6 Month Old Finds "Himself"

H. this is normal my son does the same thing all the time he is only 18 months old he even pulls his diaper off this is just a stage and it will pass just don't know when it will pass

Hi H.,
I have a 7 months old; he keeps staring at his hands, and he's been doing this for the past 2 months or so. He also touches his genitals once in a while. Or pulls his hair when he's sleepy. I read in a book that the best thing you can do is not showing too much sensitivity about it. If he pulls his hair, one thing you can do is giving him a doll or teddy bear with lots of hair so that he can pull on that; also, don't be worried at all if he touches his genitals. For us, "the grown ups", it might have negative connotation, but for kids it's just another amazing body part (just like hands, feet, etc.)And truth be said, it is even more amazing than other parts. So... no worries... let it go... when he feels that he's learnt enough he will divert his attention towards other things, but for now he needs you to support his curiousity and also help him by naming his body parts for him and showing him your. For example, show him his hand and say" this is your hand" and then show him your hand and say "this is mommy's hand". Or you can count his fingers for him.
Take it easy*** N.

It's normal but but dont give it any attention and he'll stop. my daughter did'nt discover herself until recently and she is 3 and I have a hard time with her because she tend to show everyone that she has a private area. my son was about 18 months old in the bath and started playing with it. I told him to stop and he told me to shut up. LOL I just left him alone because in the home its ok but in public is when you have to worrie because there are petifiles out there that watch children doing those things and you don't want them to focus on your kid. He's still too little to knwo any better anyway. I'd just ignore it.

Girls do it too!!!! I've had two. Look on the bright side if he's comfortable with it, maybe potty training will be a bit easier?... The problem with girls is that while potty training, I left my oldest without a diaper and she discovered that it was a hole....and...naturally you put thing in holes.... no more naked butts for her! those days are long gone now and with my second being almost one, every diaper change, I have to enlist help because that's where her hands automatically go!

if it makes you feel any better. I have an almost 2 year old boy and an almost 3 year old girl. One day I walked into the room and she was pushing his "thing" in and he was laughing. I had to turn around and "think..think..think.." before I reacted.. I didn't want to scare them! obviously it was harmless but I wanted her to know it wasn't okay. I did tell her that was his private part and she has her own and no one should touch it. and that was the end of that. I put his diaper on and they found something else to play with.
Also ... he is almost 2 and still we find him with his hands in his diaper! Boys will be boys!! :)

I'm sorry. I have to chuckle. The first thing that popped into my mind was, "well, at least your son is advanced for his age!" :)

I wouldn't worry about it at all, personally. My 11mo son has played with his since he was about 9-10mos (and I am told by my male friends that it really never stops!...just for a humorous giggle), and looks at me like "what is this??" every time!...seriously though, until they're old enough to be told that that is a private part, there really isn't a whole lot we can do, eh?

He'll get distracted by something else soon enough, I'm sure! Or is it that I HOPE. :)

That's totally normal. This around the age that babies start to realize that they are a separate entity from their mother, so it's natural that he would discover something that is interesting and somewhat pleasureable. I had three younger brothers who used to constantly hold themselves until they were about 5 or 6 years old (we have family photos of them, standing there, with their hands cupped around their crotch, haha). They are now 25 and 22(x2), and completely well-adjusted, wonderful men. So, nothing to worry about!

LOL H., don't worry about that!
Our baby started doing it when he was about 4-5 months and he is still "playing" with himself.
It's completely normal, just like when they discover their hands, feet or ears.
He is just exploring himself and understanding that everything is a part of him!

I think my son found himself around that age too, maybe even a little earlier. And he still plays with it in the bath tub even though there are so many toys. Don't worry about it, totally normal. Let me share what I read the other day about this: they play with themselves because it feels good, but we parents need to realize it's not sexual. It's more like that good feeling you get when scratching a good itch. :)

Hi, H.

I have a 10 month old boy who did the same thing when he was in the bath tub at 6 months old. But the older he gets the less interesting it becomes to him or maybe he has notice that it just doesn't feel so great to pull on it so much. When I asked our doctor if that was normal she said it was very normal and the older he got the harder he would pull the less he would like to do it. So now he hardly ever pulls on it and he is 10 months old now. So in my opinion it is very normal.
K.

My son was about that age when he found himself. I sighed and let him tug the heck out of it - after all it is his and he will be best friends with it for the rest of his life...ask any man. I had to chuckle when he kept trying desperately to stretch it and get it into his mouth, thankfully he was never successful and gave up quickly. I didn't pay it any attention, and like all of his baby-obsessions, once he was certain of it, it ceased to be so interesting. Now my son has discovered daddy's...chuckle...but he's allowed to touch it once to name it, like anything else in his world, and moves on. We just don't make it an issue at all.

Ha Ha. This is so normal. However, make sure you don't tell him that it is yucky or disgusting or anything like that. As they get older, that will manifest itself into a negative self image.

With my boys, I just told them that it was not a play thing and kept redirecting them to something else...over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. LOL

Don't worry.

that is when my son found himself too. It's normal. Just keep him in onsies in public! I figured that out at the library when I heard a couple of moms laughing and I look over and my son has his hand in his pants with the biggest grin. It will lose it's apeal. Maybe if you let him go naked for a while he'll get tired of it. My nephew is 9 onths old and grabs at his diaper when he is tired and grabs at himelf every time you change his diaper. No big deal.

Well I resently came across an article form babycenter.com and it was discussing this very topic. They said that boys and girls at that age most often just happen across that body part, and when they touch it it feels good. (not in the sexual way of course that will not come for a few more years.) But they said that it is perfectly normal and fine. My son does that as well mostly just in the bath. It truely is amazing on how much we spend on toys and they will find the strangest non toy to entertain themselves with. You should go to babycenter.com and look up the article, it was in the toddler section. It was really informative.

Totally normal!
My 14-month old son has been doing this for some time now. I try not to discourage it, as I don't want him to be ashamed of his body.

Hmmm....sounds like pretty much every man I have ever met...