Hello all,
4 yo DD was one of those babies who took great comfort in shoving her hand down the front of people's tops! Somebody told me it was because she was breastfed and that she'd grow out of it once breastfeeding stopped. Well, the breastfeeding was jacked in on her 1st birthday, but she never grew out of it. By the time she was 2, I had started removing her hand when she did it, and it's been a long road, but now that she is 4, she has mostly stopped as she knows she is not allowed to do it and I have told her that people don't like it. However, she still loves to stroke and caress skin, and will usually attempt to stroke arms or neck when she comes for a cuddle - I also discourage this, and of late have told her that if she does it, she must get down from my lap. My problem is that she doesn't just do it to Mummy, but to anyone that she is hugging or cuddling, and I am now worried she'll do it to school friends as she is starting school in Sept (I had expected to have another year before she went to school as we live in a country where they usually go at 5, but circumstances dictate that she is probably going to have to go at 4). Anyway, we're working on it and trying to be as firm but as sensitive as we can. Has anyone else come across this habit at the grand old age of 4, and what did they do about it? And to anyone else with a groping baby, I'd recommend that you nip it in the bud earlier than I did!
Thanks!