Is This Normal??? - West Monroe,LA

Well, first of all -- smart kid, she knows how to pull down her pants.
First, I would make sure that she is not irritated in that area. Have you changed soap, diapers, etc that can cause redness, itchiness, etc.... Is there a certain time she does it? Maybe have her pediatrician look, if she hasnt gone to her regular check up.

If nothing, then yes, this is just a phase. Like everything else, she is exploring and learning. I agree with the first 2 moms, that you do have to protect her, but I hope the reactions she gets do not leave a negative impression on her as they are very sensitive to how we, as parents, react. You eventually want her to be potty trained and you dont want her to associate "bad" with that area.

I really like the overall idea. Hope everything works out.

My daughter does the same thing. She is 20 months old. When we catch her doing it we just tell her we don't stick things in there. She's always touching her butthole too! I don't think there's a way around this phase. Just keep telling her not to do it. And ignore any touching that isn't a concern so she knows the difference.

So she still wears diapers?

I would use duct tape around the waist of her diapers. Start and end in the back of the diaper, do not get the tape on her skin.

This will get her out of this habit,

She is just exploring. Distraction and making it hard for her to get that diaper off will help stop this behavior.

This is why, the ER at hospitals see this quite a lot.
Or things stuck in a child's ear, or nose, etc.

You know it can be potentially dangerous.

Is she actually sticking things in her privates, or just in the diaper?
Because if she is actually sticking things in... her privates, well that would hurt, and then I would think she would stop doing that.

Put overalls on her.

Ha! I'd totally forgotten about the 'diaper as a backpack' phase!

Oh my goodness... The THINGS he used to try and shove down his diaper and carry around that way, Oy, and the things he DID.

Yeah.

Pretty normal.

Laurie is right. And if you have Osh-kosh-B-Gosh overalls (short or long pants), put them on her and cross the straps in the back so that she can't get them off.

I'll add to what Laurie said that it is imperative that you prevent her from sticking things down there because she might hurt herself.

This is different than touching herself when she is older (with only her hands.)

So yes, this particular thing IS just a phase, but you need to prevent her from hurting herself.

Dawn