Toddler 'humping' the sofa?

[NumptyNu]

Slightly embarrassing, but I need some reassurance here. My 2 yo DD has recently started kind of 'moving herself' forwards and backwards in a kind of rocking motion along the sofa. Is this normal / simply a developmental stage? Should I leave her to pass through it naturally or should I stop her?

It's completely normal and usually just a phase. Either ignore it, or distract her, but don't make a big deal about it. If she's still doing it when she's older then you can have the "yes it feels nice, but it's private, so you need to do when you are on your own, in private" talk.

Thanks Littlefish. Great advice. I can see that it's natural but can't help getting a bit embarrassed, specially if its witnessed by others.

I'll definitely use your advice though, thankyou!

If others are around, then I would probably just distract her.

Thanks for the advice.

Like littlefish, our dd has been doing this since about 9 months. When we used to go toddler groups it used to get quite embarrassing other kids would watch with fascination and would try and imitate this.

She is 3.9 years now and does it less so perhaps once a week especially if she's tired. But she knows that it's something she does in private so goes in the bathroom closes the door and sits on the toilet seat.

When do they tend to grow out of the public humping phase please?

With our dd I would say when her comprehension and understanding got better. We had little chats about it. I think about 2.5. Our dd started nursery at 2 I know she used to do it there which stopped within a couple of months.

Thanks - no sign of my LO stopping even though she's nearly 4. Our ability to stay breezy and relaxed about it is wearing rather thin... (I know it's natural, but...)

I've taught children in reception classes who would quite happily sit on the carpet with a hand up each leg of their shorts. If there are other children around I just say gently "Bob/Roberta, go and wash your hands please" which has the effect of distracting them. I also speak to the parents and ask them to have the "private things happen in private" talk.

Oh no! I hadn't thought about nursery! I wonder if she does it there?

Although the trigger seems to be relaxing in front of the tv. She never seems to do it in any other place or at any other time.

The nursery will have seen it before. They will have seen everything before.

breatheslowly is right - it's perfectly normal for it to happen at nursery or school. I find that it's most likely to happen when children are sitting on the carpet, listening to a story, so they are very relaxed.

Thanks all for the reassurance.