question for moms of boys

[moderngal]

DS has recently discovered his penis and apparently he loves it. :rolleyes:
He really tugs and pulls at himself during diaper changes and baths- so much so that he is a little raw and has scratches from it. I don't want to try to limit how much he touches himself, but it looks to me like he is hurting himself- I mean all that pulling can't feel good? I don't know though. Is there a way to keep his hands out of his pants or at least help him be a little more gentle with himself?

[jh124]

I dread this day, but I know it's coming {shudder...} No advice, just wondering how old your son is, what kind of diapers he wears, what kind of situation he explores his nether-regions.

[Marisa]

I'm afraid that this stuff is pretty normal. :D As for any scratching, the most you can do is keep his nails short and smooth.... and the tugging/pulling/etc. is pretty much benign. According to DH it's a pretty 'elastic' area and your DS is unlikely to be able to do himself much harm. :)

Once he's more verbal, maybe around a year and a half, you can start talking to him about that part of himself, give it a name, etc. That will help a *little* with the 'fascination'. But otherwise, it's pretty much normal that as soon as he's uncovered, he'll go right for that area. I mean, wouldn't you, if you had such an interesting part that was covered and inaccessible roughly 23 hours a day? :)

[Mickey&B]

So funny we were just talking about the in the Aug mommies thread. It is totally normal for them to do this when they are discovering their bodies, I wouldn't worry about it too much if it hurts him he will stop doing it. IMO you are right for not telling him not to touch it you don't want him later think that it's a bad thing. You could always say something like "gentle touches" and show him what gentle touches are on his arm or hand or something (pat or rub softly).

I just posted in the thread that I remember when I was teaching preschool and I found a little boy under the computer table and I asked him what he was doing under there? he very non-chalantly replied "playing with my penis" still cracks me up :D

[monique]

Whenever DS touches his parts, I tell him that is your penis. I don't want him to get a complex or anything about it. I also tell him to be nice to his penis should he try to hit it or in your case scratch it. My thought is that he wouldn't play with it if it hurt him so I let him have some play/exploration time and then I try and distract his hands with something else to finish the diaper change. Also, like someone else said, keep his nails short to limit the ammt. of scratches he is getting.