[maliamama]

Hi I'm new here and I have kind of a silly situation - My ds, 3, picks his nose and eats his "gunkies" which doesn't bother me. We have it worked out that just does it when we're home because it does offend some people. But my DH really gets worked up about it and insists that he should stop now because he thinks it's rude and he wants him to get out of the habbit before starting school.<br><br>
my opinion - not a big deal! just one less thing I want to have to discipline about. Any suggestions - input?

 

[ShaggyDaddy]

maybe tell your dh (in a joking manner) "well think of it this way, every time he picks his nose we could instead be hearing him scream and cry about us struggling with him... lets pick our battles and let him pick his nose"

 

[PreggieUBA2C]

Our 2 1/2 year old is a voracious nose-picker. His older and younger brothers are not, which is interesting for anyone who thinks it's a modelled behaviour... Anyway, we only remind him every now and then that he can hurt his nose when we see that he's been at it for a while. He has made his nose bleed and thereafter <i>chooses on his own</i> to leave it alone until it is healed. He also talks to us about it- why it happened, what he'll do about it, etc... So he clearly understands the 'risks' <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol"> but does it anyway.<br><br>
I'm not sure how you would discipline for this. At best, wouldn't the child just find a way to do it when you're not looking? I agree with it not being a battle worth engaging and also recognising that, short of causing serious fear in the child, you can't <i>win</i> anyway- unless you're satisfied with it being done out of your sight.

 

[kettunainen]

Would teaching him to use a tissue be a sort of compromise between your comfort and your dh's lack of comfort? That way, he still gets to pick his nose but it's in a way that can be a more socially acceptable way of doing so. However, it's not as effective as using a naked finger, so there might be issues there.