Child’s Pre school Bad habits and their Solutions|Pica Disorder
Head banging or rocking in bed
A toddler who is fatigued or is under stress may bang his head against the bed or rock it in rhythmic movements. Apparently this gives him a pleasurable diversion. In these cases, the bed should be padded to prevent injury.
Thumb-sucking and nail-biting
Thumb-sucking or nail-biting also indicate that a pleasurable sensation is derived by the child from this self-stimulation. These are manifestations of a feeling of insecurity. Thumb-sucking has little effect on the dental alignment. The parents should be advised not to show excessive anxiety about thumb-shucking until at least the child is 4 years old.
Masturbation
The child may obtain pleasure by genital stimulation, rubbing of thighs against each other or by rhythmic swaying movement. Mother’s anxiety should be allayed as this is generally harmless. In severe cases psychiatric treatment may be necessary.
Unclear speech
Clarity of speech normally improves gradually during the first few years of life. It becomes completely intelligible by 4 years of age. Unclear speech often signifies that child may have a major disorder of language, cognitive development or hearing. Such children may develop language based learning disabilities later in school years.
Stuttering
Stuttering is a defect in speech characterized by hesitation or stumbling and spasmodic repetition of some syllables with pauses. There is difficulty in pronouncing the initial consonants and it is caused by the spasm of lingual and palatal muscles.
Most children show some degree of repetition and hesitation in their speech at some period of early life. However, there are individual variations in the extent of such difficulties with speech. Whereas some children can speak very fluently, others are severely handicapped. It is probable that the children who cannot cope with the environmental and emotional stresses are more likely to stutter. Stuttering usually begins between the ages of 2 and 5 years, a period in which there is non-fluency of speech. The parents and playmates, who remind the child of his stumbling speech or ridicule him, aggravate his emotional stress. As a result of this, he loses his self-confidence and becomes more and more hesitant in speech. The stress caused by conflict between the parental expectations and the child’s achievements may precipitate stuttering in some children.
PICA DISORDER
The child may develop habit of eating non-edible substances such as wall plaster, clay, paint and earth, etc. Pica is a disorder seen in children.Children with pica usually have a history of neonatal insults. They are slow in motor and mental development and show more neurologic defects and deviant behavior. Tasting or mouthing of strange objects is normal in infant and children up to age of 2 years. Persistence of this habit beyond the age of 2 years may be a manifestation of parental neglect, poor supervision or lack of affection. It is commoner in children from lower socioeconomic strata and at times in the malnourished and mentally subnormal children. These children are prone to lead poisoning and often complain of chronic abdominal pain and pallor. There is no specific treatment. Iron is often prescribed, without any definite evidence of benefit.
Sleep Disturbances
The child may suddenly awaken after a frightening nightmare. Manifestation may include fear of the dark, difficulty in falling asleep, night walking (somnambulism), sleep talking or night terror.
PICA
The child may develop habit of eating non-edible substances such as wall plaster, clay, paint and earth, etc. Children with pica usually have a history of neonatal insults. They are slow in motor and mental development and show more neurologic defects and deviant behavior. Tasting or mouthing of strange objects is normal in infant and children up to age of 2 years. Persistence of this habit beyond the age of 2 years may be a manifestation of parental neglect, poor supervision or lack of affection. It is commoner in children from lower socioeconomic strata and at times in the malnourished and mentally subnormal children. These children are prone to lead poisoning and often complain of chronic abdominal pain and pallor. There is no specific treatment. Iron is often prescribed, without any definite evidence of benefit.
Sleep disturbances
The child may suddenly awaken after a frightening nightmare. Manifestation may include fear of the dark, difficulty in falling asleep, night walking (somnambulism), sleep talking or night terror.
ENURESIS
Some children empty the bladder involuntarily and wet the bed at an age beyond which the sphincter control is normally developed. An occasional lapse by a child should not cause undue parental concern. When the bed wetting occurs frequently, it is defined as enuresis. The enuresis may be primary or secondary. In primary enuresis there is a delay in the maturation of neurological control of sphincters and such children have usually never been dry at night. There is often an organic basis for this e.g., mental subnormality. In secondary enuresis, the sphincter control is developedjitjhe normal age and the child remains dry for several months after which the child again starts wetting bed at night. This may be due to excessively enthusiastic attempts at toilet training by the parents, emotional disturbances in the child or parent-child maladjustment. Enuresis may represent the subconscious desire of the child to gain care and attention of his parents as in earlier period of infancy or it may be a manifestation of subconscious resentment against the parents. Thus enuresis often has a psychological basis.
The behavior disturbances observed by the child psychologist may, however, be a result rather than cause of bed wetting and may be attributed to feeling of shame or guilt.
