dd 3 rubbing herself

[katiepotatie]

I know this is probably normal behaviour, but my dd just turned 3 is rubbing herself through her nappy. I asked her what she was doing, and she says "i'm wriggling mummy, it's nice"
I haven't told her to stop, even though it is making me and dh a little uncomfortable but am worried she might do it outside. Do I just ignore?

DD2 has done this from just a little bit younger than your DD. She calls it "giggling" I asked the HV about it a couple of years ago and she said it is normal and she will eventually grow out of it. She is now 7 and I still see her "Giggling" every now and then whilst sat in her booster seat whilst i'm driving, but it's only rare.

Yes, ignore. If she does it in public, just explain that it is ok, but best done in private. If she's three she should be able to understand about "private parts".

I have a DS - he is now 7 but when younger we just kept reiterating that some things were done in private!

I'm going to show this to dh, he'll feel a bit better about it.
She was doing it while I read her bedtime story this evening

My DD too.. will still do it sometimes now, at 4, but usually only if very tired. I have to admit I was a bit freaked at the beginning too but lots of googling and the wise ladies on here assured me it was fine.. I was afraid she would hurt herself, more than anything else. We did have the chat too, about it only being for private times..

Just a quick word about the concept of privacy...

Three year olds generally don't have any. I mean, do you knock on her door before entering for example? Can she lock the bathroom door?

As far as small children are concerned anywhere that's inside their home counts as private - they (understandably) simply don't get the idea that they might have a reasonable expectation for having places that they can guarantee they will be alone and undisturbed in the same way that we adults do.

So if you're going to be telling her to do it in private, how do you expect her to achieve this?

Perhaps it's best if you explain that it's for when she's alone, so you (and whoever else is there) are going to leave the room when she's "wiggling" so she can carry on on her own.

notanumber - that was going to be my next question.
Thanks everyone for your replies, wriggling seems to be a daily occurance at the moment

have you checked to see if there is maybe any redness there or is it she may have a itch. If she is going to the loo' by herslef she may not be wiping enough or too much both will bring a slight irritation. children are funny at not saying what ails them. My grandson was walking like a cowboy when he did it non stop I asked him to show me how to do the walk.. so we had fun for a few minutes then i asked why he did it all the time and he said quite normally " my balls get hot and stick together and its uncomfortable"!!! a bottle of talc did the trick and very soon no talc,, no walk!!!! good luck