My oldest son turns 4 at the end of February. He picks his nose all the time. We have encouraged him to use a tissue. We have told him eating boogers can make you sick. We have tried ignoring, punishing, nothing seems to get him to stop. Any suggestions? It is such a gross habit.
I had the same problem with my son in his early age. It might sound cruel but every time I saw him picking his nose and eating it, I put one drop on each fingers of Tabasco sauce or vinegar. robbin it and make him lick his fingers right away. It took a couple weeks but he quit. Now he's doing it on his own children.
When I was an elemetary school teacher, I used to make kids wash their hands any time I saw them picking (discretely, so as not to embarass). After my daughter, 5, started, I used the same strategy with her. Eventually, she got tired of washing her hands and seriuosly cut down on her picking. Hope this helps!
hello,My name is J. and I have a 4 yr old son and we are going through the same thing I asked his Dr. What do I need to do about it and she said to ignore it and in some time he will stop doing it. It is so hard to ignore but I have to I hope that he will stop.
When a child picks his/her nose, the lining becomes irritated and can give them an itchy sensation. This makes them pick it more. (This also happens when people use Q-tips roughly in their ears.) Then it can become a habit they do without even realizing they are doing it. Let him know you know how hard breaking this habit will be for him, but that it is important and you are there to help him. I suggest holding a mirror in front of him when he does it so he is more aware that he is doing it and sees how noticeable it is to other people. I like the idea of making him wash his hands afterwards too (for hygiene if nothing else). My sister did a reward jar for her son. She put ten pennies (it could be anything)in a jar , and each time her son did the bad habit, she took a penny out. At the end of the day, he got to keep what was left in the jar. (You may want to do a morning jar, afternoon jar, and evening jar since one day is a long time for a 3-4 year old to wait for a reward.) Also try to give him something else to do with his hands when he is tempted to pick his nose. Try reading him a book on your lap while he plays with a special toy. Distraction helps. This will probably take at the very least a month, but hopefully each day he will get better and better. Good luck.
Those other things work also but I found a cold mist humidifier helped also because my son's nose didn't get so dried out inside of it and he doesn't pick so much now. He's also 4 and he now goes to a pre k and will again next year because of when his birthday falls. He's gone 4 hours 4 days and the school has kinda dry air as well. I do the humidifier off and on during the summer months and lots during the winter months.
