How to Stop Nose Picking

She will eventually stop... it may not be as soon as you would like for her to do.. but I think all FIVE of my kids went through this... I think it just starts out as a curiosity.. or a discovery of something when they have had a cold and becomes a habit... when she gets a bit older try rewarding her for NOT doing it. Maybe tell her she can pick her nose but every time she does it. she has to wash her hands! She may get tired of washing her hands every time. She may be a bit young for this concept though... you might have to wait until she is three or so.

hang in there.. this is normal behavior (even if it is yucky!)

Just a thought from my own experience: her nose may be to dry due to low ambient humidity, and secretions may dry out and irritate her. It you think it may be the case, try humidifying your house/ room.

Someone once told me there are two kinds of people. Those who pick their nose, and those who lie about it. Now I don't know if that is completely true, but I do know that sometimes there are irritants in a nose, that don't even come out with blowing. And children find that the finger is just the right shape and size to get rid of them. You just need to teach her the right way to get rid of it. It takes time and paitence, and willingness to try different technics.
Think about why you have a problem with your daughter picking her nose. Is it because you think it looks gross? Are you worried about what others may think? So you think it is unhealthy and unsanitary? Anyway think about what your reasons are, and then try to find a way that she will understand to deal with it.
For example, with my daughter, I think it is unsanitary and can make her sick. So I told her that it can make her sick, and then taught her how to use a tissue to clean out her nose, and then told her to ask when she needs a tissue. Now sometimes she still picks her nose, but other times she asks for a tissue. And I praise her the times that she asks. Hopefully she will figure out the right way to take care of her nose over time. By the way my daughter is almost 3. So your daughter may or may not be ready to understand that kind of logic. But think of your situation, and your daughters level of understanding, and you may come up with something.
Merry Christmas!

We have had this situation in my preschool class lately as well. My best successes have come from telling the children that picking their noses is "bad manners" and that we want to practice good manners in our classroom. I hope this helps. God bless you and yours!

Hi S.,

This will sound like really funny advice, but ignore it. If you do that, the child will generally stop on his or her own because it is for attention usually anyway. If not, you may actually contribute to the habit becoming longterm, even as an adult. Apparently maybe their mom or dad thought it was desperately important to point out how bad it was. Case in point, i'm sure there are many closet nose pickers who started early. My daughter rarely does it anymore now that we ignore it. Once in a while when she is tired, she will revert to that attention tactic, but my husband and I then play a game with her like where is your nose, or eyes, or ears, or whatever to distract her. It works fo us! Blessings to you and your family. Merry Christmas!

K. S.

I agree that you should explain why it bothers you. In our case, I've told my daughter that we don't pick our noses in public and that she should go to a private place to do it. I've also taught her how to use a tissue. And hygeine - that you need to wash your hands after having them in your nose, mouth, eyes, etc. Of course now our only issue is that she announces to the whole household that she's going into her room to pick her nose, LOL. So the actual concept of privacy isn't there yet.

Good luck.

Try teaching her where it is and isn’t appropriate to pick her nose… such as in the bathroom, or at home, but not in a public area, or at the dinner table. Once those boundaries are established, then you can move on to using tissues etc.