I first caught my DS eating his nose prizes when he was 18mos. We had a talk about it and kept reminding him not to do it until the problem seemed to stop.
Well yesterday I caught my DS now almost 3 hiding in his room comitting this disgusting act!
How to you stop this, when your child is clever enough to hide it?
Know of any good books or websites that may teach him the downside of this habbit?

I have a friend that has a 3rd grader that still does this, so I am paranoid that it may never stop.

Doesn't he know that gifted children are supposed to be perfect, not do stuff like this! HeHe

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=271#more-271

Not that I in any way agree or indulge.

That article was funny because my reasons for NOT eating them is that they are full of germs and bacteria.

One of the comments posted to that article
"Sounds to me as if Dr. Bischinger is full of snot."
LOL

I read somewhere that kids pick their noses because something is irritating them up there, and they don't have the impulse control to get a tissue instead of a finger, which is much more handy (and gross!). It's not that they like the feel of picking so much as they dislike the feeling if they don't. That kind of changed my approach to nose-picking.

I have focused on keeping kleenex boxes all over the place, and even giving a child a few tissues for his pocket. It does seem to help.

If your child is hiding to do it, that may not help. But maybe approaching it less judgementally can help him to come out of hiding. So not the "Ew, gross! Stop that!" that we're all prone to shout out when we see nose-picking. Instead saying calmly, "It looks like something is bothering you. How about a tissue, sweetie?"

Maybe?

We are going the wall-to-wall tissue route, too. Seems to help; Summer is coming so hopefully that will help too! (fewer sniffles, etc)

In addition to the tissue idea, I require hand washing when I see nose-picking and give a calm reminder about spreading germs and colds. It's a work in progress but DD5's starting to see it as less of a hassle to get a tissue than have to go wash her hands.

Oh, good point, Inky! Requiring hand-washing is part of my strategy, too. I agree that it helps to make nose-picking more of a hassle then using a tissue. Yes!

If someone else in his world is modeling this behavior, that can be a problem, too.

P.S. never heard the term nose prizes before!

Thanks for the suggestions! I am going to buy extra tissues and try the handwashing trick. Now if I can only catch him..


I was trying to find a less gross way to put it.

The funny thing is that my DD is the polar opposite, she gags if every time I make her blow her nose or if she hears someone else doing it.

Floridamama,
I am so glad to hear of another kid who has issues with blowing their nose. DD6 refuses to do so! It drives us crazy. She would rather sniff and wipe for days than blow. Even when her nose gets all red and raw and hurts she refuses to do anything about it but cry and cry and cry.