2.5 Yr Old Likes to Play with Her Hoohoo.

Have you told her to stop? Facing similar situations we always say, It's fine to do that but ONLY in private, etc. Solves have the problem.

It is natural for her to explore her body. I told my daughter that is a private thing & that you only do it in your bedroom & no one is around.(Also told her no one else is aloud to touch her there & if they do to tell me right away) She also knows that when you mess with your hoohoo you need to wash your hands just like you do after going potty. When my daughter first started doing it I was grossed out & told her to stop which only made her want to do it more. I have had other people tell me the same thing. So just teach her when/where it is appropriate & good hygiene. She will out grow it eventually.

What she's doing is absolutely normal for her age. She's been denied access to this part of her body up to this point. Now, there's a new feeling with wearing regular underwear and she's curious.

While you don't want to instill shame about her body, it's totally okay to tell her to stop touching herself. My 3 yo boy still has to constantly be reminded to keep his hands out of his pants or let go of his private parts. Just tell her to get her hands out of there. I'd be more concerned with dirty hands touching those parts than with her putting her hands in her mouth afterward. She probably touches dirtier things then puts her hands in her mouth.

She'll eventually grow out of it. Just remind her to stop touching or give her something to occupy her hands. You might also consider putting some pants or shorts on her over her underwear. Reducing access may reduce incidents.

I have to agree with the other responders, you've been given some great advice. I did want to chime in on one issue that no one has mentioned yet.

I noticed you used the word hoohoo for your daughter's private area. While it is common for families to use made up words for the genital area on children, I would really encourage you to teach your daughter the proper names for her genitals. I don't want to scare you, but if something happens to her down there (heaven forbid she is abused or is in some way injured) she needs to be able to use correct terminology when describing to medical/care providers or other people in authority what has happened if you aren't around. There are so many different words that families use that it can be very confusing for care providers to know if something has happened.

Teaching her the proper words can happen casually, like during bath time. You can say somethikng like, "You know how here at home we call this part of you a hoohoo? Did you know it's also called a vagina? How neat is that? Mommy has one too. It's really important that you only let mommy, daddy, and the doctor touch you there. Nobody else is allowed to touch you there, and if they do you need to tell mommy and daddy right away."

Like I said, I don't want to scare you, and chances are nthing will happen to your little one, but it's always good to be prepared, just in case. Hope this helps.

Welcome to my world! You've got it easy. My daughter discovered her "peepee" when she was only a year old. She was a tummy sleeper and liked to apply pressure to her diaper when she laid down. It took a long time to stop her from "laying down" in front of company. She finally learned to do it when she's alone because mommy and daddy will stop her. Now she does it to fall asleep - even at daycare! So I'm dealing with this being her only self-soothing mechanism. She never had a binkie or sucked her fingers, but she still nurses at bedtime...then presses on her diaper for several minutes, red faced and panting. Ugh.
I worry about potty training - we've tried and she's just not ready. We've had the hands down there and in the mouth during diaper changes, at which point I tell her she has germs in her butt that can make her sick and we now have to wash her hands. I hope the message is slowly sinking in...

I think it might help to focus on getting clothes on. If she has clothes on, it won't be a problem. The trouble is getting her to wear clothes, right? My 3-year old definitely had a naked stage when she was 2-ish! I think it helped to practice putting clothes on dolls and stuffed animals, shifting to clothes that were simple enough for her to do by herself, and taking time to show her exactly how to get her clothes off and on. Oh, and it also helped to buy new exciting clothes that had special easily identifiable characters on them (even though she didn't watch much TV, she definitely knew Elmo!). Also, when she's dressed, maybe she could wear a special necklace (for big girls who get dressed), to match a necklace you might wear when you are dressed. Maybe these ideas will help, but maybe you'll just have to wait until the potty training is mostly over!

Is it possible she has a urinary tract infection and it hurts or itches after she pees? Go easy on the bubbles at bath time (the soap can irritate). Keep washing her hands and tell her she needs to wash hands after going potty. Also, try to keep her hands busy. They use to have lacing cards where you threaded the laces around a shape or picture. She might be a little young for Playdough or finger paints.

I know this is a real problem, but I couldn't stop laughing. Thank you for sharing and for teaching me a new word--hoohoo.
Seriously, I want to encourage you that she soon will outgrow this. I think about when my daughter was two and went through that stage plus boobooing in the tub! Ugh! Now, she's almost 6 and we're on to learning to tie our shoes. Some specialists say that this is a good time to teach the toddler about doing that in the privacy of your bedroom. Um, I'm not too thrilled about that, but I'm including the links to help you realize this is normal. http://psychcentral.com/lib/2007/is-it-normal-for-a-toddl.... I've come to realize though that with every stage and every challenge, there's a new one lurking around the corner. I remember praying with a friend for many years that her teen children would advance to the next grades in school without getting into illicit drugs, sex, and the other trials of the teen years. Now, they're both young adults in college! It all goes by so fast. This too shall pass.
As a parent, I've learned that every moment is a teachable moment. From not touching the "hoo hoo" to helping them learn about mortgages. Meanwhile, try adding a few more clothes to her, like t-shirts and dresses sans bottoms. If you catch her with her hands on her goodies, take hands and calmly say "nooooo." Then, lead her to bathroom and wash hands. It takes time and patience. Teaching is seldom instantaneous. That can mean days, weeks or months. If it becomes problematic, (like obvious discomfort and pain) seek advice from pediatrician to make sure there's no yeast build up or infection.