2.5 yo DS does strange things with his soft toy - is this normal????

[PintandChips]

he has a soft toy that he's had since birth, which he loves to bits. he does this thing with it though, where he lies on top of it and, basically, for want of a better description, humps it. He has done it always, i remember him doing it when he was less than a year old... he generally does when he's tired... but now that he's a bit older it's sort of embarrasing if there are other people around, as it really does look like he's trying to have his way with it, and his breathing becomes very quick and shallow too, which doesn't help.

i've asked him what he's doing and he says 'i'm wiggling my teddy'. i don't want to make a big deal out of it, but i don't want him doing it in public / at nursery, because people will think it odd.

is this common? am i worrying about nothing?

my friend ds does this

tbh we just ignore. he humps various things though

friend is mortified though. we think it funny

I think he probably finds the sensation he gets comforting. I remember when my DS2 was younger he would constantly fiddle with his privates and he wasn't selective about where and when he would do it. There was even a photo of him in the local press when he won a fancy dress competiion in the first year of school and he was fiddling (I have kept it to show him when he gets older

Try distacting him when in public.

Lots of kids do this. As he gets a bit older gently suggest that he only does that in private, without making a big fuss about it: basically kids do it because it gives them pleasure and it's totally harmless but best steered towards 'in-private-only' so they don't have to give up a habit that is comforting and pleasurable, but nor will they call unwanted attention to themselves or get teased.

Completely normal. My DS never did it, but my DD is always at it.

Also I should add I am sure he still has a little play now and again but in private, he is nearly 10.

DD1 does this. Once she climbed on top of dh while he was sleeping off his beer dinner and humped him

I always suggest to her that bed is the most cmfortable place for it, and now she's only really at it at bedtime, or she'll disappear in the day

god that's a relief! i was starting to wonder how i'd cope with a child that casual humps anything, like a dog.

he's only recently learned about playing with his willy, which he's quite proud of ('i've got a big willy mummy!') i said to him the other day 'if you want to do that darling, please don't do it while you're sitting on mummy's lap', so he wordlessly slipped off my lap and sat on the sofa next to me doing it, staring at the telly. and i thought how basically they're all the same, whether they're 2 or 42.

LMAO

once he get's over the novelty, he'll not be playing with it/ humping all the time, just most of the time