Nose Picking

I faced the same concern with my 5 year old. When I asked the doc about it, she said that the social issues involved with kindergarten would help?!! Great.... so my kiddo has to get teased before it stops?!

OH my goodness I am going through the SAME THING!!! My almost 5 year old picks too, and I can't stand it. I tried explaining to him that he should use a tissue, that other kids are going to make fun of him, etc. but nothing works. If you get any good tips please let me know!

i have had this problem with my two year old daughter. it is a constant battle. i have sat her in time out and explained that she gets colds viruses flu and other diseases passed thru her nose touching. over and over. its helped a bit..

Have you tried putting vaseline or an ointment on her nose/nostrils? It could soothe the already irritated skin and perhaps the slimey feel will remind her to not pick?

Hey Jen,
Ha I have the same problem. It is more consistant that my son will pick in the winter months when its dry. So just b4 he goes to bed I put a little vacaline on a Q tip and put it in his nose. I do it during the day as well if i feel that he its more dryer than normal. Try it she may not get the urge as much. Good luck

I think she is picking because she has all that dry yukky stuff in her nose. My family uses a saline nasal spray twice a day since we all have the same problem. There are several brands on the market: Ocean, Ayr, and CVS are the ones I have used and I get whichever one is cheaper at the time. We each have our own and I put a perm marker color on the cap to differentiate whose is whose. Some people have more dry 'stuff' than others. I don't think she does it to annoy you or disobey. Of course all children do this and need to be reminded about using tissues and doing 'nose drilling' in private. Can you tell I have boys? LOL But since the nose picking has continued after gentle reminders you should consider saline nasal spray. I still use it myself and so do my grown sons. My husband has no need of such a product so I think some of us are just predisposed to those dry, annoying thingys. Another reason for the constant picking is that the dried mucus is so far up, she can't pick it out. Blowing her nose a couple of minutes after using the spray will allow the dried mucus, now softened, to come out onto the tissue. I think trying to get dried mucus that gets high into the nasal cavity could be dangerous and could introduce tons of germs into her system. Saline is worth a try.

Stop whatever it is she is doing at the time of the first pick and tell her to go use a tissue to get whatever it is out and then wash her hands. Every single time. Yes your story will be interupted, yes the movie will be interupted, etc but the more time you invest getting her to stop the faster she will stop.

She also needs to know that this is a filthy behavior that is not appropriate. Let her know that each time as she is washing her hands. Explain the germs, the spread of virus etc (MRSA lives in our noses).

Give her something to do with her hands during the times she is most likely to engage in this behavior. For example a pillow, a toy, stuffed animal etc.

4 1/2 year old children are old enough to know how to control certain behaviors. She just needs your reinforcement.

A.

All kids pick their noses, my 12 year old son does & so does my 6 1/2 year old. Heck even adults do it as well. She will probably outgrow it eventually.

We had the same problem with my 7 year old son last year. What finally ended up working for us was promising something that he had wanted (a game boy) if he was able to go two weeks without picking (we made an exception that if he really needed to get something out, he could use a tissue in the bathroom away from everyone) If he forgot the two weeks started over. Within a week the nose picking was greatly reduced and he only had a couple nose bleeds- he used to have bloody noses 2-3 times a day and it was really making his classmates grossed out. He didn't earn the gameboy for almost three months though. And we now tell him that we will take the gameboy away if he starts picking again. She is a little young for that treat and two weeks may be too long, but the reason why it worked for us was it was something he REALLY wanted and I had not been planning on giving it to him. I could tell it worked in the first week, becuase he became aware of when he did it and tried not to.

Good luck.
JV

At 5 years old my son started to develop fascial tick which seems to run in his dad's family. I noticed it pretty quickly and asked him if he knew he was doing it. He still had some awareness of it and so I told him that if he stopped doing it for 3 weeks (an eternity, true, but it takes time to break a habit)I would buy him the Nintendo he was begging for. I hated the idea of Nintendo, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Well 3 weeks later, no tick (and still none at 7 1/2) Now, I just have to regulate Nintendo time. Yech. But if she desperately wants a toy that is less offensive to you, it's worth a try.

You might want to try Saline drops/spray in her nose. My family uses it before we go to bed and when we wake up to cure the dryness. It's also great for congested noses and is not medicated so you can use it as often as you need.

I think all kids pick their noses. If I see my kids (6 and 4) picking I calmly tell them not to pick and to get a tissue. I think they all grow out of it eventually & usually they're doing it because something's bothering them in there. All the best...

J.,

Not sure if you have tried to just ignore it! Sometimes that helps, and hopefully it will just stop. Good Luck!!

C.
Mommy to Jessie, Katie and Julia
www.TimetoChangetheDiapers.com
Adorable, affordable cloth diapers and reusable items for babies, kids and Moms!

I find my 4 year old daughter doing the same - she tells me its because her nose is dry ... I used my 15 month old "Little Noses" Saline spray/Drops sold at CVS ... really helps her... Good Luck

We had a similar problem with our 5 year old boy. The doctor suggested putting a little vaseline in his nostrils. This kept him from getting the "crunchy" feeling of picking the gunk in the nose and had the added benefit of moisturizing and preventing bloody noses. It worked like a charm - when we remembered to do it! The habit did break after a month or so.

My daughter did this up until this year (she's 7). It was really driving me crazy. I assumed, since I couldn't get her to stop that the cruelty of her classmates would eventually get her to stop but that didn't seem to have any effect either. Last year my mother said that when she was a girl she did it too and wouldn't stop no matter how her parents nagged her until a family friend told her this: "You don't have to stop picking your nose, you just need to do it in *private*." In our case trying to force my daughter to quit has had pretty much zero effect but reminding her that this is something she can only do in private has helped a lot and I believe it has cut down on the frequency. Good luck.

Hi J.:
Not sure this will help much but we know what your going thru...My granddaughter just turned 4 in January and she has been doing this for awhile..It is hard, seems that she does it more, the more we draw attention to it. In the beginning we told her it wasn't nice and it was a nasty habbit...but that didn't seem to help. We are hoping it is a phase and she will get over it soon...Just wanted you to know that you aren't alone in the frustration...Take Care and Good luck....P.

you could try using a saline spray in her nose to
loosen up any mucous she may be searching for. also,
a himidifier may help with the discomfort of a dry nose.
try them both at night. "little noses" is a great product.

Try putting water soluble lubricant in her nose and use nasal sprays - that may be a little tricky with a 4 year old. Maybe use a Q Tip, just get the moisture into her nose.

You can try homeopathics for this problem. Go to www.boiron.com and see what they have for nose picking.

Make sure she gets enough water too. Very important that she stay hydrated to keep her mucus membranes moist. You can use diluted Gatorade if she will drink it.

Reward her when she doesn't do it.

Take care. God Bless.

have you tried to ignore it and also just keep taking her hand down when she is picking it, dont say anything when you see her doing it like when reading a book keep reading and just keep pushing her hand away from her nose but dont skip a beat in the story,
the only other thing i can think of is giving her praise when she isnt doing it or giving a sticker daily or even start hourly when she idt doing it then after somany sticker she gets a special something either lunch or small toy or even a dollar at this age coins are millions to them
that is just some suggestions