How to wean a child to eat boogers: useful tips

When a little pean begins to pick a finger in his nose, many adults smile with emotion. But when the treasured goat from the nose goes into the mouth - the picture becomes unpleasant, there is a feeling of disgust.

According to statistics, everyone - children and adults love to clean their nose of dried mucus. However, not everyone does it publicly, and certainly do not eat their boogers. But how to explain this to a child? How to make sure that the boogers stop going to the mouth? Let's try to figure everything out in order.

What is a goat and why pick it in the nose

The human nose performs the most important functions - respiratory, protective, olfactory. Huge amounts of air with various microbes, bacteria, viruses pass through the nasal mucosa daily. The nose is the primary barrier to contaminated and cold air. To warm the air, clean it of dust and the smallest particles, it has special fibers. In addition, the nasal mucosa is constantly moisturized, washing off allergens and other irritants.

The human body is designed in such a way that in most cases it can rid itself of many troubles. If a small particle - for example, pollen of plants - gets into a person’s nose, he will begin to sneeze intensively to get rid of this pollen. The same goes for dried mucus. When solid formations form in the nose, a person sneezes and, thus, gets rid of them.

But these pieces are not always so easy to remove. In this case, a person reflexively helps himself with his fingers. Even a child who would live on a desert island and not see a single person picking his nose would do this.

However, a simple physiological need is different from obsessive behavior, when the hands, at any opportunity, are drawn to the nostrils. An urgent need to get rid of such a habit. Not only is this not aesthetic, it can lead to the formation of sores and crusts on the nasal mucosa.

Why do children eat boogers

What is the reason for this behavior of babies? Why, as soon as the next booger is pulled out of the nose, does it get into the mouth?

1. Some scientists believe that there are a small number of viruses in boogers that can have a vaccinating effect. That is, the virus enters the body along with the booger, and the immune system produces antibodies to it. The hypothesis is based on the fact that the child eats boogies instinctively.
2. Sometimes children pick their nose and send the goats to their mouth from boredom. When a child has nothing to do, his hands ask in his nostrils.
3. Often this behavior can be a sign of nervous instability. Indeed, even adults, when they are nervous, tap their fingers on the table, sort out the rosary or twist the ring on their finger.
4. Perhaps you did not explain to the child what to do with the goat that he fished from his nose. And the next time he just put it in his mouth, not knowing where to put it. And so a habit formed.
5. Everyone knows that young children drag everything in their mouths. In this way they study the outside world. It is likely that the goat was also in the mouth for this very reason.
6. Sometimes picking the nose and eating boogers has a direct character of imitation. Pay attention, perhaps this is the case with the older brother or peers in kindergarten.

Medicine is sure - eating boogers is absolutely safe. However, modern norms of social behavior do not allow behaving in public. Therefore, you need to unlearn this habit as soon as possible.

We explain to the child that eating boogers is bad!

The most important thing is to explain to the child why there are no boogers.Tell him that harmful and evil microbes accumulate in the nose, which the nose does not allow inside the body. And you supposedly took and eaten these microbes so easily. Now they will live in you, why the tummy and head may hurt. It’s better not to do that.

We can tell the baby that eating boogers is very, very ugly. It is important to find a person who has great authority in the baby, for example, grandfather. Grandfather must say that he never ate boogers, grew up big and strong. It can also be noted that the beloved spider-man does not like children who eat boogers.

If this does not help, you can act in a different way. On the contrary, supposedly encourage the child’s desire to eat boogers. Tell him that he can collect all the boogers together, and you sprinkle them with his portion of pasta or potatoes. Ask him, does he really like eating boogers? Maybe you’ll try mine too? It is important to bring the conversation to the point of absurdity in order to arouse the child's disgust. Although this method only works with fairly old children who understand at least something. Kids of the first two years of life with pleasure will agree to taste your boogers too.

How to wean a child to eat boogers

There are many tips and tricks to help you quickly and effectively wean your child from eating boogers.

1. Show your baby how and when he should clean his nose. For example, tell him that this can be done in the toilet when no one sees him. After that, the booger can be washed off with water or simply put in a handkerchief. Make sure that the pocket of your clothes always has the notorious scarf.
2. If a child has a large number of crusts in the nose, it means that the room has very dry air and the mucous membrane simply dries up. To get rid of this, you need to install an air humidifier or hang wet covers on working radiators. Ventilate the room more often.
3. If such measures do not help and crusts and gnats accumulate in the nose anyway, it is possible that the baby has already picked it all up to an open wound and constantly rips it off again. In this case, you need to soften the crusts with a saline solution - just drip a few drops into each nostril. When the crusts are softened, clean the aisles with ear sticks - they will be easy to fish out. After that, generously lubricate the nasal mucosa with antiseptic ointments, you can just tetracycline. This will prevent re-formation of crusts. After the first treatment, it will become much easier, but you may need to apply the ointment for 2-3 days.
4. When such a treatment does not help get rid of crusts, it is possible that the cause of increased mucus formation is allergic. In this case, you need to contact an allergist and ENT.
5. To reduce the child's desire to pick his nose, you need to briefly trim his nails. This will significantly reduce the success of the event, perhaps the baby will lose interest in picking.
6. Do not scold the baby if he picks his nose and eats boogers. From the ban he will do it even more, but without your presence - that is, hiding. When you see a child crawl into his nose, offer him a handkerchief.
7. So that the baby does not get bored and does not pick his nose for nothing to do, try to take the crumbs as much as possible. Give him pencils, show how to make a ship out of Lego, teach him how to craft crafts. This will help your child forget about an obsessive habit.

If the child is trying hard to get his fingers in the nose - make sure that no foreign objects get into the nose. It can be small parts of toys, a pea or a bead. Be vigilant - watch your child’s behavior.

Video: what to do if a child eats boogers