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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>4 Yr Old w/Fngers in Her Mouth
kitkat 11:07 AM 01-07-2010
DCG is 4 and has a habit of putting her fingers in her mouth. She's not sucking her fingers or biting her nails. It's hard to describe...kind of just putting them in her mouth and maybe gently biting the fingertip. I've just started trying to break her of the habit. I started with reminders and now I'm having her wash her hands when I see it. Any other suggestions besides hand washing?
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Unregistered 11:30 AM 01-07-2010
I don't know if this is actually appropriate or not, but I'm guessing with all the use of hand sanitizer it's okay. Maybe have her use sanitizer instead of washing her hands. It should, I would think, leave an unpleasant taste on her fingers and maybe help as a reminder to keep them out of her mouth. Kind of like the nasty tasting fingernail polish to keep from chewing on fingernails. Now if I could just keep little fingers from digging around in their noses I would be set. It seems like all we are doing right now is washing hands.
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Childminder 12:06 PM 01-07-2010
This was in a warnings for daycares article I read awhile back.

The most familiar danger is hand sanitizer poisoning, particularly for young children who are attracted to the fun scents and bright colors of many sanitizers. Most sanitizers contain 60 percent to 90 percent alcohol (commonly ethyl or isopropyl alcohol) -- a stronger concentration than most hard liquors. Even a small dose can be dangerous if ingested, leading to dizziness, slurred speech, headaches, and even brain damage or fatalities in extreme cases.

Is she doing anything in particular when putting her fingers in her mouth? Like watching tv, reading? Maybe if you stop the activity she'll stop the behavior. Had a nail biter like that once.
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momma2girls 12:14 PM 01-07-2010
Yes, hand sanitizers have alot of alcohol in them. If you use hand sanitizers, use only 1 drop and watch the children, they do not place fingers in their mouth afterwards. This has been know to be lethal for younger children!!
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originalkat 01:34 PM 01-07-2010
Although I think this is pretty normal...it is also annoying. We are all trying to cut down on the spread of germs. I had a little girl always putting her hands in her mouth and I just reminded her every time I saw it and did the hand washing. I think she got tired of having to go wash all the time so eventually she stopped completely but it took a couple months to really see results. It is just habit. Keep doing what you are doing and it should get better.
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Carole's Daycare 08:41 AM 01-13-2010
I had a couple of children who constantly had hands/fingers in mouth or sucked on their thumb. I basically made them wash their hands before touching anything, with verbal reminders that hands in the mouth spread germs that can make us all sick. If I caught them w/ hands in the mouth while playing blocks, I took the blocks to wash them and they werent available. They were finally so inconvenienced they became very aware of the behaior and stopped..
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AmandasFCC 12:53 PM 01-13-2010
Handwashing is a very effective deterrent in my experience. I have a 3 yo who is constantly mouthing toys and picking his nose and fingers in mouth. I finally said enough is enough. Every time he put a toy in his mouth it went in a bucket of bleach water and was gone for the day. Every time his fingers were near his mouth or nose he had to wash his hands. He washed his hands 10 times in 5 minutes. After that I never saw his hands anywhere near his face.
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Tags:biting nails, chewing, fingers, mouth, sanitizer, sucking thumb, washing
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