Toddler hates having dirty hands...

[icklemonster]

Does anyone else have a toddler who has a real issue with having dirty hands? Charlotte gets really upset as soon as anything gets on her hands, and she is now starting to completely refuse to eat things herself which make her hands mucky. She'll eat it if I feed it to her, but not if it makes her hands dirty. Unfortunately, she is not very skilled with cutlery as yet, so I end up feeding her like she's a baby

I think it may come down to her over active gag reflex which meant she has been kept on purees much longer than average so we helped feed her a lot longer than babies who did BLW, and she has only just started really eating standard soft foods (prob where most babies are at 10 months).

This dislike of dirty hands seems to be worsening though. She also gets really upset if she falls over and gets dirty hands - not from the pain, but just because they are dirty. Can you have an OCD before the age of 2? Does anyone else have this? Or has overcome it? xxx

 

[OmarsMum]

Omar was the same, what helped is loads of messy play, from using finger colour, playdough then gooey slime, we started with water play, then adding food colour to water, then some flour to change the texture. Sensory boxes also helps.

He still hates to touch certsin types of food & if the food seems messy to him he asks me to feed him although he is capable of using cutlery & feeding himself but the idea of spilling food that is messy on himself freaks him out

He also hated walking on grass or sand, but with loads of encouragement he got over it. He turned 5 this week.

 

[Bevziibubble]

Holly was like this. It was that bad at one point that even if she got an imprint on her hand from her clothes or from leaning on something, she would panic and cry and be trying to rub it off. If she touched something she would always examine her hands for tiny specks of dirt and ask for them to be wiped.

The good news is she did grow out of it in time. Over the last six months or so she has made really good progress with getting her hands dirty. It started gradually and she got more and more confident with it to the extent that she will sometimes even put her hands in paint to make hand prints. She seems to be more focused on having fun now and will forget the dirty hands until later.


Keeping my fingers crossed that your LO grows out of it too

 

[sequeena]

Thomas has sensory processing disorder and he can't abide his hands being dirty.

 

[xLaura]

My LO is exactly like this. He hates having anything on his hands, and has to be cleaned immediately. It took over an hour to eat one round of jam on toast because he demanded his hands to be wiped after every time he picked a piece up. I tried telling him to wait till after but he just went hysterical. Needless to say I haven't actually given him jam on toast since lol.

He's also the same if he spills any of his dinner/drink on his high chair, he won't eat anymore until it's clearerd up. Also picks up any bits that are on the floor. I also thought about him bring OCD but from what I've heard it's just normal toddler behaviour and they should grow out of it. However I know how frustrating it can be at times.

 

[minties]

My OH was like this from about age 1. He wouldn't touch anything dirty and hardly ate anything when we met. He had his first banana when he was 19!

He is a lot better now at 32 but still hates dirty hands and it took me 10 or so years to get him to eat normal foods.

Not my child obviously but I know what it is like.

 

[SarahBear]

Does anyone else have a toddler who has a real issue with having dirty hands? Charlotte gets really upset as soon as anything gets on her hands, and she is now starting to completely refuse to eat things herself which make her hands mucky. She'll eat it if I feed it to her, but not if it makes her hands dirty. Unfortunately, she is not very skilled with cutlery as yet, so I end up feeding her like she's a baby

I think it may come down to her over active gag reflex which meant she has been kept on purees much longer than average so we helped feed her a lot longer than babies who did BLW, and she has only just started really eating standard soft foods (prob where most babies are at 10 months).

This dislike of dirty hands seems to be worsening though. She also gets really upset if she falls over and gets dirty hands - not from the pain, but just because they are dirty. Can you have an OCD before the age of 2? Does anyone else have this? Or has overcome it? xxx

I'd guess it was more of a sensory processing disorder type thing that OCD. It could be related to the gag reflex thing too.

Disclaimer: I'm no expert and am not saying your child has sensory processing disorder. Just that in my unprofessional opinion, it sounds like more of a sensory issue than an OCD issue.

 

[Gym knickers]

My LO asks me to wipe her hands about 30 times during a meal. She doesn't like getting paint/ felt pen on her hands and will say 'uh oh! Wipe please mummy!' But she doesn't really get upset any more. A few weeks ago she refused to have her hands painted in nursery but she did it on Wednesday I think it's prob just a phase

 

[icklemonster]

Thanks everyone, it sounds quite common then! I always think of toddlers in high chairs head to toe covered in food - this certainly never would be Charlotte

The grass and sand touching her feet is also an issue! And the jam on toast story I could have written. "Muuummy dirty hands, clean hands please" then I end up holding it for her and feeding it to her!

Hopefully it's a phase. I'll try to encourage mre messy play xxx

 

[superfrizbee]

DD hated messy play and stuff that got her hands dirty, i.e. paint etc at the same age. I think it much just have felt weird, but she's past that phase now thankfully!

 

[luci and bump]

Evie will not tolerate dirty hands. I tried doing finger painting and hand prints and she freaked out. Kept wiping her hands on her clothes (thanks FOB for teaching her that!!) She also does that whenever she gets food on her hands. They had gooey slime in nursery for Halloween, they showed her it and asked if she wanted to play, she put her hands behind her back and said "no thank you, no, no, no thank you!!!" She even freaks out if she gets bubbles on her hands in the bath 😐

 

[twobecome3]

she's fine with messy food, playdoh, paints, etc. but hates having dirt/gravel on her hands

 

[sequeena]

Everyone has sensory problems to some extent. I can't deal with things that have tiny holes in and I hate polystyrene. SPD is quite extreme.

 

[luci and bump]

Everyone has sensory problems to some extent. I can't deal with things that have tiny holes in and I hate polystyrene. SPD is quite extreme.

This is true. I cannot handle wet foods touching each other. For example, in a cooked breakfast, if I had egg and beans, they would have to be on opposite sides of the plate, and in no way should they touch. I also can't handle sauces touching each other. OH has red and brown sauce in bacon sandwiches, LO likes ketchup and mayo on her plate. It makes me feel almost anxious! I try hard not to let LO pick up on it tho

 

[minties]

Interesting. I can only think of one sensation I can't stomach and that is sex lol! All my foods can touch as much as they like...

 

[icklemonster]

I can't stand the feel or texture of bananas. Maybe it is me where Charlotte gets it from.
My Mum has Charlotte today and said she was a nightmare with her hands; my Mum was sorting out her garden as she has just moved house and the garden is a bit bumpy. She thought Charlotte could play in the garden with her but Charlotte kept falling over then standing up crying and refusing to move until my Mum had got a cloth to clean her muddy hands. Needless to say my Mum didn't get much gardening done

 

[MiniKiwi]

I remember my LO being like this. She's totally grown out of it at 2.5 but still takes herself to wash her hands if they're grubby and wipes her own face after meals - it's just handy. Maybe you could encourage her to clean her own hands? So that she has some control over the situation. Can't quite remember what an under two year old can manage but I've taught LO to go and get a baby wipe/kitchen paper/wash hands in the sink etc. I'd encourage her to use cutlery too, explain that her hands won't get dirty if she does

I've got lots of these little sensory issues, can't stand most things touching teeth (esp not material, cutlery), lots of food textures, the feeling of certain materials, aluminium foil , my hands touching steel wool urrrrrrrggghhhhhh