Problem with My 2 1/2 Year Old Is This Normal

Hi, my name is L., I have 4 childern they are grown now but my oldest did the same thing when she was about that age and I had a friend who also had this happening with her 3 yr old daughter. Well, my doctor said it was a normal behavior for a child her age. Because at that age they start to have sensations and are curiouse. I asked him what to do about it and he said not to scold her but to try to distract her when she does it and to explain to her not to do it. We took his advice and after a little while she had stopped. Does she go to a sitter if so she may have seen another child do it and it peaked her curiousity. That was how my friends little girl started, she saw her little cousin do it. My friend did the same thing. I hope i was of some help...beleive me it is not abnormal. Goog luck, L.

yes that is normal...my daughter did that until she started pre-school...it normally starts around that age...once they discover that they have feeling down there.

I heard about this from another parent years ago...She enrolled the child in dance Classes, which eventually took her mind off of the humping...Even in the beginning of the classes while @ home if Mom saw that behavior, she turned on music and started dancing. Her little girl joined in, her thoughts were re-directed to the dancing and the music. I hope this works for you...C.

Hi Ms. M.,
My name is Z... And yes what your daughter is doing is normal.. It's not something every child in America does but it is normal. My cousin's son did the same thing. He started humping things at 1 1/2. And he didn't stop to his mid 3.Now he is 6 going on 7 and he is as normal as any 6yr. old boy..The way she broke him out the habit was a long and grueling process.. She started with giving him new things to do that kept his interested. And trust me with a 1 1/2 yr. old it was hard.. We did things as giving him new toys with lost of sounds & colors, and show him how it could do different things. It work but only for a while.. After a couple of days he was at it again.. So then she tried reading and singing songs to him.. He like the books if only to tear them up.. But just like the last time it only keep his attention for a short while.. one day his father brought him home this toy that he could push around the house. I mean this toy had it all lights, sound and it moved fast.. He was ecstatic about this toy.. No it did not stop him from humping things but it did stop him for doing it as much.. Eventually he grew out of it.. He found bigger and better things to do.. so I guess what I'm trying to say is if you find something that sparks her interest and keeps her attention, that's less time she has to hump things. And eventually she grow out of it.. But starting to break her out the habit now will move the process along faster.. I hope I was any sort of help.. Take care.
Z...

I don't have an answer for you, wish I did. Very curious, though it may seem, it also can be just as normal as anything else. To a child, unless something's "happened", your body parts are all the same, a foot, an arm, the crotch area, so if the child finds doing something repetitive comforting OR gets a reaction out of you she may want to keep doing it. It's another of those things you may not want to attract attention to by even addressing it to her. Maybe it'll just go extinct on it's own if you pretend you don't notice it, hard as that may be?! Right away, as adults, we know where our thoughts turn when we see a child acting in a seemingly adult way. Keeping that in mind and being ever cautious as I"m sure you are, just remember, to them, it's not necessarily a sexual body part, it's just a body part to them. So it'd be the same as if the kid constantly taps her foot or twiddles her thumbs. Again, providing you've ruled anything of a sexual nature out.... I'd wait and watch and see if it doesn't go away on it's own within a short period of time. If it doesn't, I'd probably bring my child to a therapist/psychologist, who can help you and her with behavior modification techniques to make it end. Good luck!

My little cousin used to do this too. I don't think you need to break her of the habit...at least not by discouraging or making her feel bad about it. It is totally normal and you don't want to make her feel he is doing something wrong. If she doing it in public however maybe you can talk to her about whethis being a private thing and when it is not appropriate to do it.

Hello I know exactly how you feel. I have quite a few children in my home during the day and my 3 year old nephew has started this behavior himself. I asked his mother about it and she said this is normal, I still was a little offset by this so I asked my Pedi. about it and she said that children this age are just now opening up to notice their sex organs and that every child at some point will go through something similar. This led me to remember my youngest sister at the age of 4, she had a period of time when she did this and even now my 6 year old nephew still touches it alot, get this he says "it's sticking to my leg",kids!lol Just hold on it won't last forever, I'm still bracing myself for when my 1 year old goes through this stage if she does. Good Luck!

oh yes my daugther and nephew went thur this around the same age as your daugther and i also asked the doctor and she said it was normal too.so dont worry it will pass

Two of my 4 kids did the same thing. Actually, my 4 year old still does it once in a while, mostly at night. My oldest stopped doing it by the time she was four. I've heard that it might be the child's way of soothing themselves, kind of like a parent rocking them to sleep as an infant. Since my kids did it mostly when they were going to sleep, I figured that was probably the reason why. Don't worry, I'm sure she'll grow out of it in a while.