Toddler pinching himself..any advice??

[AnyaJoeli]

Hi there

My 14 month old has a new habit of pinching himself whenever he sees any newly exposed skin (like when i'm dressing him, at bath time, etc), on his belly, arms, etc. He pinches really hard and really persistently, so that it causes really horrible red marks and quite frankly he's pinched me and I know that it's sodding painful so I don't understand why he's doing it...has anyone else had this happen with their little one, vaguely masochistic tendencies? I'm wondering whether it's just normal discovery of his own skin, but I do worry that it's slightly weird and the other day he had such horrible red marks on his belly because of his own pinching that I do also have a slight fear that he's going to start doing himself some actual damage.

Any tips as to how I can dissuade him of doing it?

Thanks!

Anya

[EDmummy]

May well be just a phase but if you have any concerns may well be worth mentioning to your GP for reassurance. You might also want to try diversion tactics when he starts doing it. Maybe also try body brushing with a soft baby brush so he gets some sensory input.

[AnyaJoeli]

Thanks..he's a very tactile baby gets lots of massage and skin to skin. And I should also say, when he's doing it it's kind of like he's intrigued and smiling rather than unhappy and self-flagellating, which just makes me think he's a little weird. But I'll def ask the doctor...

[Saffron]

It sounds a bit like he's just curious about investigating the limits of his own body. If he doesn't have any developmental issues, or other peculiar habits or behavioural problems, it probably is just a phase. I think the idea of a body brush is a good one. Concerning the red skin, toddler skin is very thin and reddens quite easily. As long as he's not breaking the skin, the marks should fade easily. If he is breaking the skin, or the pinching seems to become a habit rather than a phase, definitely speak to the GP. You might be able to get a referral to a behavioural specialist.

My daughter went through a phase of liking to smush and bash her nose on my knees really hard. It was definitely hurting me, so it must have been uncomfortable for her too. Toddlers are such strange little creatures sometimes. xx

[Bouncy]

I remember having a conversation with a friend about why our toddlers were 'self-harming' when mine was around that age - though the weird thing is, I can't remember now exactly what they were doing, so I guess it must have passed fairly quickly! A few friends have had issues like this...I remeber being quite disturbed by it, but maybe it is just a stage a lot of them go through???