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Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Behaviour/development

Dd2 developing a hand sniffing & washing obsession

15 replies

nutcracker · 14/10/2004 10:57

Dd2 who is nearly 5 has started sniffing and washing her hands alot. She washed them 4 times this morning before we went out and still didn't seem happy with them.

About a year ago she went through a similar thing because we were trying to get her to wipe her own bottom and she got a bit of poo on her hand and on her knickers. For about a month after that she wouldn't touch her knickers at all, wouldn't put them on or take them off or pull them up and down. On one occasion i spent 30minutes in a toilet whilst we were eating out trying to persuade her to let me pull them back up as she was really upset about it shaking and everything.
She also got obssesed with her hands and said that they smelt and she was always washing them.

Gradually over time she seemed to forget about it all and we had no more probs, but over the last 2 weeks i have seen her sniffing her hands and dissapera of to the loo to wash them, only to sniff them again and go back off to wash them again.

I'm not sure what to do about it, do i just let her or try and stop her ??

OP posts:

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littlemissbossy · 14/10/2004 11:07

I've no experience of this nutcracker, but if it were me, I'd try not to make a big deal out of it, don't give her any attention for this, just maybe try and distract her with something when she see her sniffing her hands. Then, I'd keep a written note of how many times she does this say over a two week period and if it continues, make an appointment with your GP for advice ... could be like an obsessive compulsive disorder which is treatable (without drugs). HTH

nutcracker · 14/10/2004 11:19

Thanks lmb, i will keep a note of how often she is doing it and try to distract her when she does.

OP posts:

shevi · 14/10/2004 11:29

i have a 19year old son who was diagnosed with ADD at 9 after many years of miss diagnosis. At 16 he developed OCD this manifested itself in many ways but one of which was handwashing i confiscated his nail brush but this made the situation worse. i am sure this is not a compulsive thing yet, try not to make a big deal of it but distract her instead. The other thing that might be worth trying is a litttle bit of simple handcream that smells nice, after she,s washed her hands she puts on hand cream if her hands smell nice she might not feel the need to do it. hope that helps.

nutcracker · 14/10/2004 11:35

Thanks Shevi, that idea about the handcream sounds great i will try that.

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Jimjams · 14/10/2004 12:22

SOunds like she HAS to do this or she gets very upset- in other words it sounds compulsive. ds1 has OCD as part of his autism - it is very hard to deal with. Occasionally I HAVE to break an obsession and it causes a great deal of distress (and something else pops up in its place). otherwise I try to manage it- by using countdowns (letting him do something for 10 seconds for example) or by using "one more time then finished". Generally this works.

There is a book by Tamar Chansky called Freeing your child from Obsessive compulsive disorder.

Jimjams · 14/10/2004 12:23

whoops sounds like IU'm disagreeing with shevi- I'm not really- it just sounds as if it may has an OCD at its root iyswim- even if it isn't overtaking her yet and she can still exercise control.

nutcracker · 14/10/2004 12:31

Cheers Jimjams, so shall i try and stop her doing it ??
School haven't mentioned it so i'm assuming she isn't doing it whilst there as they wouldn't stand for her going off to wash her hands all the time

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Jimjams · 14/10/2004 12:43

I would try and redirect her- but if she has to do it then try and limit it- so if she washes them once - fine but if she then goes back- as she goes back try telling her its the last time. If she then can't leave the sink try telling her she can have 10 more seconds then countdown 10, 9 8 etc.

It's very hard though. Occasionally I do have to break an obsession as its becoming dangerous or too much and then ds1 does get very very distressed - although interestingly he tends get through it quite quickly (in a couple of days).

Tiggiwinkle · 14/10/2004 23:22

Do you think she has anxieties about something else which are manifesting themselves in the hand-washing/sniffing routines?For instance starting school, or some other change in routine?

Socci · 14/10/2004 23:46

Message withdrawn

ChicPea · 15/10/2004 01:29

Do you think she may have been teased at school due to an accident or something and is desperate not to have a poo smell on her hands in case she is teased again?

FairyMum · 15/10/2004 07:05

I remember going through stages like this when I was a child. As a teenager I also had different obsessions, like "if I don't do this something terrible will happen". I actually think it's very common to go through stages of slightly obsessive-compulsive behaviour,but for most people it doesn't take over their lives. I would leave it, but keep an eye. Most likely it will just be a stage or she will go through phases like this for the rest of her life. As long as it doesn't bother her or take over her life, I would not worry. There is lots of information on this on the internet btw. Just do a search.

tigermoth · 15/10/2004 07:27

nutcracker, I have a friend who's 8 year old daughter has a hand washing obsession - started a few years ago. She is recieving ongoing treatment for it and now has strategies for coping with it. In her case it is caused by anxiety. Although the little girl is a happy person, the hand washing is how she chooses to express her anxiety. If you want me to find out more, let me know.

nutcracker · 15/10/2004 12:29

Wow thanks for all the advice evryone.

She went to a friends house for tea last night and I asked her friends mom if she had done it whilst there and she said no.

She was a bit better this morning although she did say she wanted to wash her hands when i knew she already had.
When she asked i said 'but you have already done them haven't you ?'
She said 'no i forgot' which wasn't true.
So i said ' but i can smell the soap on your hands, they smell lovely like strawberrys (they didn't but you see my point)', and she then seemed to be satisfied with that they smelt o.k

I think it may well still be to do with her feeling like her hands are dirty after she has wiped herself. The other week she was a bit sore after some over zealous bottom wiping and so i put a bit of cream on her bottom. I said to her don't touch it just let it soak in, and i have a feeling she did touch it and now thinks she can smell it on her hands, and when she has been to the toilet. She also has a right go at dd1 if she forgets to wash her hands after using the loo so i'm almost certain it's to do with that.

Anyway the distraction seemed to work this morning so i will try that again next time and just see how we go.

OP posts:

misdee · 17/10/2004 09:36

how'd it go so far over the weekend?

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