Picking nose?

desertmom · **Picking nose?**

I know this is gross, but it is also very common.

How in the heck do you get them to stop picking their nose...and eating it? My son is 8, and does this...so gross. I just remember as a teen, kids talking about kids, and if that kid picked his nose and ate it in elementary school, the kids would still mention it in high school! I don't want that for my kid. And now he's got his little sister doing it. Both are avid tissue users, so they know how (and I should own stock in the company that makes Puffs!).

Ick!

mommy&wifeisme · 06-09-2008, 06:53 AM

I make my ds go wash his hands every time. He's doing it less, just because I think he is getting tired of running back and forth to the bathroom.

Cookie2 · 06-09-2008, 01:23 PM

DD has a bit of OCD so she picks at everything, not just her nose. Sometimes I wish she'd do something with it other than wiping it on her clothes, my furniture or ME.

I do remind her to stop doing it. I remind her frequently. Instead of saying "don't", because the brain doesn't process the word -not-, I put the command in the positive. I remind her to keep her hands below her shoulders or off her face. Besides that sounds better than constantly saying, "Stop picking your nose!" Keeping your son's hands off his face will be important because the more he touches his face the more likely he will have acne.

I have had all the discussions with her too about transmitting germs and how she'll deform her nose or give herself scars (when she picks at her skin.) That only helps momentarily.

Confession time ... I had a horrible time with picking when I was a kid. I did it because I simply couldn't BREATH. I wish my parents had taken my habit as a sign and gotten me the medical treatment I needed. I was asthmatic and had horrible allergies. You said your children are frequent tissue users, maybe they have allergies. It could be something other than environmental allergies, too. I recenty stopped eating wheat / gluten and suddenly my lifelong GI problems, baggy eyes, and chronic post nasal drip stopped. I wish I had known that 40 years ago. If your children have an allergy that can't be adequately controlled (ie: pollen, dust mites), something as simple as a prescription steroid nasal spray could help.

MomOfThreeMonsters · 06-09-2008, 01:39 PM

DS picks his nose but doesn't eat it.
He has an extreme fear of germs (he hates being sick and knows that germs can cause sickness) so I told him that when he picks his nose he is taking the germs that are on his hands and inserting them into his nose which makes him more likely to get sick. I also do like mommy&wifeisme and have him go wash his hands every time I catch him doing it. He has mellowed out on the nose picking and has now starting chewing on his clothes....UGH! I have told him the same thing for the chewing as the picking...Germs... and I told him that if his clothes start ending up with holes in them as a result of him chewing than HE will buy new ones with HIS money.

Kids...

desertmom · 06-09-2008, 08:31 PM

Yes, both kids do have allergies, as DH and I do, and I know that's a large part of it (and why I have a stockpile of tissues), but the Dr. doesn't feel it warrants being on an allergy medicine all the time, despite puffy eyes on her and sneezing, and dark circles on the eyes on him, bloody noses and drips. In truth, because of all the problems with drugs on children that they thought were innocent before, I think they are afraid to use them for maintenance - outweighing the necessity with the risks.