Yucky Boogers!

[Supermum]

Righto ladies and gents

I'm pleading for your assistance ... able or otherwise.

My delightful 2½ year old has found his nostrils. Well actually that's an understatement, he's found the nostrils and the contents and enjoys eating it.

I'm still ignoring it and diverting his attention when he does but how much can a mother take ... I mean this is SNOT :eek: we are talking about here.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :o

[dee dee]

Hey, a friend and I were discussing this topic not long ago. We work in child care, and have seen many a child indulging in a bit a booger eating!!!! :D

Would you believe that current research suggests that we let children do this as it is good for them, helping to boost their immunity.

Thankfully dd is too young to have discovered her nostrils, because immunity building or not I definitely would not feel comfortable watching her 'picking and eating".

[TwoBlue]

LOL !! Sorry Deborah no advise as i am not there yet (not long now i am sure!!)
i just had to send a cheerful laugh in your direction :p

Good luck with your booga problem...

[drewid]

Hey

I remember back when we were kids that it was 'all the rage'! But its just a phase - exploratory, like finding their toes and sucking on them and all those sorts of things. Its a learning experience, and they will grow out of it when something more interesting comes along. Its not going to hurt them!

But if you are going to try to deter it, maybe try and instigate some sort of repercussion - like every time you catch them doing it, make them go and wash their hands. If they have to go wash their hands umpteen times a day maybe they will think better of poking their fingers up there! Just an idea.. something else may work better. I just remember being little and hated having to go wash my hands/brush my teeth all the time, i think it would have been a great deterrant to stop doing 'naughty' things! Not that this is naughty by the way!!! Completely normal!!

[Supermum]

Grateful for cheerful response - please advertise when Sam starts picking his nose so I can LMAO! I'm here for ya! :p


LOL !! Sorry Deborah no advise as i am not there yet (not long now i am sure!!)
i just had to send a cheerful laugh in your direction :p

Good luck with your booga problem...


Thanks to all for the advice ... we're starting at the top of the list and working our way down.

Perhaps there is nutritional value in a good dose of snot .. I was always under the impression that it consisted of dead cells - now if's that's not enough to turn your stomach!

Cheers,

[TwoBlue]

I promise you'll hear about it when (and i mean WHEN not IF) it starts to happen !!! LMAO !!! :D

[Supermum]

Well I'd like to poke my head up again and say he is still picking his nose and I still find it disgusting. His finger is constantly up there poking and prodding around - it's like he's performing exploratory surgery. What if he continues to pick it to the point where he gets enlarged nostrils - OK well maybe I'm exaggerating a little but what if?

Yours in snot
The mother of the nose picker

[sopolicha]

Supermum,

One of my mum's friends once said to me that my nostrils were uneven (she was a weirdo) and I told her that it was because that was the one I picked the most.

Personally I think you are pretty lucky, at the moment I would prefer a nose picker. My lovely (?) 2 and a half son has developed a penchant for his bum.

On a few occassions I have left him watching the tellie with his sister and to later walk past the room to see him with no pants on bum in the air having a bit of a play with his bum. I guess my only consolation is that he is not eating.

My lovely (?) daughter was a bit of picker of of her nose as well, I asked her one day if she had been picking her nose and eating it, the reply I got was a big cheesy grin with a big boogy stuck to her front teeth.

Just revolting, but the part that scares me the most is that these are the things that we see.

[Supermum]

LOL Sopoli

Just goes to prove that there is always someone worse off than you! I showed my husband your post last night and he nearly wet himself. Ben has only shown interest in that cavity just the once .... let's hope it stays that way! And I've never actually seen a booger lodged in between the teeth so I'm feeling incredibly fortunate at the moment. Still laughing about this as I type.

Thanks for the perspective! :D

[sopolicha]

I am really lettting the family secrets out now but it is even worse when he has one hand at the back and the other firmly attached to the front!

Whatever rings your bell I say, and at least he is keeping his hands to himself!

[j&k'smum]

Not sure if its too late to add to this thread??
Hopefully, someone will help me..! This subject actually makes my belly churn..yukkies.
My 2yr old has just started this too , much 2 my shock horror. I thought it would have been a boy thing ( sorry boys lol) My son didnt do it but she LOVES
it.!! The other day she was poking her tongue out and on the end of it was a nice green booger. I couldn't beleive it. !!
I tell her its yucky and to use a tissue but she just tells me "it's nice mummy". The thought of it send shivers down my spine. :eek:
She stands there picking, in deep concentration until she gets what she is after and sometimes I see her going to wipe it on something. Usually she would hand it to me, finger outstretched, "here mum", uh thanks, but no thanks. Initially I was ok with it but now, I think because they are seemingly growing greener and bigger, i find it gross.
Do i just keep telling her no and give her a tissue??? I will try the hand washing thing too?? hmm. help! She is too cute to have her finger stuck up her nose . :)

[Baby Girl]

My 2yr old DD did the nose picking and eating for a while (about 3 months), she is only just over the last few weeks starting to get a tissue to "blow" in or wipe her nose with (unless, of course, the tissue box is inside and she is outside and then the inside of her shirt front or sleeve is making a great (??to her maybe) alternative :eek: ).

I was persistent with giving her a tissue everytime I saw her finger wedged into her nose and telling her that was a yucky habit she was slowly getting the message (not fast enough as far as I was concerned). So, I also employed a bit of tough love. If I saw her picking and eating, I would make her go brush her teeth and wash her hands before I would pick her up for a cuddle or play with her or let her "help" me do something. For some reason she was always keen for kisses and cuddles if we 'caught' her doing it - made my tummy churn. I think that was more effective than having a tissue constantly at the ready. She is a very interactive kid and having to go and do something that is sooooooo mundane to her was annoying so she just stopped picking (and eating - thank goodness) and now goes and gets tissue instead!!

I think with most things at this age it is phase they will get over and find something just as icky to do instead!! She has now taken to pulling her pants halfway down her bum and scratching her butt cheeks (she even asked me to scratch her bum for her the other day!!!).........but that is a whole other story.....

[j&k'smum]

Thats funny...do i have that to look forward to too???
I can't even read about it without it making me feel sick!!! lol You would think after all we've been through as mothers, we wouldn't flinch at this topic..
I dont think I mind the "picking" its the "eating" that gets me.. :eek:
Thankyou for your input..I will just have to wait for the phase to pass by the sounds of it. How long did you say it lasted for you..3 months?..Great! lol I was hoping a week or so lol
:)

[Supermum]

Joy oh bloody joy. He's only been picking for a month. Does that mean I have at least 2 months of exploration and taste testing to go???

It's horrid. I've tried getting him to wash his hands every time - he loves washing his hands so it hasn't served as a deterrant. I've tried giving him a tissue - which he will duly use but then five minutes later the trusty forefinger is up there poking around for brain.

I haven't yet had boogers presented to me either on finger or tongue so I guess that's a relief .. or perhaps something else to look forward to!

[WeThree]

ROFLMAO!! Seriously though, children can be so revolting!!, remind me again of why we keep having them ? lol only joking, but i mean they eat boogers and play with their own poo for crying out loud!! (ah i remember that morning particulary well, thanks thomas, lets just say 'fingerpainting' took on a whole new meaning for me that day) i dont know why i hadnt read this thread earlier, but deborah every time i read one of your threads there is this strange feleing of deja vu, as if it was something i could of written myself lol im having the same problem with cooper, im still in shock that he actually regulary eats his own snot, and seems to enjoy it! what am i going to do??! Thomas used to pick his as well of course, but he would always look desperately for somewhere to get rid of it (usually offering it to me :o ) There is something so not right about this angelic looking child with blond curls framing his sweet face picking his nose and eating it!! what am i to do?