Okay so this might sound normal and if it does please let me know....my 5 year old son is ALWAYS pulling, touching himself down there. It's almost like hes re adjusting himself, but its like every couple minutes.....at first I thought maybe we needed to switch underwear and that he might need more room, so we went from the tidy whiteys to the boxer briefs, but is still doing it! I talked to a friend that noticed it as well and said it might be some sort of irritation, but he still uses dreft(the same as since he's been born), and I have not switched any bath soap or anything else like that and when I asked his pediatrician about it and she didn't seem concerned at all . I almost wander if its just become a habit because half the time he doesn't even realize he's doing it! How do I get him to stop?!?!?!?
Dreft is not an organic detergent. Go to the store and look for one without any perfumes and chemicals. Some good brands I use are Planet, Ecover and BioKleen.
Do not use anything in the dryer. You have no idea how sensitive skin reacts to that terrible stuff.
As for you body soap look for one without perfumes and formaldahyde.
I agree its something all little kids do male or female at some point. First make sure its not like a yeast infection making him itchy< males can get yeast infections too :(> Then if there is no reason other than he likes the feel just tell him he should do it in his own room because its a private thing. Plus if the wrong person sees him doing that like the school or a perverted individual it could bring negative attention to the house.. Redirect him you see him with his hands in his pants wash his hands and give him a stress ball to squeeze.. wait till he gets a bit older and finds adult stuff on web sigh
If he's doing it in public, just tell him that's private behavior. If he's just doing it at home, don't worry about it. It's normal for kids to want to touch their own privates.
My son does the same thing and when I asked the doctor I loved her response It was not matter what age they are they are fasinated with it and touch it! So true and so normal same thing we just had to talk that it is not polite to do it in public, but it is nothing to be embaressed.
It is normal and it has become a habit. You just need to remind him each time he does it that it is not appropriate in public. Even if you see his hand headed that way, remind it is not appropriate in public. Everytime he does it, tell him he needs to go to his room or the bathroom if he is going to touch his privates. Eventually the habit will break.
Oh my goodness, that is funny!!! It is something males do and never grow out of it. I saw a 35 year old do this the other day and I just laughed and laughed. When my son was around 3 he used to play with himself all the time in the bath. I used to walk in all the time and he had a baby hard on. I just told him that I did not want to see it and if that is something he wanted to do then he needed to go to his bedroom. He's seven now and tells me that he sees his brother doing it. LOL LOL
Make sure there is no irritation. Then insist/demand that he go to the bathroom or bedroom - adjust himself only in PRIVATE.... because it is not socially acceptable to do in public. Although I disagree with John Rosemond about some things, I agree with him about how simple it is to help children choose to change simple socially unacceptable behaviors or habits. There are so many consequences/rewards that can be given as encouragement. 3 chance stickers or cards per day and "you're out" (i.e the consequence such as Rosemond's infamous "You must be tired so you need to go to bed early for a few days (or week)."
But, I would make sure, first that there is no problem. Ask him what is going on. Take him to the doctor if needed. But teach him to do this in private.
My DS does the same. From the responses, you can tell it is very common and very normal :-) However, of course we don't want them to have it as such a habit that they do it in front of others in public. I do remind him when we are at home sometimes of what he is doing. We have also talked about it so that he knows it is okay to touch himself, but not all the time and not in public.
Sounds normal to me. Best way to get him to stop is to ignore it. I suggest it's a phase. Could be a habit and habits don't last forever. Try ignoring it for a couple of weeks and see if it doesn't lessen. It won't stop. Boys seem to do this until it feels inappropriate to them. I don't see first graders doing it very often.
If ignoring it doesn't stop it, you could stop him when he's doing it and tell him this is something we do in private and send him to his room. Not as punishment but as a way of showing him where he can do this.
My so did this at 5, he would walk around holding the tip of it, we would CONSTANTLY be sayong, stop holding your willy, it's not going to fall off!
It was a habit for about a year! sorry
I would switch to organic soap and dye free, fragrance free laundry soap and dryer sheets or fabric softener. The way you say he is adjusting himself still sounds like irritation, although maybe it's not. Then I would make sure he doesn't have a yeast infection. At one point the doctor told me my son had a build up of vitamin C residue (it wasn't from vitamins, but at the time he was eating these big very fruity all natural popsicles) and he just needed to drink more water and pee more often to wash it out. He resisted doing that because it hurt a little to pee. But it did work. He also played with himself, especially when he was stressed, at preschool. In fact he pulled down his pants twice and exposed himself! It's like he didn't realize what he was doing because he was crying and apologizing afterwards. So I switched him to button up or hooked pants for a week instead of elastic waistband pants. This stopped it from happening again. Good luck.
I have two boys and it is totally normal! I got great advice from a pediatrician once (as I expressed my concern..) At 5, you should be able to teach him about privacy when touching your private parts. In a non-judgemental way, take him to the bathroom or his bedroom when he is doing it and tell him that is where he needs to be ALONE when he is touching his private parts. Leave him there. It will be a good lesson for what is appropriate and allow him that he is not "bad" for touching his own body, just that there's a time and place for it!
