Hello moms! I know that kids pick up bad habits, but my question is how to stop them. Our daughter has been picking her nose and eating the tasty buggers. It is SO gross. I know she will pick her nose and give them a taste, so I haven't done anything major discliple-wise. All we ask of her is to do it in her room or in the bathroom and that the bugger goes in a tissue and not her mouth. Yet she continues to do it. I now send her to her room every time she does it.
Yesterday, I got so sick of it that I kept extending her time outs. The first time out was 3 minutes. By the end of the day, she was up to an 8 minute time out. She doesn't seem to get it.
And she'll eat werid stuff off of the ground or stuff that comes off her body (she ate a scab once). We tell her that only food goes in her mouth. She just isn't getting it!
We're pretty grossed out and her little brother watches everything she does. Luckily, so far, he has been deciding NOT to do what she does. But eventually he'll want to do what she does and we want to get these bad behaviors to end. Any advice???
Staph is running rampid everywhere. It's a serious virus, and it lives in 1-3 peoples nose! Kids are much higher risk, well, because they're grubby! It is impossible to keep them clean enough, every little cut, fingers in the nose, touching everything... We can only do so much, but keep her hands clean.
My son did this and we just ignored it too, thinking it'd be outgrown. However, after he turned 7 I said enough's enough! I tried to expain that eating boogers is like eating poop, it's all stuff that comes out of your body and isn't meant to go back in. I thought for sure that'd do it for my scientifically-minded kid, but alas, his fingers kept digging away! So I took it a step further and made him pick up dog poop out in the back yard (usually Dad's job) every time I caught him. Again with the logic that picking up dog poop is gross, as is picking your nose and eating it :) Only took twice...and that was 3 months ago!
Don't have any tips that anyone else hasn't mentioned. My son did the same for awhile and eventually stopped on his own, wasn't anything we tried.
On a medical note, if she starts "eating" a lot of weird stuff like dirt, rocks, coffee grounds, you may want to have the doctor check her for anemia. Just mouthing objects is normal though.
Our first ate his boogers all the time. I taught him what germs are and told him that if he eats his boogers he'll get germs and get a really bad tummy ache and get sick. It worked like a charm - instantly. He is also really good at washing his hands now too.
My newly 3 year old does the same thing and all I do is just swat at her hand when I see her do it, give her a kleenex and ask her not to do that. I do not discipline her for it. I pick my battles and I don't feel that is a good reason to discipline her. I'm thinking she'll just grow out of it at some point and will understand why it's gross and know not to do it. Good luck.
What worked for me was to say, "Eeew, your fingers don't below there! Go wash your hands!" Having to wash her hands every time I saw her finger aiming for her face corrected the habit. She was probably around 3 when this occurred, and could wash her hands on her own. Good luck!
Hi N.,
I totally agree it is a gross habit. One of mine actually told me she had gum when she was about 3 and when I asked her where it came from and she pointed to her nose. She is now 7 years old and does not do it anymore. We have a 4 and 2 year old that do and we are constantly telling them that it is yucky and to stop. I think it is one of those things that they will realize is gross and find that it is socially unacceptable. Just remember that they are still exploring their bodies and it is natural. They will grow out of it.
hope this helps
E.
Oh, I so was where you are. Worst part is that I remember doing it as a child. Makes me shiver to think about it.
I was adamant that he quite before it becomes a habit.
We told him that his nose was not a snack machine. Unfortunately he just thought that was funny.
I think what helped the most was that any time we caught him doing it he had to stop whatever he was doing, playing, eating or whatever, and go wash his hands with soap and water. Not just "hanitizer" ( his name for hand sanitizer!)
It took a couple of years, he's 5 now and we still catch it once in a while.
Good Luck!!
Hi N., I agree with JC. My 6 yo son does the same, we just ignore it and not make a big deal. You know the saying that negative attention is still attention! Everytime I saw my son start to pick his nose, I would just hand him a tissue and say "blow" and now he goes and gets one himself and doesn't pick as often anymore. Good luck to you!
TOO FUNNY! My daughter started doing the same thing about six months ago and it really is disgusting. We have found ignoring her works wonders!! The more attention we give it, the more she does it! We told her that it is gross and dirty and that we don't eat our boogers or things off of the ground.
Her favorite thing to do is to lick everything. We just tell her to stop without making it a big deal or we just ignore it. It has gotten a lot better lately and I feel that this is why! Good luck!
put bulky bandages on her fingers when you are at home then they wont fit in her nose. polish her nails in a pretty pink and tell her the bugers will make her nails yukky. my husband also taped our sons finger tohis nose and then had him look at it in the mirror( until he pulled the tape of), i thought that was cruel but that is the only thing that worked. and it is just a phase, what til she starts touching herself in public, that was the most embarrasing for me. my son would pull his pants down and start playing with himslef and i would jsut cringe and pull them back up.
Hi, N.
I feel your pain. My almost five-year-old girl has also picked up this disgusting habit, too. I am also completely grossed out by it. I have talked to her until I'm blue in the face but haven't been able to get it stopped. My current tactic (and we may be having some success) is discussing the germ issue and that she will get sick. Every time I see her picking her nose, I send her to the bathroom to wash her hands thoroughly with warm water and soap. EVERY time. There have been occasions where she has had to wash her hands 3 - 4 times in a row. When it takes her away from her outdoor play, games, books or television cartoons, she is really bugged by it. I'm hoping that it will finally do the trick. Something for you to consider, anyway.
Good luck!
