I have a 16 month old daughter who has recently started to put her hands in her diaper. once in a while, i'll catch her with one or both hands in the back side, forcing the diaper outwards to the point where I can see the dividing line of her buttocks (so i think she's pulling it down a lot, since the diaper usually wraps high on her lower back). most often, though, I see her with one hand in the front of her diaper. This is very disturbing to me. i don't think she's scratching it, and it's not red or rashy. she just touches the area.

is this normal behavior? i heard from a friend (who has a son age 3 and a daughter who's almost 2) that toddlers discover their bodies and it's natural for them to touch themselves. I'm so embarrassed. Even writing this down makes me feel like I'm sharing too much info with strangers, but I'm hoping for some reassurance that many of you have gone through this sort of thing with your children. Am I being too naive? When she does it in front of other people, I feel like I should scold her so that they know I didn't teach her that, but then I feel sort of guilty because maybe it is only natural and she shouldn't be punished for something like that.

HELP ME PLEASE! i've been searching for info, but i don't know what to write in the search bar, and all i can find so far is about eczema and diaper rash, which i know aren't the problem.
thank you for taking the time to read this, I really appreciate it.

My 23 month old does that. I just say no don't do that and pull her hands out. I don't yell, get mad or tell her it's yucky or anything like that. So far i don't have a problem with her doing it in front of other people. I'm sure she will outgrow it soon enough.

my nephew used to do that :-s when he was younger... geez, once he caught him putting dominos down his diaper :-s luckily he doesnt do THAT anymore. lol

he just stopped on his own

I think it's purely exploration. At that age she is just exploring her body. I work with children her age every day in a child-care center and I find it is very common. I, unfortunatly, have had kids to that and come to me with 'messy' hands sometimes as a result of this behavior. I suggest just re-direct your child while keeping in mind she is just exploring. Tell her something like "we don't put our hands in our diaper", don't worry, she is perfectly normal :-)

Oh the ways they will explore!!!LOL During her baby months, she learned about the world but learned little about herself. Toddlers, explore anything and everything. She doesnt know about being embarrassed so it is nothing to her.

I would gently tell her no in public and distract her. Any mom can tell you that the power of distraction is a close personal friend!!LOL Good luck

yep, as everyone said...totally normal! My now 3yr old used to it. He started it about 18 months, and continued until just after his 2nd bday. It's just a matter of teaching them not to do it. But, not causing them to feel "dirty" for doing it. When my son would do that around others, they would just laugh! I laways told my son " thats not very polite to do, honey. Please stop". Also, as another poster said, I, too have had some experiences with "icky" fingers! When that would happen, he would cry cause it was yucky...and also helped to break him of the habit. Telling your child that they could get yuckies on their hands may help...I think thats what finally broke my son of doing it. Best of luck! :)

Both my children did that. My 2 year old son still does. I joke around telling him "it's gonna fall off" LMAO!! He'll stop pretty darned quick (I guess he's "attached" to it) LOL!

Thank you everyone for the reassurance! She doesn't stick her hands far enough down the backside to pull out anything, so I'm pretty happy about that. But that brought up another point: if she's touching it (the part that's up front) but not far down and I know her hands don't go into any openings, could that make her sick? I mean, if her diaper's wet or something, and she puts her hand in her mouth after? Yicky! It's difficult to wash her hands after every incident, and she does it pretty often...
Anyway, I've never heard of any child becoming sick from this sort of thing, so I guess it isn't too big of a deal.