Pushing

[CuckooMamma]

Since dd was an infant she would push a great deal of the time that she was placed in a bouncer, carseat or highchair. She is now almost 3 and she still does this. She isn't unhappy and when in the carseat will at times use this to transition into sleep. She'll just keep straightening her legs over and over until she finally falls asleep completely drenched in sweat. We've asked her why she does it, and she says she "likes to".

Most of the time it doesn't bother me, but lately with the heat, it's driving me a little nuts - having to keep changing her shirt when I take her out of the car. She does this even when she's eating in the highchair. It isn't ALL the time, but it's at least 50%. Is this something I should ignore or somehow try to stop? We've thought of getting her a Kinderzeat so that she won't have something to push against, and I've also wondered if this will stop once she's out of diapers and doesn't have a cushion anymore. When I asked her why she liked to push, she said it felt good where her legs meet her rear, right on the diaper line.

Has anyone else experienced this?

[lovebugmama]

Please don't be offended! but is it possibly a masturbatory thing?

[iamama]

I think that I would ignore it because its something that helps her relax and she has been doing it for awhile. To make her stop altogether may do more harm than good and changing her shirt seems to be the lesser of the 2 evils. Masterbation is healthy and common in young children...and adults!

[CuckooMamma]

You know at times I've flirted with the idea that it was masturbatory, and is why I asked where she thought it felt good. But, I've always come away thinking that it wasn't. First, she's done it since she was newborn, even wearing a hole in her bouncer where she would kick off of and she was very rarely in her bouncer, almost always in my arms. Would she have started so young if it was masturbatory?

Also, a good number of times she ends in tears. We're not sure why. Just assuming that she wears herself out and can't transition to sleep. And she does it while she eats. Do you all still think it is masturbatory? There is never any type of a climax. Does masturbatory just mean that it feels good?

Anyway, I'm not offended at all. Just trying to make sense of this "weird" behavior that I've never seen in any other kids :-)

[Greaseball]

Is sweat the only problem? One thing that might work is buying a package of generic white t-shirts and keeping them in the car along with some baby wipes. Then changing her shirt won't be much of a problem. Or turn up the air conditioning and make sure some of it gets into the backseat.