Why does a child eat nose pods and how to wean him from it?
With complaints that a child eats nose shots, mothers often turn to pediatricians, but official medicine is not ready to offer concerned universal parents any universal cure for this problem, because its exact causes are still unclear. The child may have a lot of reasons for such actions.
The reasons
The issue of eating "kozyulek" children and some adults puzzled science in all seriousness. Even the immune version was suggested, they say, immunity increases, because dried nasal mucus (and these are the “goats”) contains a large number of white blood cells and other cells of the immune system. But the version of the criticism could not stand it, since it is not possible to conduct a clinical trial: it is difficult to imagine an experiment in which a group of children under the control of immunologists will eat "roes".
Psychologists suggest that children do this solely because of the intuitive need to learn about the world, and up to 3 years they do it including “to the tooth”.
Digging out kosyulek is a painstaking process, and preschool children often spend so much time waiting, for example, while they are in line with their mother, and they do it automatically when they watch an interesting cartoon.
Nose-picking can be a natural desire to free the nasal passages if something interferes with breathing. In this case, the child also does much reflexively. But what to do with what he will inevitably get out of his nose? The easiest way is to put it in your mouth, and children do not like to bother themselves, often choosing the simplest solution to a particular problem.
Clinical psychologists say that persistent and constant picking in the nose and eating “bogs” can be a sign of a strong inner nervous tension of a baby. For the same reason, children begin to bite their nails during the period of excitement.
In medicine, this phenomenon has its name - rhinotyl lexomania. Insignificant temporary hobby of a child of nose-picking should not cause fear, but persistent and constant tinkering with eating the contents of the nasal passages is regarded as a manifestation of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Sometimes the reason lies in more serious mental disorders. But most doctors are inclined to conclude that rhinotyllexomania is simply a bad habit.
Is it dangerous?
Nasal mucus has an important function - it moisturizes the nasal passages, helps fight viruses and bacteria that get into the nose (the appearance of snot is associated with a protective function during the period of SARS or during a cold). From this point of view, nasal mucus is the same natural environment of our body as saliva. there is nothing dangerous about a baby eating nose pods.
Not the "Koszuli" themselves are dangerous, but the way of their extraction. The nails can be sharp, which injures the mucous membranes of the nasal passages and can cause nasal bleeding. In medicine, cases have been described where especially zealous "diggers" broke their nasal septum and damaged the sinus.
Baby's fingers are not sterile - before picking, he took the handrails in transport, stroked animals, played in the sandbox, and on his fingers a mass of bacteria that enter the nasal passages and may well lead to the development of purulent rhinitis, sinusitis and even otitis. In the same way sometimes spread eggs and worm and other parasites.
How to get rid of bad habits?
Most children “outgrow” a bad habit, and gradually, by the age of 5-6, they themselves begin to understand that “kozyuli” are ordinary waste products, like urine, feces, and therefore they should not be eaten. But if the child is already 6-7 years old, and he continues to pick his nose hard, then he cannot do without the help of a psychologist. It is better from the very beginning to explain to the babythat in such an ugly habit there is nothing good. If everything has already happened and the child persistently eats "kozyulki", a more subtle approach will be required.
The advice of a psychologist for parents of babies who are not yet 3 years old is reduced to the fact that it is almost useless to explain the harm of picking nose. A small child is not able to understand the rational arguments about the potential harm of rhinityllexomania. There is no sense in punishing a child either, because he will not understand why he was punished, that he did wrong.
Correct parental actions consist in the development of fine motor skills - buy plasticine fumes, teach him to sculpt, give him finger paints, work on assembling beads together. The more often a child is engaged in “small” manual labor, the less need he has to poke around in his nose.
At the age of 4 years, the toddler may well understand your explanations if they are formulated in a language that is accessible to the child and supported by examples that are understandable. You can talk about invisible bacteria that live on the fingers. The rest of the child’s fantasy will finish on its own.
Kids from 4 years old understand that you need to go to the toilet alone, not publicly. It is possible to draw such a parallel, since the release of the nose from the dried snot is also quite an intimate affair, and it is not worth doing it in public. Tell that a person picking his nose looks ridiculous, and this habit can make the child a laughing stock in front of friends in the kindergarten, in the yard.
If the child persistently continues to eat the contents of the nose, psychologists advise to inculcate in him a healthy feeling of disgust - get the "Koszul" out of his own nose and offer the child to be treated. Naturally, this will cause bewilderment and rejection in the baby.
It’s not worth beating hands, it is enough to show by mimicry how unpleasant it is when the kid once again put his fingers in the nose. There will be a way to offer a handkerchief in time as an alternative for recycling what he gets from there.
Prohibited actions
The most wrong and unpleasant thing that parents can do (and, most importantly, it is completely useless!) Is to start beating the child’s lips or hands. Remember that a child does this often on a reflex basis, and therefore physical punishment will cause bewilderment, stress and resentment. He will start hiding from you so that he can calmly pick his nose so that no one will pull him out.
Shouting and cursing is a verbal-emotional variation of beatings on hands. Also, do not prohibit eating "kozyavok" in a categorical form. What is forbidden fruit for the baby, so it is sweeter.
Psychologists are sure that does not solve the problem and the constant admonition of a child with a negative particle "not": "do not eat", "do not pick". Children simply do not perceive this particle.
Prevention
Experts in the field of children's health emphasize that children who do not have these "kozyules" do not eat "kozyuley". This is what parents should strive for. The best way to prevent the formation of dried snot in the nose - humidifying the air. If a child breathes air, the humidity of which is 50-70%, he usually does not have “goats”.
It is important to air the children's room regularly., eliminate situations in which the child will have to breathe too dusty or dirty air. Do wet cleaning in the apartment more often.
Opinion of Dr. Komarovsky
Renowned pediatrician and TV presenter Yevgeny Komarovsky believes that the children's habit of eating "kozyulki" is a great mystery for adults. Why does this happen, science does not know but there is practically no harm from such a habit for a child’s body. The pediatrician stresses that the habit is ugly from an aesthetic point of view, it does not meet the standards of behavior in society, and this is the main reason why parents are worried.
If a child often picks his nose and finds there what to eat, the problem, most likely, according to Komarovsky, is not in the child, but in that parents did not create the necessary conditions under which “kozyavki” practically will not be formed in the spout.
If you do not throw all the forces into the fight against an ugly childish habit, but to create the right conditions with sufficiently moist air, then it will be possible not only to stop the child from picking his nose. It will also be an excellent prevention of respiratory diseases, so common in childhood.
More on the bad children's habits tells Dr. Komarovsky in the next video.
