Help, My Child Won't Keep His Hands Out of His Mouth

Hi C.! I am sorry I couldnt help but giggle at that last remark about the shopping cart. My 4 almost 5!!! year old does that everyonce in a while. While she doesnt put the hands in her mouth constintly she still has her thumb in there once in a while.
I do have a question Does your son attend daycare.? If so this maybe were he picked it up or why he continues because the other kids do it. If not its just a phase he will give up in time, Till then just keep a bottle of Hand santatizer handy in your purse at all times and take a hand towel or tee towel with you to the grocery/whatever store that you know hes going to be riding in a cart in and seriously take string or yarn and tie the towel around the handle of the cart, It works as long as u knot the strings on the bottom so he cant get to them, I know it seems silly but if you are that concered about him chewing on the cart (and i dont blame you it is YUCKIE) then try it what can it hurt right?

Good luck and have a great day.

hey ,hi the only thing i can tell you is this my cousion still do it and she is now 52 but for the rest of us ,my auint would drop a dab of hot sauce or house rashed and that work.till today i dont do it know more and i dont eat anything hot.as for the shopping cart take some wippie with you.that can't be help.or tell him that not nice.

Dear C. Z:
I know that what you see seems appalling to you at the moment. It WILL pass. Your son is comforting himself for one reason or another, try a journal of when you notice it most and what is going on around him when it happens. He could be over stimulated or regressing due to the arrival of an infant into the home. It is fine to utilize aversion techniques to try to get him to stop the habit. But, if you don't get to the root of WHY he is doing it, it won't be a solved problem just a buried one. I am a Physician Assistant certified in Both PA & AK. The most reasonable way to stop him from sucking on his hands is to wrap them, usually 2-3 weeks does the trick. You can use any type of bandaging gauze that you like...before using it, soak it in something distasteful I.E.: Tabasco sauce and let it dry before doing your wrapping. You want to wrap the fingers together leaving the thumb wrapped separately so that he has almost a mitten effect going on with his hands.
As for the shopping carts, I believe this is again due to overstimulation/regression. You can pick up boxes of Alcohol wipes at any drugstore, you may need to ask the pharmacist, use these to wipe down the handle of the cart. The generic sanitizing wipes are ok for simple things but, depending on where you live, this is cold & flu season and the alcohol will take care of most of that plus, the mere smell of the alcohol on the handle will be an aversion whereas most of the antibacterial wipes have a pleasant odor possibly encouraging this behavior.
I wish you the best of luck and hope that some of these suggestions will help you. If it continues, ask his pediatrician. When in doubt always ask the Doctor.
Good luck,
J.

Hi,

My son is 4 and he does the same thing I tried all sorts of stuff to put on his hands, we tried flicking but he would just hide and started to look scared so we stopped that. The one thing that worked and we lapsed on it before it was fully taken was wrapping his fingers up. This is what his dr recommened, she said do it for 2 weeks straight and it will get them out of the habit you just need to be on your toes with reminders after that. It worked for my son but then my nephew came to stay and he does it to so he restarted.

Good Luck

P

C., I know how you feel. My stepchildren were very orally fixated when they were little. If their hands weren't in their mouths then something else was(including all sorts of really disgusting items). I used to chastise them until I was blue in the face, and it didn't really help at all. They would just take their fingers or whatever else they had out of their mouths if they noticed me looking at them. They did it for years But they eventually just seemed to grow out of it. It seemed to take forever, but I think that when they realized that what they were doing was unsanitary and gross, they stopped. Hopefully you'll find something that will work quicker than that, but if all else fails, at least you know that eventually, it's over.