Okay, I won't be too graphic here, but this is a gross topic! My dear daughter who will soon be 4 picks her nose and eats the boogies. YUCK! We have told her repeatedly that it is disgusting, and not to do it, but to no avail, she still does it. Is this one of those things that is best to ignore, and it will eventually stop? Or what do you suggest to end this bad habit?
Thanks in advance!
I pulled a mom-fib.
I told my son it would give him diarrhea. Which was his least favorite thing on the planet.
It's theoretically possible (the mucus is there to trap germs, bugs, etc.) and if it was the right combo of microbes, it could indeed give him diahrrea... but it was totally a "This is what will happen" fib.
It worked, though.
I think it is an age thing, my 5yo son does it too, I say nothing and hand him a kleenex, daddy gets upset, not sure how best to handle it - I think it does become a habit though.
I asked the same thing a few months ago...so...just know you're not alone! Our current tactic is simply saying, "That is not nice manners, if you choose to pick your nose, you need to go in the bathroom because I don't want to see it." It works...ok. When I asked the same question, somebody pointed out that it's actually good for their immune system! Go figure...
my daughter does this. soo gross. i haven't been able to get her to stop but as they get older, they figure out to be sneaky about it. i'd tell her that she needs to do it somewhere private because it's gross to watch. the 'punishment' of having to leave you, might curb it. or she'll just happily go snack in her bedroom and you don't have to see it.
My youngest did that for a while and we chose to ignore it and say nothing, draw NO attention to it, and she stopped by herself.
I constantly tell the kids to keep their fingers out of their noses which fixes it for the moment, but having 5 four year olds in the house, I'm pretty sure you might not want to touch anything in my house, lol.
Like Riley - I lied to my daughter. Well maybe it wasn't so much of a lie, but she got a stomach bug that made her throw up and be just generally sick all over. I told her that eating her boogers caused it. :) It worked! Even on the picking part, she blows it now or uses a tissue to pick it. I was pretty matter a fact about it... 'didn't you know?... that's what happens to people that pick and eat their boogers. that's why you don't see grownups doing it, they don't like being sick. Too bad for you, I am sorry you don't feel well...' LOL!
Now when she sees other kids pick their nose, she tells them that they will get sick. HA! I guess any type of cold would work - doesn't need to be a stomach thing, just wait for the next one.
As they get older it will stop.... because then, the child has the concept of it being "embarrassing" to themselves.
You can say I am mean but we have taken to putting hot sauce on our DD finger recently (did it twice) now when she goes to do it all I do is look at her and she says "I don't want hot sauce" and stops-Now its more of a habit but my DD is almost 4 as well and its gross
I think you're kind of making a big deal out of nothing. I agree, eating the buggers is a bit gross, but lots of people pick their noses ... just most do it in private and with the aide of a kleenex.
We told our 5 year old that he needs to be in private or in the bathroom. We've been telling him this for a couple of years, but he's been pretty good about it lately. He's never tried to put it in his mouth. Yeah!
Our 2 year old puts them in this mouth. That really does gross me out, but I really do believe it's just the "yuck" factor and it's not really going to hurt him. Not sure what I can really do to stop a 2 year old from doing this ... at least for now.
Just remind her that it's not polite, hand her a kleenex and tell her to wash her hands.
Sorry, just doesn't seem like a battle worth fighting.
Soap in the mouth ? LOL. I always thought that would work for disrespectful words coming out of the mouth.......... why not disrespectul things going in the mouth . HA !
( Maybe I am old fashion but my parents tended to make me wash my mouth out with soap a time or two and I never did that act again > Talk about a YUCK)
I asked the same question about two years ago. Here's the link if you want to compare some answers.
http://www.mamapedia.com/questions/7925497581139001345
He is five now and finally told me he isn't going to pick his nose anymore (haha, we shall see!) My favorite advice I was given was to tell him to go do it in the bathroom and wash his hands afterwards. Oh, and yes, he used to eat it and show it to me on his tongue (gag!) Thank goodness that stage is over!!!'
My dd does this as well. She is 6 now and I haven't gotten her to stop. My SIL, grade school teacher has seen much of this through her years and commented at one of our holiday gatherings, upon seeing my dd, that it is probably something that comes from way back, with early man who didn't have kleenex, it might be something that helped our immune system. You know, since so many kids do it. Well, the immune system seems to get an onslaught now that we are so close to all of our neighbors- like at school- and we tend to pass on our germs and virals this way, rather than the immune building properties it might have once held.
Just thought I'd pass that along. No great wisdom on how to curb it, however.
