My 4 1/2 year old has gotten into the habit of constantly adjusting his privates in public. He not only does it at home, but Ive seen him at school, on the soccer field, etc. We've tried telling him over and over that you only do that in the bathroom, etc but it hasnt worked. Have any of you other Moms had this problem? Any advice to break the habit would help!
Thank you all for the responses! I will definitely look into those and see if something works.
Maybe he's sweating some down there- could some powder help? Just a thought. I know that most men "adjust" because there's sticking going on down there. Maybe you could teach him how to apply the powder himself (while lying down).
I haven't had this problem, (yet!) but maybe his undies are too tight? Just a thought.
My 3 year old son does it constantly, & I've asked every man I know why my son does it. I got the same answer from all of them, "Because it's there." So I'm just trying to chalk it up to a male thing & hoping he will get bored of doing it. Ha! What a joke, right?
Good luck!
There was an article about this in one of my parenting magazines. They said the best thing to do was ignore it and try to bring his attention to something else that requires his hands. This way he has to pull his hands out of his pants to play with something more exciting. If there is nothing more exciting than just leave it be. GOOD LUCK!
We had that issue, and I'm not sure that he didn't find it more comforting rather than adjusting. He did stop in public. Time and reminding constantly are the only thing that worked.
Hi S.,
My son is 5 1/2 and does the same. I'm reminding him constantly, but it doens't work, it has been going on for already a year or so. So I do not have advice, I hope he wil outgrow it...
I've tried different underware, but that didn't solve it. Maybe I'll try the powder the other lady was talking about because sometimes he says it is sticky. But I think it is more a habbit, and sometimes he gives the excuus of "sticky".
Good luck
I.
Honestly, I think this is pretty natural for his age. Supposedly children go through several phases. The first being the oral phase (i.e. putting EVERYTHING in their mouth), then there's the anal phase (i.e. potty training, controlling bodily functions). Then there's the phallic phase, the phase where kids become aware of their genitalia. This is the phase when kids notice they're different and certain questions come up. I know my little cousin cried because she didn't have what her older brother had. After the phallic phase, children enter a latency period around the age of 6, and that lasts until puberty. It sounds like your son may just be in the phallic phase and he will grow out of it. It's normal for kids to explore their bodies and even begin masturbation (seriously, I've seen moms asking about it). They are not aware of the social stigmas attached to touching yourself in public. For a child, it is a simple matter of what feels good and what doesn't. That's Freud's theory anyway. If it really bothers you or you're really worried about it, then try some positive or negative reinforcement to get him away from that habit. Reward him when he doesn't do it or when he listens and stops, or on the other side of the coin, punish him, not too harshly, for doing it.
