How to stop nose picking?

[DietCokeLover]

DD has discovered that her fingers fit nicely in the holes in her nose. Anyone have any great success stories on how they got DC to stop?

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

Man I wish I knew! DD likes to tell me all about her nose escapades from the backseat. "Mommy, I got a booger! I'm gonna eat it mommy!" I tell her it's yucky which she thinks is more hysterical. I am thinking ignoring it and hoping it goes away? Haha, probably not. Can't wait to see what others have to say!

[Tammy]

Ah yes- my DD (2 yrs) has discovered this as well. I try not to draw a lot of attention to it cause then she seems to do it more. But there are times we're in public and I'll say yucky and try to point out something else. Can't wait to see what others have to say.

[Jenny_A]

DD is almost 3 and has discovered her nose as well!! She too likes to eat them. I know... GROSS! I've tried to get her to stop. Now she'll hide and do it. I told her a monster lived up her nose and would bite her finger off if she stuck it up there :-). One day she came to me and said, "Mommy, I picked that monster out. He's gone!". Then I had DH have a stern talk with her about it. That's when she started hiding to do it.

Maybe it's a phase??!

Jenny

[jjordan]

I hope someone has something good. My dd does this as well. In the summer it's not so bad. Now that it is colder and drier, she often causes her nose to bleed. One day when we got to the grocery store and I was getting her baby brother out of the car, she said, "mama, I need a kleenex." I looked over and she was COVERED with blood.

The blood didn't bother her, but she was mad when I told her we'd have to go home without doing the grocery shopping if I couldn't get her cleaned up well enough.

The only suggestion I have heard (and we haven't tried it yet) is to put a bandaid on the kid's finger so it won't feel nice (or maybe wont' fit) in his/her nose.

Jill

[overcome]

Why do kids want to eat it...this puzzles me...it's like an innate response. YUCK!

I told my DD she is welcome to pick her nose at home (with conditions..must have a tissue to wipe it on and must wash hands) but not out of our home b/c it is rude. So when we are out I'll say "only at home".

This is not the perfect solution b/c we could have guests at our home and she could decide to pick her nose then AND having germy fingers in her nose is a great way to pick up a cold, etc.

Sigh...don't know.

[Jenny_A]

Okay, so far we all have girls that are nose pickers. Has anyone noticed that? I guess boys are too busy with another part of their anatomy ;-) Sigh...

Jenny

[MMMommy]

You would think that there was gold up DD2's nose the way she picks in there. Digging for gold, is what I say. I don't know how to stop it either. My usual "No, that's disgusting" doesn't seem to work.

[elektra]

DD seems suddenly obessesed with this too. I hear "Mocos mommy!" (Mocos is boogers in Spanish) several times throughout the day. I wonder if it's the colder drier weather?
I just keep pulling her fingers out and saying "gross". I think she thinks it's funny when I say that. Oh well. Hopefully she'll understand manners better as she gets older.

[set81616]

I tell DS if he picks his nose I have to go spelunking. He hates for me to go in and get the boogies so it stops him for that time. Unfortunately it doesn't stop it for good. Ususally I say something like if he goes spelunking I'm going to go spelunking and he pulls his finger right out.
HTH
Shannon

[BabyMine]

The only thing that works for us is when he attempts to do it we ask him if he needs a tissue. He has now learned (not 100%) to ask for a tissue. We never told him not to do because that just made him do it more.

[MamaKath]

I was hoping there would be a great solution in this thread, lol. I teach Kindergarten and can say that it is not a boy or girl problem, it is not because they are 2, 3, 4, 5, or older. It almost seems like it is "normal" for them. I am often saying calmly "Please go get a tissue and Germx/wash your hands" during our activities each day! Reminding them tissues are around helps. I also sometimes will ask if they would like to watch me do it. Grosses them out enough that it tones down for a bit.

I remember my 3rd grade teacher being so frustrated by the amount of digging for gold that she sat us down to read Shel Silverstien's poem about nose picking. By 4th grade it must have gotten suddenly better, I don't remember it being such an issue.

[DietCokeLover]

Ok, it sounds like there is no magic solution. But, if anyone comes up with one, I sure will be happy to hear it.
I just hate "nose stuff". It's always grossed me out.

[ThreeofUs]

We don't try to fight it so much as ask him to not get his fingers dirty. In our house, the rule is that we all use tissues to touch our noses. DS asks to have a tissue (some to 1/2 of the time) before trying to pick his nose, and the rest of the time we ask, "Oh, do you need a tissue?" and he'll say yes.

It's a habit, at least for our DS, and we're trying to gently transform it into a socially acceptable behavior. This is the first step, hopefully.

[Laurel]

My friend made her DD wash her hands or purelle immediately every.single.time she picked. I think having to stop whatever she was doing to wash was not fun and made her kick the habit very quickly. I am very close to doing this with my little pickers.

Our noses are full of nasty germs, so teaching a kid to wash after picking isn't a bad idea in any case I would think.

[Fairy]

Boy picker, here. DS loves digging in for the boogies; in fact, he's doing it now. I tell him to stop and he stops. But then he'll do it again in the next moment right in front of me. It's like a moral imperative that he cannot help. But he CAN. I just don't know the secret yet. I'll try the spelunking thing. He hates for me to go digging in there, so I'll try that tack. Ugh!

DS is patting my hands as I type. He says hi.

[deannanb]

Okay, so far we all have girls that are nose pickers. Has anyone noticed that? I guess boys are too busy with another part of their anatomy ;-) Sigh...

Jenny

Hi, my name is Deanna and I have a nose picking 4 year old boy.
Gross!

no solutions, just wanted to join the club!
=)

[lisams]

I was hoping there would be a great solution in this thread, lol. I teach Kindergarten and can say that it is not a boy or girl problem, it is not because they are 2, 3, 4, 5, or older. It almost seems like it is "normal" for them. I am often saying calmly "Please go get a tissue and Germx/wash your hands" during our activities each day! Reminding them tissues are around helps. I also sometimes will ask if they would like to watch me do it. Grosses them out enough that it tones down for a bit.

I remember my 3rd grade teacher being so frustrated by the amount of digging for gold that she sat us down to read Shel Silverstien's poem about nose picking. By 4th grade it must have gotten suddenly better, I don't remember it being such an issue.

LOL! In DD's K class it is apparently a big problem. There's even a sign hanging up in the room that one of the kids made that has a picture of someone picking their nose and a big line through it (like the no smoking signs).

Ah kids.

[toby]

I second what "Overcome" and "Laurel" suggested. DS does not like to wash his hands and I told him that every time he picked, he would need to wash/wipe his hands. I also told him (like "Overcome" said) that he could pick in the privacy of his room, but needed to wash his hands after (he hasn't taken me up on it).

If there are certain times when nose picking is really bad (with us it is while reading to DS), try having DC do something else with his/her hands such as holding a stuffed animal or your bracelet/watch...

As hard as it is, try to be matter of fact about the whole thing. As you know, kids want to do things more when they are "forbidden."