Should I be worried that my son 3 year old son is touching his private parts and rubbing them against things?

Question

There have been several occassions where I have found my son rubbing his penis against people or toys or even touching it constantly. Today my son's father found my son in the living room with his pants down and rubbing his penis onto a ball. Should I be concerned?

Answer 1

This is normal behaviour for a 3 year old. My son is 3.5 and does the same things sometimes. Hes discovering that he does have a penis and its normal. What you can do is sit down with him and explain to him what he has and what its used for, as far as using the potty. If he wants to explore it, then tell him he can, but only in his room or the bathroom. My son used to bash things into it and it would hurt him. I told him if he kept doing that, that it would fall off LOL. He didnt do anymore after that.

Answer 2

It is completely normal, but unfortunately also completely inappropriate most of the time. Do not try to make him feel that this is something sameful, but try to teach him that this is something to do "in private". I can't give you specific information on how to do it, because I still don't know how I will deal if and when my son starts to do it. But I do feel that it's important to not make him feel ashamed of parts of his body and pleasureable feelings, because that can give him an unhealthy view for the rest of his life, and also make him less open when he is at an age where he needs to learn things from his parents instead of the "kids" at school who probably have plenty of misconceptions.

Answer 3

Just tell him not to do it when other people are around.