Heip!!! My 21 month old daughter started a little over a week ago, putting her hands down the back of her pants. At first it was just something that she would do every once and a while, and it didn't really bother me so I would just distract her and have her do somthing else whenever I would catch her, but today she did it after she pooped and her hand was just covered. YUCK! Thankfully I noticed right away, but how do I get her to stop? Should I just always make sure she is in a onesie? Is this just a phase she will outgrow on her own? Please any suggestions would be great.
Hi everyone. Thanks for the advice. I have checked repeatedly and can see no signs of a rash or irritation, no redness or scratches. I called her doc and she said that as long as she is not scratching, which after closer observation I noticed her hands are usually with the back of her hands to her back, than it is probably just a phase she will outgrow. I've decided to keep her in a onesie for the time being since I can't watch her constantly and just to tell her "yuck we don't do that". And I hope this is a short phase! ;)
It has passed! It only took 2 months and a lot of "yucks" LOL!! Thanks again everyone!
I would try putting her on the potty every time you catch her. I'm guessing from the resluts of the last incidnet, she is not trained yet. Maybe she is telling you she needs to go? If she is placed on the potty enough, maybe she will learn that is when it is OK to do it.
GOOD LUCK!! :)
K.
It's a phase but can be a drawn out habit that she'll outgrow. I had the same problem with one of my nephews I babysat. I finally got tired of the poo and made him sit on the kitchen floor with his hands out every time he did it. Same thing with boogers on the wall - I made my son stand there and put his nose on it, even if he had to lean over. Being uncomfortable about standing there or being covered in your own poo for 5 to 10 minutes seem to work well. I didn't yell and I kept the lecture very short because of the ages of them. Oh, and I also put a frame around the booger on the wall and made him show Grandma, telling him if you don't want people to see your boogers don't pick your nose and if you do end up with a booger, use a tissue.
For another bad habit one of my son's had, we kept a laundry basket up in his closet. Whenever he did it we put one of his toys in the basket. It was the "can't have it" basket. He could see what was in there - which was the point. And we took his favorite toys or parts of his favorite toys. When he'd ask for a toy back we would remind him of his bad habit. At bedtime, if he didn't do it all day we would tell him that in the morning he can get a toy out, he went to bed happy that he'll get a toy back and started out the morning happy he got what he may have dreamt of all night.
My daughter occasionally does the same thing. She's 16 months old. Keep on doing what your doing and like everything else......."THIS TOO SHALL PASS"!!!!
Generally speaking those types of behaviors become "habits" more than anything else. If there isn't a medical reason, like diaper rash, chances are she just developed a habit. Like most habits they become unconscious. Simply drawing attention to the behavior will often disturb the pattern, especially if followed by a consequence. For example if every time she puts her hands down her pants you say, “There are many germs in your diaper that can get you sick. If you put your hands down your pants we will need to wash your hands.” Then EVERY time she does it, you remove her from her activity to wash her hands, this will becoming annoying to her, and help her focus on the behavior that causes hand washing. If that doesn’t seem to help, I’d definitely keep her in the onsie for a while. Anything that disturbs the pattern she created will help stop the behavior. Good luck!
Hello,
I am fortunate that this never happened to me and I can only imagine the fear that rises!
I agree with Kim and Robin... That would be the best course of action. Making a bigger scene at this age could backfire depending on your child's behavior pattern. What worked for one, could completely hamper yours.
Be calm, wash her and have patience... It should pass (soon!) if it is a phase! ;)
I would make sure, first of all, to rule out the possibility that your daughter isn't having a reaction on her skin or yeast infection. If it's really prevelant, if could very well be something that is irritating her but she doesn't have the words to tell you so. Make sure she is getting really clean during changes and check her for redness or rashes. Try to notice if she is scratching or merely placing her hands in that spot. If you've ruled out that possibility, I would make sure to be very careful not to give her any nagative attention about it for 2 reasons. First, you don't want her to develop feelings of shame about her body. Second, she may feed off of negative reinforcement to get attention. She may have connected getting your attention by the fact that you try so hard to distract her. If that's the case, ignoring her completely during the undesired behavior will rid you of the problem when she realizes you aren't going to come up with a new toy, game, something for her to do when she does it. Just my .02 HTH
Hi K., When you give children choices they learn to disapline themselves. Your daughter is old enough to understand this. Tell her that big girl panties are for big girls. Big girls don't poop in their pants or put their hands in their pants. Don't make a big deal about this or she will use it to rile you. Simply put her back in a onesie, and encourage her to earn the right to be a big girl. This is just a phase, but like all phases it is a learning one. She will want to be like the big kids and like you. I would say to my daughters, "do you ever see mommy put her hands down her pants?" or " don't you want to wear big girl panties like mommy does?". Cause and effect is the method here. Her choice causes instant concequeses. Like touching a hot cup of coffee, if they feel the heat, they learn not to touch the cup. If she puts her hands in her pants, she has to wear a onesie like a baby. Get it? She will learn very fast. Good luck.
Make sure she isn't just itchy. Maybe she needs to be cleaned up a little more after a BM. Those flushable wipes work great. Or just get the TP damp before you wipe her. Be consistant. Tell her "Poo poo is yucky it will make you sick. Gotta wash your hands now. Tell me if you are itchy on your bottom. I can help you get cleaned up better. I don't want you to get sick. I don't want you to put your hands down there any more. It's yucky!" Maybe put a little powder or cream on her if she is red. Good luck.
K.
Talk to your pedititrician and have them check it out, she may have some type of a rash or infection you can not see. My daughter had a yeast infection on her back side not her vaginal area. She constantly was doing the same thing, it mabe a simple as a cream to stop the issue. Of course it may just be curiousity at this age too.
Some kids are just like that, they are curious it's gross but natural. My friends daughter did that for a while and we were just consistent with her, any time we saw her doing that we would tell her no thats yucky don't do that. She stopped after a few weeks, just a phase but I think it was a precursor to potty training, she was noticing that it felt funny, after that phase she started taking her diaper all the way off. Try not to make too big of a deal about it and she should grow out of it soon. Onesies and overall would probably help in the mean time till she forgets about it though.
I wouldn't make a huge deal of it cause she might start doing it more if you focus to much on it. If she puts her hands down... If it were my son doing it.. I'd just say.. Yuck, no and leave it there. But, it would probably make your life easier to have her in a onsie... or anything else that would limit her access. Soon enough she'll just move on to something else. Also, you might want to have something on hand you can give her to play with. Keep her hands busy doing something else.
J.
