A picking 2 year old-spending a small fortune!

bylromarha

DS has a tendency to pick.

He used to pick a spot on his belly, but we managed to cure him of that by putting him in a popper vest at night time.

However, as the belly stopped, the face picking started...

He sucks his thumb, and whilst sucking, uses his forefinger to pick the skin where his eye meets his nose. he's been doing this for 4 months now whilst we've tried everything to break the habit. there's an ugly looking welt there currently and a scar underneath it.

Have spent a small fortune on trying all the following, but none work.

Super strength plasters
micropore tape (stuck on the end of plasters)
gloves at night, taped on
sticky strapping bandages
finger gauze

Any mixture of the above have been removed within 10 minutes of bedtime. Plasters are only staying on during the day due to cross voices and smacks on the hand.

Thought about "stop and grow" to paint on his fingernails, but you have to be 5 before you can use that.

A friend has suggested we put him to sleep with his arms in splints...it's the only other solution we have!

So any ideas...please?!

hobo28

How old is he? I used Stop & Grow on my stepdaughter when she was 3 after she grew a big welt on her thumb. Worked a treat.

[Deleted User]

tried making him wear cotton gloves? Gaffer tape them on.. no more scratching!

bylromarha

DS is 2

We've tried 3 different pairs of gloves, each on micropore taped on (with a finger gauze taped onto the finger in the glove)

Came off within 10 minutes.

Not sure gaffer tape will be good for the skin, though worth a shot I guess!

Nicki

Have you thought about asking the professionals for help with this one? I would start with HV, and if she can't help ask GP for a referral to someone who can help with Child Behavioural issues. This isn't a child being naughty - if he has a huge welt in such a sensitive spot, it must hurt to keep picking at it, so it is fulfilling some need for him which you haven't identified yet. The answer will almost certainly be to provide some diversion activity to break the cycle, which may not be to your taste but will be better than what he is doing - eg they may suggest giving him a dummy, so that he can maintain the sucking which is comforting but keeping the forefinger away from the danger spot, then when the picking habit has been eliminated (which will take a while), gradually fazing the dummy out by replacing it with something else more age appropriate. During the daytime, rather than keeping the spot covered, I think you will be advised to find some other diversion, so that each time he tries to pick you tell him to do the new thing, and eventually he will always do the new thing when he needs this kind of comfort rather than the picking.

As a general rule, with very young children, it seems to work better if you tell them what to do, rather than what not to do - ie instead of shouting at him, and telling him to stop, you tell him to use his comfort strategy (whatever you decide that should be) without commenting on what he was doing, or only commenting on it in a very low key kind of way.