16mo. son will not keep his hands out of his diaper!!!

[PrettyHippie]

I don't know what else to do!  Bless his heart, he just can't keep his hand out of the front of his diaper!  This has developed in the last 4 weeks or so.  It is very obvious it's a "comfort" thing as he's only doing it when he's sitting peacefully, sleeping, or very entranced by something, but come one now, this can't become a solid habit.  He'll be sitting there and pops his thumb in his mouth and his other hand in his diaper.  We've tried onesies and he just gets around them.  We've tried to introduce soft comfy toys and satiny blankets thinking that maybe he just needs a new comfort item.....no go!  We've been removing his hand and telling him no, but boy oh boy does he not like it when we do that!  I just needed to fish for some new ideas as to what to try to break this new little habit.  I'd hate to think my son is the ONLY little boy out there who's done this!  Any ideas?  Thanks! 

[Just1More]

My ds used to do that and it was SO frustrating because he would "rearrange" and then his diaper would "leak" and wet the bed. He would get through a onesie, too. We had better luck if I snapped the onesie over his pants. Also, a few drops of gse in a squirt bottle of water and lightly sprayed on after diaper changes can stop the itchies if he has a mild case of yeast. I know u said it seems comfort based, but sometimes one thing can lead to another...either itchies made him aware, or being aware made him itchy and is prolonging the phase. Oh, another thing we did for a while was feet pajamas.

[PrettyHippie]

I knew he couldn't be the only one!  Thanks for the input!   He also "rearranges" which messes up his diaper and leads to soaked pajamas and bedsheets.  Not too fun when you're cosleeping, let me tell ya.  I actually did forget to put in my first post that I had wondered if it was yeast related at first but I've seen no signs or anything to make me think that was what started this.  I'm still keeping my eyes on this!  Oh and I'm going to kick myself when I get the answer, but what it GSE?  I know I've heard this before.  I had thought about footies but it has gotten VERY warm here and the poor kid is such a hotbox to begin with.  If he had started this in the middle of winter, no problem!  Oh boy...this could be an interesting battle...
 

[gitanamama]

If you have the time and patience, I would suggest letting him go diaper free for awhile (obviously not an option if he's in day care--I don't know what your situation is.) When my son started the hands-in-the-diaper phase, we just took off his diaper. Within a week, he was potty trained (at 18 months.) And if you can't swing the no-diaper, maybe let him be diaper free as much as possible at home? Air circulation might help with a yeast infection (if he does indeed have one.)

GSE is Grapefruit Seed Extract. It has powerful, natural antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral properties. You should be able to get it at any health food store. 

[Super~Single~Mama]

I was just going to say get used to it! Lol!! My ds has been doing this since we stopped using onsies, and falls asleep with his hand in his pants every day. Oh well, must be a boy thing.

[sageowl]

Sounds normal to me.  I found myself saying "no hands in pants" a lot at this age.  Eventually the interest faded, and it stopped being an issue a few months later.  Makes me think that's why overalls are a popular option in the 18mo -2T size clothes for boys...

[pickle18]

Definitely normal - we EC, so I second the diaper free time (not that it deters it, but for more bodily awareness, which leads to using the potty - also, maybe he'll be less likely to do it at night with free daytime access? DS doesn't do this at night so just speculating...).  He's just discovering his body.  I definitely wouldn't shame him about it - I think it's a normal, healthy developmental phase.  

When he's older, if it keeps up, I suppose you could discuss private vs. public behavior when he can understand it better, but I wouldn't ever frame it in a negative way...I doubt it will come to that, though.  I don't see anything wrong with it in the meantime.