5 year old sticking fingers down throat - says can't stop it!!!! WTF!!!

[Flum]

I don't think it is related to anorexia etc - to be honest I don't think she would even know what that is. But she says she can't stop. Only found out tonight. She was sick in her bed then got totally hysterical and says she is so 'interested of the feeling' 'I don't know how to stop'

I dealt with it like this.

1. I screamed and shouted like a banshee about what a stupid little girl she was and how she had made extra work as I had to wash the sheets and it is 8pm and I have 4 hours work to do tonight. - That was helpful - not - was kind of trying to snap her out of it.

1. Told her the story of the boy who cried wolf

She said she wanted a grown-up to be up there with her until she goes to sleep. (She has her little sister on bottom bunk so not entirely alone.

WTF - I am not equipped to deal with this. What would Mamma Walton do?

Hi Flum

I think I probably would have done (1) as well, but I think we can safely say that's NOT the thing to do.

Mamma Walton would have serenely stripped the bed, tucked up MiniFlum and drifted off to do some embroidery, safe in the knowledge that this is a PHASE, just like all the other PHASES and to ignore it is the best thing and it's 99% likely to disappear by itself. If not, consult Dr.

Does that help?

Yes.

In retrospect that would have been the thing to do. Tricky to tuck in a hysterical child though.

Thank you. I hate it when I shout at the kids - I really went ballistic. I don't want to be a shouty family - I came from one and its rubbish when everyone yells at each otehr. I watched a bit of 'The Family' it was painful.

if she was totally hysterical after doing it then I'd guess she had alreadyt scared herself enough to not do it again.

i'd just have a chat with her in the morning and say that you're sorry for shouting at her, but that it isn't a very good idea to stick things down your throat because being sick isn't that nice

if she was totally hysterical after doing it then I'd guess she had alreadyt scared herself enough to not do it again.

i'd just have a chat with her in the morning and say that you're sorry for shouting at her, but that it isn't a very good idea to stick things down your throat because being sick isn't that nice

Are you saying she made herself sick BECAUSE she knew she'd have some adult company that way?

Possibly? Assassin. I don't think so but she is always muttering about not feeling well in order to get off schooletc.

No school today due to snow so maybe more anxious about tomorrow. she doesn't really like school much

has she done it before though? or is this the first time?

I know this is back tracking a bit, and may not help as you have 2 dc's, but I would have brought dd down, popped her on the sofa, put something REALLY boring like the news on, and let her drift off. That way she does not feel alone, and gets the bit of "special company" she feels she needs. I always lie with dd until she is asleep anyway though . It is so warm!

Yeah we have gone through stages of letting her come down and say be in sitting room with us or start off in our bed. The trouble is it usually makes her worse and the problem escalates. She does have a bit of a fear of bed as she worries she won't get to sleep.

Oh flum. Maybe take a book and sit in the doorway until she is asleep? It is a real PITA, but dd used to be comforted by the fact nothing could get in/out, as I was sat across the doorway, and she could see me. If they say anything to you don't flinch or say anything to them, as otherwise 3 weeks down the line it is still 11pm before they are asleep, you have read the same sentence 3 times in 3 hours, and you want to murder them! . I know this is little help now but it does pass!

Oh god she still keeps doing it> says shecan@t stop> i hope it is a phase> darn one handed as feeding baby i am

Oh my word. We still have this problem. She says she is not doing it but everynight at bedtime she wants to talk about it we 'have a meeting about it'. She says she thinks about it all the time and it is such a trouble ot her. I have never heard her discuss anythning in such an adult manner.

She said tonight 'Mum, you think this is nothing and it is to you but to me it is everything, I think about it all the time. I don't do it because you have told me not to but I want to' It is just so grown up the way she is speaking.

I am worried about her now>>>> how can I help her to get over this worry.

I am just checking the date. This is 40 days now she hwas been worrying about this. Not a day has gone past when she hasn't fretted over it. Could it be the start of bulimia?

Oh dear

I don't really have any advice for you, but am bumping as someone else will, I hope

I do think it's time to take her to the GP though, maybe he can refer her to a child psychologist x

Not the start of bulimia, as I don't think she has the mental age to associate body image with being sick to avoid weight gain.
More likely to be a nervous tic / compulsion.

Do take her to the GP, because it is an action she has to do and not doing it makes her think about it all the time. But I do not think it is linked to bulimia in any way.

My dd has various nervous tics and OCD style movements. Has done for years. They come and go in phases and are at their worst when she is feeling under pressure / worried about something (even something in our eyes minor such as a disagreement with a friend or her upcoming spelling test)

Good luck and please keep us posted

Have you said what age she is and I am being really daft and not seeing it?

Giraffe - she is 5, it is in the title

Ah yes in the title

Definetly go to Drs. Hope they are helpful.

(giraffes -- it says 5 year old in the post title)

I agree that it doesn't sound like bulimia as it's not about body image or eating; it sounds more like an unusual tic. Is she a nervous/ticcy child normally?

You need professional help, really. I think your GP should be your first port of call.

It sounds like a form of ocd (especially the obsessive thinking about it, even if she doesn't actually "do" it all the time), an illness which can be very effectively treated by talking therapies. The problem is convincing your GP. Perhaps take with you the dates on this thread and quote your dd's exact words and try very hard not to be fobbed off without further investigation. Good luck.

Not sure if you're still around OP, but just wondering how this turned out as my 5 year old is doing the same.

hello my son recently started this and i don't know what to do

Flum hasn't posted under that name in years but based on a thread of hers from 2012 her DD became quite ticcy generally (although from the fact that she said there that the tics had been going on for a year I'm guessing this particular manifestation cleared up for a while before other tics developed).

Anyone with a current problem, I suggest starting a new thread.