4 year old son won't swallow or spit out saliva, refuses to open mouth to speak.

by Lauren
(Binghamton, NY, US)

Okay, so my son went across the street for a play date tonight. When he came back, the parent of the other boy said he had a little choking scare (which tends to be common because he literally bites off more than he can chew), but he was okay after that.

So we're sitting in the living room, I'm letting him play with my tablet for a bit, and I realize he's being quieter than normal. I tried to ask him a question, and he just nodded "yes". I realized something was in his mouth (or that's how it looked), so I asked him to open his mouth so I could see if he had candy or gum or something like that. He refused. He started to shut down when I asked him again. Keep in mind, I'm rather new to this. I was only told he had SPD in April and haven't really had any tips on how to handle it. I'm sort of alone in this when it comes to my parent friends.

So finally, somehow, he opens his mouth, and sorry for the "ew" factor, but a bunch of drool comes out of his mouth and lands on the floor. He grabbed a wipe and cleaned it up himself (which was very gentleman-like, I have to admit), but then refused to speak again. So I started asking yes or no questions to see what was going on with him. I found out through this that he felt like he had a lump and tightness in his throat, felt sort of nauseous and didn't want to eat or brush his teeth before bed. So for one night I allowed him not to brush, and he went to bed with no dinner. I feel bad about both, but I wasn't about to FORCE him to open his mouth. I just kept encouraging him to drink water, but he was scared to swallow.

He's in bed now, and me being a worried mom, and my daughter being with her dad, I have since checked on him. He's still not talking, and I keep encouraging him to lay on his side rather than his back because I'm terrified he will choke on saliva when he falls asleep. He hasn't gotten sick, and he doesn't feel feverish or anything. I have no idea what happened over there and why he feels this nausea feeling now. Has any other mom with an SPD child had this problem, or something similar?

I don't know what to do here. I know once he falls asleep he will swallow in his sleep and wake up just fine, but in case this happens again, I need help on what to do, or am I doing okay?

Sorry this is so long, im just worried and confused.