HELP!! 3 yo won't keep his hands out of his pants.

howleyshell

And sadly his is the personality type that will do EXACTLY what he knows I don't want him to for sport.

I've tried the logical approach explaining hygiene issues, I've tried the "big boy" argument and I've even considered going back to diapers.

I've checked and he's not itchy or owie.... it's just a BAD habit.

Oh... and then there's the issue that half the time it's because he's got a hard on.  This kid is erect all the freaking time (plan to discuss with the pedi).

Sometimes it's the front of the pants, sometimes the back.  He'll just walk around with this hands in his pants!

And the fun part?  Now the 4.5 yo is doing it too because they think it's hilarious when I ask them to stop.

Can someone PLEASE solve this one for me? 

acppa

KateB1984:

My DS1 gets fixated too. I never ask him to stop, just remind him that it's private, so he needs to go to his room or the bathroom and wash his hands afterwards. Most of the time he chooses to stop rather than leave the room, but sometimes he chooses to go have some alone time. Now he more commonly lingers after using the bathroom to explore.... I think it's more just to make the post-bathroom washing of his hands count for both.

I agree.  The few times DS has done this I told him that it's fine but it's something that he could do in private and if he wanted to go to his room that was ok.  Sometimes he goes and sometimes he doesn't.  

If I see him with his hands down his pants (playing with his penis or not) I just ask him if he'd like to go to his room and remind him that he only does that there.  I try to make it sound matter-of-fact, not a bad thing or a funny thing, because then it's a bigger deal.