I am nanny to 2 1/2year old twin girls, been with family since newborn. One of the girls has had this habit for about 1year now where she lies on floor either on hand or toy between legs and moves up and down she gets very breathless and red in face when doing this i have just been ignoring as i donot want her sister to see this as a form of getting my attention but just lately she has started touching herself almost all the time whilst playing games or even out for a walk, HELP!

Hi, i'm also a nanny and I would be wondering how a child of this age would know how to do such things!! she must have seen it hapen do you not think, i know it is usual for children to touch themselves but not perhaps to this extent. Have you not approached the parents? Perhaps chat indirectly to the child, without leading questions.. As a nanny do you not have proceedures or some one from your governng/registering body you can speak to in confidence? or perhaps Health visitor?

Hello, this is not very pleasant. But i do remember my mother telling me about a child years ago who did the same thing. The parents in the end had to let the child get on with it. If an issue is made of this it could create more problems. It might be just a phase. My son is always messing with his tackle but feel it is only natural as they do like to explore themselves. NOt all children do this but feel if they enjoy something they will carry on. It is difficult and embarassing but maybe 233 is right to get professional advice.

I do not agree tho that the child has seen this elsewhere and copied. My nephew humps his teddy and has done from an early age and my sister has no probelms with it.

If you are overally concerned about this put your mind at rest and see someone. But i personnally feel it will pass. Also, distraction is a good way. If the child is busy doing something or mind taken away from it, it may help?????

Thank you all for advice, Hopefully it will pass and others do not start doing this as i also look after her twin and my child of same age.

2 and a half years old!

Kids are getting older earlier nowadays.

Are you sure it's as sinister as it appears?

I think a lot of children do it.

It's true, lots of children do this!

My son did it from age 11 months and more or less stopped at around 3! He just used get on his front and rock himself against the floor. I feel it was more a comforter as he would always fall asleep whilst doing this! Unless a child has seen sexual behaviour, how would they know how to express it? My son still occassionally does this, he is nearly five and it seems to be when he is anxious, tired or restless. We don't make a fuss of it and choose to ignore it, and only on a few occassions have we had to use a distraction to make him stop....normally when my 82 yr old gran is around!!

I would ignore it, children are not very self aware at such a young age and they do grow out of such behaviour!

well i think its a case of kids pla with the bits and if they happen to get it right one day and it feels very nice then unfortunately they will continue to do it.

us adults do.

It's quite normal for kids this age to experiment with their genitals and the only thing you can do is either ignore or distract attention away without making it a big issue. Once my kids were old enough to understand I would explain to them that they were not doing anything wrong but it is something that should be done in a private place such as their bedroom. NEVER tell a child off as this could cause lots of problems in later life!