Help!! How Do I Keep My Son from Putting His Hands in His Mouth!

im 19 and still bite my nails lol. i hate it, but i cant stop either. my parents tried everything it didnt work. however my mom told my little sister when she was about two or so, that there were "buggies" under her nails. so everytime she had her fingers in her mouth, she was eating bugs. it worked with her, however your son being a boy, he may enjoy that lol idk. they do make some stuff you can put on their fingers/hands that tastes either sour or spicy, that is supposed to work. kinda like the stuff you put on your furniture, when you have puppies that taste horrible, so they dont chew on it. i just thought i would throw that out there. i hope you figure something out, because not only can it make him sick, it is a habit that is very hard to break, even when your older...trust me i know!

Neither of my children did this, but it may be teething or just plain calming for him. However... having had both kids go into daycare at about that age, I can tell you that no matter what you do, he's going to pick up illnesses. I don't mean to sound negative but it just comes with the territory. Probably for the first 3-6 months he'll get a lot of colds, possibly a stomach bug or two depending upon what's going on.

Our pediatrician said, "They either get the colds now or they get them in kindergarten." And he was right, in my son's case at least. He has an iron constitution now -- went through preschool, pre-K and K without a sick day (after what seemed like a constant cold for the first 4 months of daycare).

Good luck to you

Germs are good for strengthening the immune system. And to add to Catherine C.'s stories, I will mention the time that my sweet 2 year old son helped me clean up the dog poop in the yard by bringing me a piece that I had missed. He brought it to me in his hands and said, "here mama." He was so CUTE!!! (Oh I miss that sweet little 2 year old!)

Don't forget the hand,foot,and mouth disease. He'll get that too...maybe several times. That's the most painful of all the kiddy bug, I think. And you can get it from your child too.

My daughter wanted her finger nails painted and I said I couldn't pain them because she puts her fingers in her mouth. When she stopped doing that we could get them painted. I'd take her with me to the salon when I got mine done.

I suspect your boy doesn't want his nails polished, but if you went to a salon where men had their nails cared for....

Okay, there really is no advise. Little kids put their hands in their mouths and they get sick.

Every time my daughter got sick, I asked were your hands in your mouth this week. She's own it and I'd remind her how important it was not to do that because of the germs that make us sick.

Good luck,
Stephanie