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Nervous Habits?

post #1 of 3
Thread Starter 
My dd turns 3 last week, but these behaviors have been apparent and escalating thru her 2s......she seems to have some odd nervous habits.

The first is holding my ears. This one doesn't bother me much--cause it is similar to a child twirling mommy's hair. She does this to settle down to sleep at night, but also when we enter new situations, etc. Now she is starting to hold her own ears when uncomfortable (both at the same time--with elbows out to the sides--look like batwings!! ). She does this when her friend's mommies talk to her, and they keep asking me if she has an ear infection : .

This one bothers me the most--she pinches, while exaggerating her facial expression (to simulate lots of exertion: clenched teeth, wide eyes, slight "shudder"). But she really isn't pinching hard at all. She does this several times a day--often when trying to say a lot of stuff really, really quickly.

Is it normal for a 2-3-year-old to need so many nervous habits? Any other weird ones out there?
post #2 of 3
How funny - I was just going to post on this.

Dd had three colds back-to-back this winter and naturally enough started picking her nose. Yuck! Drove me nuts. Now that the colds are over for the moment, she has taken to picking at the skin on her lips. Started with chapped lips, but now she's just picking at healthy lip skin. It seems to comfort her - this is a before-sleep ritual, among other times.

She refuses chapstick. I try gently to say, don't hurt your mouth, but she turns her back to me and does it in "private."

I hope this goes away. At least it's not nose-picking, I guess.
post #3 of 3
Thread Starter 
I am 30 years old and still pick at my lips : . My mother is always telling me I am going to ruin my lips!
(well, I guess that tells me where my dd got her nervous habits from :LOL )
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