she heard her little one crying in the other room. It wasn't that typical whining kids do when their sibling steals their toy or something; no, Jenkins recalled, her daughter was in pain. "She keeps touching her nose," she said to the camera.

Jenkins' story has a little bit of everything: Humor, suspense, surprise, intrigue, adventure. OK, I'm exaggerating just a bit, but her video was actually pretty funny.

I mean, this is how she starts out:

Something happened today and it's blowing my freaking mind. Those of you who are really good parents and have your stuff together and have really good common sense and stuff, you probably already know about this, but I didn't. So this video is going to be for the parents are like me who just don't know things. Parents whose knee jerk reaction to anything is just panic.

Real talk: That's my son's father. (And me, OK? Me too.)

Seeing her daughter in pain, Jenkins goes to look up her nostril. She said to the camera,

I grabbed my flashlight on my cellphone, Grey's Anatomy style, and I'm investigating. What do I see way in the distance, way back yonder by her brain? Something white shoved up there. What do I do? I freak out.

And by "freak out," Jenkins meant rush her daughter to the emergency room. At this point, she was supposed to jump on a phone call with one of her followers, Jenkins said. She calls her up, explains the situation, and the follower, who used to work in an ER, shared the hack to end all hacks (of which there are many; just check out this handy list from Kidspot).

So what is this magical, amazing solution? Cover up the nostril where the object isn't stuck, and blow really hard into their mouth. Genius, right?

And it works! Jenkins filmed the hack in action the day it happened. In the video, Jenkins and her little one are sitting in the front seats of her car, stopped in a parking lot. She told her daughter to say "Ah," blocked the other nostril, blew into her mouth, and boom, the white object flew out of her nose. Jenkins excitedly exclaimed in the clip, "It works! It works!"

Jenkins tells Romper by email:

I had no idea this was a thing, and was literally on my way to the E.R. to pay to have it removed. It was divine intervention for sure. I actually stopped reading comments on my videos (to save my sanity), but judging by how quickly it spread I'm assuming I wasn't the only one who didn't know the cool trick.

This hack is actually a well-known technique known as the "mother's kiss" method, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The technique works best with hard objects, and works successfully about 60 percent of the time in those cases. But the Cleveland Clinic cautions that, for softer objects, it's better to take your child to see a doctor for removal. Jenkins also tells Romper:

After some research I found that if someone blows TOO hard it can cause lung damage, so those who want to try this should be really careful!

Personally, I'll try the "mother's kiss" method first or try and use tweezers to gently remove the object. Another option would be to use my mouth to suck out whatever is stuck up my son's nose. Of course, I would do it if I absolutely have to, but I am going to avoid eating boogers for as long as I can.

Check out Romper's new video series, Bearing The Motherload, where disagreeing parents from different sides of an issue sit down with a mediator and talk about how to support (and not judge) each other’s parenting perspectives. New episodes air Mondays on Facebook.