My two year old son won't stop grabbing "himself"!!?

Question

my son is 2 and a half and is recently potty trained and now he walks around all day everyday holding onto "it". he doesn't have to go to the bathroom and it doesn't hurt and it's not red or anything, but how do i get him to stop it?! is this normal?? how can i get him to stop without hitting him or doing something equally crude??

Answer 1

He is very curious. So what ... he found it. This will pass as soon as he find something else that grabs his full attention!

P.S.
When my son was 3 years old, his penis was erect one morning and he burst into a living room full of family members showing everyone what "it" was doing and proclaiming how much it scared him that "it" wouldn't go down. (I was soooo embarrassed)

Answer 2

I'm sure that your son is perfectly normal. I know quite a few toddlers who have this problem and something similar to it. Their parents get embarrassed in public, too, but hey, don't worry! He's young, I'm sure he'll grow out of it. Have you talked to a doctor about this condition yet? If you haven't, you probably should if it continues. For now, just have a talk with him about why it's wrong to do it in public. However, even if he doesn't listen to you, you should never ever hit him. Give him a punishment, like a time-out or something. 2 1/2 years old isn't too young for one, I'm sure. You could also ground him. Limit his minutes of television. Tell him he can't do something that he loves to do. But hitting is never an option, especially with a 2 year old!

I hope my advice is helpful!
~lilpiggy

Answer 3

My daughter became at nursery with a infamous biter - he spent maximum of his time on the "questioning stair" for a pair of 12 months. He became surely very candy, yet annoyed approximately talking. He grew out of it whilst human beings began to chew returned and he began to hearken to and talk as a replace of basically yelling and annoying. i think of at 2 he's old adequate to examine that this behaviour is unacceptable. decide on your technique, yet each and each time he does it there must be a effect he would not like and does understand. What you shouldn't foster is the thought that because of the fact he's the infant he can do what he likes to his sisters. If certainly one of them bashes him or bites him returned, turn a blind eye; if he comes howling to you ask what he did to them first and then tell him "serves you precise".

Answer 4

Let it be he is just realizing he has something down there. He will outgrow it soon enough. You might be embarrassed by it but he isn't. He likely will stop in time just as he will stop needing a bottle or pacifier as he ages. It is normal.

In the mean time try distracting him with another toy to keep his hands busy, and not down there.

Just relax and don't make a fuss about it, if you draw attention to it he is likely to continue the behavior. As for others, if they've had little boys they will have gone through something equally silly like thumb-sucking.

Answer 5

Hi,
I really don't know much about 2 and half years old but my godson is almost 20 months old and he does that, he sayz hes doing it bc daddy does it. Hes following the footprints of people he sayz on tv or in real life. Its fine hes just copying them, give him time he will grow out of it and 4get all about it. When he needz go to potty he will tell you, if that is all hes doing there is nothing worry about, its a new thing from him to play with.

Answer 6

Perfectly normal. He has just discovered that it feels good when he does that. Don't make a big deal of it, just discourage it in public. ("It's not polite to touch our private parts when we're in public.") Eventually he will stop.

P.S. Sometimes when I was changing my son's diaper (about 18 months or so) he would pull on it so hard I thought man, how could that feel good??? But I guess it did!

P.P.S. Hitting him is NEVER appropriate. NEVER. I hope you don't discipline him that way. Two years old isn't too young for a time out. The rule is, time out for one minute for each year of age. So if he does something wrong, he gets a two-minute time out. That means sitting in a chair away from everyone but within sight of you, so you can make sure he behaves and to reassure him that you haven't abandoned him. He is not allowed to speak or move from the chair for two minutes. Every time he does speak or try to get up, that adds another minute to the time out.

Got it? NO HITTING.

Answer 7

He sounds pretty normal to me. You might want to explain to him that touching himself there is something that he can do in the bathroom but not where other people can see him.. It is a "privacy" issue.

Eventually he will grow out of it. You don't want to make him feel bad about a part of his body. Just try to get him to limit when he touches himself.

Answer 8

Yeah it's quite normal. It's called self gratification. He found out that that thing is a part of HIM and it feels good to touch it and it's just a marvelous play thing. Trying to force him to stop touching himself is only going to result in him doing it more because it is getting a reaction out of you. I suggest simply agreeing with him that yes it does feel good to touch but that, that sort of touching is only for the bathroom or his bedroom with the door shut. Not everyone enjoys seeing him touch himself.

Answer 9

As a mother of 4 boys, this is normal. He has just discovered his new "toy". Believe me, it's ok and as he gets older he will learn not to be so public about it. My youngest is 5 and he doesn't do it around company any more. My older three I had to remind them not to compare "sizes" around me or there sister recently.

Answer 10

It is not 'crude'. He is free, his thing is not wrapped up and for the first time he can touch and feel it. IT is normal. It may be embarassing for you as an adult and knowing socially that it is not acceptable in older boys. To aviod embarrasment, I woould put 2 paris of shorts on him (breifs) and make sure they are fairly snug. Should make them more inaccessable, like a dipaer