My son is 2 and he's an enthusiastic nose picker. His finger is constantly in his nose. Constantly! It seems to get worse when he's tired or intimidated (if he's around people he doesn't know very well, for example). He also picks at a dry patch of skin on his face. I don't make a huge deal out of it but I do try to remove his finger from his nose. It doesn't help at all! I'm not sure if this is something that he'll just outgrow so I should ignore it or if I need to do something about it. My strategy so far has just been to ignore it but I'm not sure that's the right thing. Any advice???

Amanda

I would say ignoring is the bast thing to do. You might casually mention "we don't put fingers in noses" and leave it at that the bigger deal you make of it I think the more he will do it.

Is it at all possible that his nose is too dry? That could cause him to pick at it... :dunno:

Well my boys pick their nose and eat it :dead: so I don't have any advice :lol:

Alexia use to always have her finger up her nose :rolleyes: I would always tell her that we use a tissue instead. So when I would see her doing it, I would ask her "do you need a tissue?" in which case she will always say "yes" . She will then try to blow her nose OR try to dig it out w/ the tissue. :lol: I would always carry a little package of tissues with me when we were out, to be sure I always had them on hand.

It was a phase...and while it seemed like it lasted a long time, she's almost 4 now and NEVER does it now. She hasn't had her finger up her nose in a while actually (thank goodness!). :)

ditto to what Dawn said except that Carter has started doing it again - YUCK! We mostly ignore it, but suggest a tissue too.

Thanks for the suggestions!
Kris - That's what I've been doing.
Suzi - It may be dry but it seems to be a nervous habit. He's also had a runny nose for most of the winter.
Clare - At least I'm not alone! :lol:
Dawn - It's worth a try.
Brandi - It's a lovely habit, isn't it?!?

I'm going to try the tissue thing and see if it helps. Otherwise I guess I'll wait and see if he outgrows it.

Amanda

Well my boys pick their nose and eat it :dead: so I don't have any advice :lol:

Yeah, what Clare said! :rolleyes: I do notice that it's during the winter and spring so maybe I should check into the dry thing too.

Brendan will do this occasionally. In the winter, a lot of the time it is dry, and he will even sometimes tell me that. If I notice him picking it a lot, I will put a few Little Noses drops in his nose and it will help it to not be so dry.

Mary
Brendan Michael 1/17/02
Nathan Ryan 3/25/04