Fingers in the Nose

The reason their fingers go up there is because there are boogers present. Preventative booger removal by a parent or caregiver will usually remedy the need for the child to dig for nose goblins. Trying to tell a toddler to keep their fingers out of their nose when it's itchy with drying boogies is pretty much impossible. They don't have the impulse control. If the parent or caregiver doesn't have the time or inclination to wipe all those noses, providing tissues and teaching the kids to use them is the only other alternative.

Have tissues easily accessible. You can prompt them to get a tissue. Hands must be washed after fingers or tissue at nose. Be matter of fact and consistent and they'll get the hang of it.

I think sometimes it is a kind of mindless habit. My husband seems to get great results just mentioning to my 2 1/2 year old who has her finger in there, "Do you have a booger?" Once she seems more aware of what she's doing, she expresses her need for a tissue.

We always have wipies handy, but if we ever caught him with his finger in there we would sing a song to him:

Get your finger out of your nose, out of your nose.
Get your finger out of your nose, out of your nose.
Get your finger out of your nose, that isn't where it goes!
Get your finger out of your nose, out of your nose!

(For the life of me, I can't think of what other song carries this same tune)

It's silly, but, it helps! They get a giggle out of it, and he doesn't pick his nose anymore, tells me he needs a tissue.

Also, there's a poem, that I think was in a Shel Silverstein book...

Inside of everybody's nose there is a little snail.
If you put your finger in, he'll bite off your nail.
If you put it in further, he'll bite off your ring.
If you put it in all the way, he'll bite off the whole darn thing!

Maybe scare tactics aren't your thing, but it's a fun little poem. :)

My little one still does it. I will tell him to go blow his nose when I see him doing it. But with a young one you have to make them blow their noise. If they don't like to blow you can do sailine drops in the nose to loosen them up to come out easier.

Good luck and God Bless!

Clorox sent me a book as part of thier MomWire about hand washing and keeping hands away from face and mouth.
Try their site and look under cold/flu.
Also try the CDC web site they tend to have good information on how to educated and talk to people of all ages about flu and germs.
Finally, have you googled books that show childre how to use hands. For example the hands are not for hitting series shows children how to use your hands/teeth, etc properly. There may be a book about hands in general you could read to them over and over and have discussions like "Where do our hands go?" Where should our hands never go and let them feed off story. At my kiddos preschool they use a term for things that are unsafe called "safety alert" you could prime the kids in your care with a "germ alert" or "health alert"
Good luck.

I generally try not to question God...but sometimes I seriously wonder why he made little fingers fit so perfectly in little noses. Once my kids got old enough to communicate, I just told them it was bad manners and they had to go in the bathroom. People said ignore it...that didn't seem to work...and when they decide that little boogers are a tasty treat...that really does me in. So....now our rule is, if you want to pick your nose and make it bleed, that's between you and your nose, but I don't want to see it. So they have to go to the bathroom and wash hands after. Not sure how that would help tho' for a childcare setting. I'll be watching the answers tho' - nose picking drives me nuts!