My 2 Year Old Wont Quit Playing with His "Boyhood"

I think occasionally is normal, but all of the time? Does he go to daycare? Maybe something is going on there.

hey A. that something that never goes away what we did when my nephew would not stop playing with as he put it is outter thing is told him there is a place to do that and it was is room or the bathroom amd that was that we never told him he was bad for doing it or made a big deal about it well good luck

My son was doing the same thing, so I asked my doctor about it. She said that it was normal. Her suggestion was not to tell them "NO", just tell him that if he was going to do that, please do it in your bedroom. Since we have started doing that, our son doesn't do it nearly as much. Hope that helps.

K.

I believe its just a phase.. My 2 1/2 still does it .. not as much as he used to i think when he first realized it was "there" but i think over time they'll start to leave it alone..

Hey A.,

My 2 1/2 year old boy takes off his pants at least 25 times a day. He is very interested in how all his parts work and I have been assured it's just a phase.
Boys will be boys!

M.

Yes my son had this phase, and still occasionally plays with himself during diaper changes. I found with my son, that the bigger of an issue I made of it the worse he was about it. But if I just let him go and said okay, now it is time to have the diaper on, would stop. Good luck.

My boys are 4 and 6 and here's something I've dicovered: Kids, especially boys, love to be naked. I do at-home daycare and when my boys and the daycare kids were younger all it would take was for one of them to strip down and the next thing I knew I'd see a parade of naked kids streak by! LOL! My 4 yr old still prefers to be naked! So don't worry =)

As for the playing with himself-- don't worry about that either! Two is a very curious age. He's had a diaper on for years and now he's discovered "Hey! There's something down there!". Half the time boys mess with it and don't even realize they're doing it!

Your son has discovered something that has been hidden in his pants his entire life and he likes the way it feels when he touches it. In addition it is his! This is so very normal!!! Just put his cloths back on and reasure him that he can play with that later. Focus his attention on something else that is fun. My son would strip and run through the house with his little thing in his hands screaching with joy! I have to giggle when I think of it. Now my son is 8 and I worry about him keeping it in there through the tean age years. I also remember talking about this very same issue with my friends. They do out grow this stage as with many others. Embrace and enjoy your wonderful little boy.

My 20 month old boy does the same thing, and there's really no harm in it. I just tell him, I don't care how much you play with it, it's yours, but don't ever let anyone else play with it. There's really nothing else you can do short of duct taping his clothes on :)

Is he potty trained?

It sounds like he is perhaps ready to start toilet training. The fact that he is able to take off his clothes all by himself is a huge part of this independent stage. Both of my kids starting toilet training at this age and I took their cues, like disrobing. It is so much easier to learn to use the bathroom when there are less clothes in the way. Hooray for you. One less diaper to change in the future!

If you haven't heard enough advice, I'll put in my two cents worth. I have 4 boys: 15, 12 1/2, almost 11 and 7 1/2. I'm also a licensed clinical social worker with a lengthy resume of experience with kids. Here's my input: Kids find their appendages in a developmentally predictable fashion. Boys (and girls) find their "down there" about the time that they can access it (ie, without the impediment of a diaper), which is about potty training time. Boys, in particular, find this to be quite a treat, since "mother nature" was good enough to endow the nerve endings down that-a-way, with lots and lots of fine feeling. Your son will do what boys will do. Look around and you'll see that other little boys do the same and other mothers struggle the same. My advice is simple. Don't sweat it. You'll no doubt note that grown men don't run around with their hands in their pants. Neither will your son. Treat this as you would nose picking or etc. Teach him that it is "bad manners",and leave it at that for now. You'll have plenty of opportunity as he develops into adolescence to revisit the issue with whatever your moral input will be. Good luck. And congratulations. Boys are wonderful and they do love their mommies.

My little boy is now 14 months old and I think he found his at like 6 months old in the tub, they find it so young. But now he will play with it only in the tub but not very much. I really cant tell him to much of anything at this age hes to young to understand. He is still in diapers and at changes he does sneak his hand down there for some reason but other then that he leaves it alone and of course to young to rip his clothes off now but as he gets older Im sure he will.

It is a phase he has discovered himself, i try not to make a big deal of it I just ask them to go to there room because it is something that is private, I also use it as a good tool to open the discussion on his parts being private, how nobody should touch him there but him/mom/dad and dr...ect. they usually get tired of being in there room alone so eventually they cut back then stop, as to the clothes thing never did find a real good solution, I just kept putting them back on.

When your little boy wants to "play", he is just courious! Tell him if he wants to do that, it's ok, but he needs to go in his room where it is private, because that is his private part of his body! No one needs to see it except when Mommy helps him bath himself. Soon he will loose interest, and find something else to occupy his time.

I have a 4 year old daughter who is the exact same way. It feels good (they don't know the difference or connotations of what they are doing) and it is there! As long as my daughter doesn't take her clothes off in public, I am ok with her "hanging out" at home. Now that she is older, I do have her wear underpants. As your son gets older (3-4) you can start to have him wear underpants.

Does he have underpants to wear? You might make a big deal about getting some and he may want to wear those instead of ala naked. Bottom line: I wouldn't sweat the small stuff.

Hi A.,
I am a mom of two boys, 6 yrs and 4 1/2 yrs, and I have been through the same thing. I normally would have panicked. Fortunately, I had gotten a hold of the book Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson from my local library when they were both very young and had a chance to get some info before we hit that stage. Dr. Dobson was very encouraging that this is what he calls 'discovering their feel good place' and that it is very normal. My oldest seemed much more interested around 3yrs old but it seems to have waned. Both of my boys still like to run around with next to nothing on but my mother says it is payback for all the years I did the same to her. I would encourage any mom of boys to read Dr Dobsons book if you can. It really helped me understand my two monkeys. In short, don't cause him to feel embarassed about it. It is a phase and should pass.

A., It is TOTALLY NORMAL! The best I have found is to have your son go to his room, explain to him what he is doing should be in private, instead of saying no all the time give him a time when he can. It will be less of a control issue then and he will get tired of being in his room all the time. make sure he has pants that come on and off easily. Pick your battles. If he has childcare work out the same situation with them. If you truly need time for yourself, contact your local highschool or college, there are lots of great students in childcare classes who would love to share in caring for your children. MoM's need their "time" too. It makes you a better MoM! K.