Child Behavior - Long Island City,NY

It's totally normal. He's probably teething. Just try to dab off excess saliva as much as possible. My daughter wound up with a rash after a while from wiping it on her face so much.

Normal.

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Normal.

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Normal.

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Normal.

I agree with Shannon, it's amazing the things babies find interesting. Every little sense is new to them! Teething causes extra spit, and there it is, what to do with it? Well maybe wipe it on my face, feels weird, new, but I like it!!! I would probably gently try to discourage it so it doesn't become a nervous habit, but I wouldn't make a big deal over it either, no point drawing attention to it.

He has no idea about germs or social conventions at this point. He doesn't even know what peer pressure is, let alone care about it. My guess is that either his face is dry, or he likes the feel of it. I

think 'ew!' but he has no judgments about things yet. You may try some baby lotion for dry skin or lots of water play. My kids as toddlers would "wash" their plastic tea set for hours at this age. I would let the kitchen water dribble and the sink fill up and it was loads of fun. Also, if he just likes doing it, do the standard 'distraction' thing and find him something more interesting to do and hopefully he'll get out of the habit.

It could be that it is bothering him and he is trying to wipe it off, if he is drooling.
If you mean he's licking his hand to clean his own face, mom, have you checked your own habits? I ask this because many, many mothers (although you may not be one of them and neither was I), will lick or spit a little into a napkin to wipe something off their kid's face. He may be imitating something that feels very natural to mom and you don't even think about that you're doing it.

M.,
this is very normal, just try to keep his face as dry as possible when you are around. I use to keep a bib on my kids constantly because of that :)
so it would be easier for me to wipe them when nothing else was around.