My 22 month old son has been obsessed with playing with himself lately. I know that it isn't something that I should be concerned about because all boys do it. The thing I am concerned about it that he will play with it until he has an erection (something I didn't even realize a 22 month old could get) and it bothers him so much he will try to take his diaper off or he will lay there and slap it. I don't know what to do for him. I tried letting him run around without a diaper on for a while, but he peed everywhere. Has anyone gone through this? Does anyone have any advice? Thanks.
Sorry, S., this is totally normal. My son started developing erections around the same age and they were always related to him having or about to have a BM. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that the erections aren't so much "bothering" your son as they are "fascinating" him. Don't worry--he'll get over this phase in about 85 years.
I guess I was lucky - my son never did this - or at least not in front of me! I know other moms who have been through this. Two things I would do - when he is bothered or fascinated or whatever, try to help him get his mind on something else. Distract him. Also, this could be a real source of embarrassement some day, so it's very important to teach your son that if he is going to play with himself, he needs to do that in private. I know moms who have taught their little boys to go to their room to do that. Other people don't want to see it!
Unfortunately as the others have said this is NORMAL. My son would do this & would end up peeing out the top of his diaper:) As he got older (3 or 4)he would do this as he got engrossed in his favorite program or if the program got intense, at this point I started politely asking him to go to the restroom or his room if his privates were bothering him & I would leave it at that. I did not want to embarass him, but I knew he had to learn the appropriate time/place (if there is one).
Even infants can have an erection so a 22 month old masturbating is perfectly normal. Try not to over-react (respond matter-of-factly) when you see him masturbating and use correct terminology when referring to body parts.
It can be helpful to substitute a more appropriate object. For example, give him a stuffed animal or hang a small toy from a loop on his pants to distract him from self-stimulation.
