Parents of Schoolgoers  Discussion Forum

My 3yr old daughter has a very strange habit of rubbing her fingers between my breast or on my cheeks or neck and smell it while the other hand shes thumb sucking.She does this most of the times in the day and specially at night when she has to sleep nd when she wakes up in between sleep.I have tried telling her,scolding her and removing her hand away from my shirt/face but nothing helps.she gets angry and cries always.Shes sticking on to me most of the time.Iam very embarresed and frustrated with her,but otherwise shes very intelligent child.Pls let me know if any other parent faces the same problem as its unheard of to us. priya replied. Children usually do this ,especially while they are being fed and when sleeping ,to get a feel of intimacy and logically they keep touching, rubbing and doing many unusual things to assure themselves that we are physically with them by their side.One of my aunt' s daughter too had a typical habit of smelling her mother' s hair while sleeping and used to get irritated when my aunt tried to avoid.One of my uncle' s son also had this habit of playing with his rubber sheet mat and he loved its smell too.He too reacted the same way when tried to stop him.But as time passed by they got rid of the habit themselves.But in many other ways we can divert them,and you can try making her sleep with her papa or get her a very good soft toy she can get closer to(smelling the toy is dangerous though).But do not scold her ,she' s just trying to get closer to you. Dilip Mani replied. call on me zero nine eight nine three five zero three seven one five Dilip Mani replied. either u can divert the kids mind with something interesting and start music therapy if the kids still hand with that habit.any help let me know Tee Sett replied. Don' t worry not all kids but quite a few do this - this is only because it makes them feel closer to you. If you want to stop your child from doing this do not scold her just firmly remove her hand every single time or try to distract her by giving her a toy or telling her a story.