How to stop child from nervous habit? He's turning into a little Al Bundy...

[ExcitedMamma]

DS is 4 and constantly has his fingers in his mouth or his pants. The mouth thing is of course gross and unsanitary. He always has his hands down his pants. I keep picturing Al Bundy from Married with Children. I never see other boys doing this or even the mouth thing actually, are these common? How do I get him to stop? Thank you!!

[Giantbear]

Probably not what you want to hear, but i find sitting with my hand down my pants to be very comfortable. Mind you, nothing illicit is going on, its just comfortable.


As for his hands in his mouth, i made dd wash her hands every time i caught her with them in her mouth, seemed to do the trick when she had to constantly stop what she was doing and go upstairs to wash.

[pastrygirl]

I make him wash every time (mouth or pants). He gets tired of washing so often! But still haven't found a way to just get him to STOP.

[happymom]

It sounds like classic sensory seeking behaviors. Kids who under-register input in other areas will seek it out in highly sensitive areas such as the mouth or genitals. Does he appear to have other sensory issues?

ETA- I teach 3-4 yr olds and see this very often- almost always with kids that have sensory issues. It's not as unusual as you think!


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[elephantmeg]

ADHD meds were the only thing that stopped DS from this behavior....

[hillview]

pretty age appropriate

[ang79]

Both my girls have a thing about fingers in their mouths (5.5 and 7.5). It drives me nuts and I am constantly reminding them and asking them to wash their hands. Neither were finger/thumb suckers as babies (DD2 loved her paci but was totally weened by 2.5 or 3 years old, DD1 never took to the paci or fingers/thumb). I've noticed they do it when they are tired and when they are concentrating on something (like reading, listening to me read, or working at school work or art project, etc.). I have no idea how to stop it. I used to pick at my fingers when I was a kid (tear off my nails and cuticles) as a bad habit. I'm not sure which is worse, the fingers in the mouth or finger picking that I did!

[georgiegirl]

DS is 4 and constantly has his fingers in his mouth or his pants. The mouth thing is of course gross and unsanitary. He always has his hands down his pants. I keep picturing Al Bundy from Married with Children. I never see other boys doing this or even the mouth thing actually, are these common? How do I get him to stop? Thank you!!

Are you talking about my child? I'm always harping on him to get his hands out of his mouth or his pants...like three million times a day. The mouth thing bothers me more because of germs, but the pants thing also drives me bonkers. I keep saying...that's for your room or the bathroom then wash your hands.

[wellyes]

Normal. I agree with the hand washing advice. Treat it just like nose picking. Don't flip out, don't punish, do make it really annoying for the kid.

[Giantbear]

I'm telling you, any man who says he does not watch tv this way when alone is not being truthful, the 'al Bundy' is very comfortable :)

[lalasmama]

Totally typical for all the kids (boys, at least, and my DD) I was ever a nanny for. FWIW, one (my DD) out of all of them have sensory issues.

For the fingers, you can remind and make him wash his hands 186418413 times a day, or, if DH won't freak, you can always try StopBite (we bought ours at Fred Meyer/Kroger, but never used it, it's about $6/bottle).

For the hands down the pants, my DD was the same way, and her counselor recommended a "sensory bag" for her. It had a piece of "silky" from a blanket, one of those "spiky" rubber balls, a string of Mardi Gras beads, and a few other things I can't remember at the moment.

[Jacksmommy2b]

DS2 (also 4) always has his hands in his mouth. It drives me batty, but he is a sensitive kid and it seems to happen more often when he is feeling stress. He doesn't have any other sensory or development issues, it just seems to be his own strange little coping thing. I just remind him to take his hands out if his mouth when I see it.