Exploring Childhood: The Normalcy of Self-Stimulation in Early Development. (Case in Consultation)

Greetings to all followers of this blog. Today, I want to talk to you about something very interesting that occurs with young children and, although it is a frequent occurrence in my medical practice, I recognize that I have not addressed this topic in my blog in recent years. Today, since it was the main reason for the consultation of one of my patients, I decided to review the topic and share my considerations with you.

As you have read in the title, today we will be talking about self-stimulation or masturbation in young children. This was the reason for consultation for a family extremely concerned about the well-being and health of their daughter, who is just two and a half years old. In recent weeks, she has begun to show evident behavior of genital self-stimulation, crossing her legs in a scissor-like manner and having movements of extension and flexion of her legs with pelvic movements. She frequently performs these episodes in public, and they can sometimes be accompanied by profuse sweating, causing extreme concern to the parents. Despite insisting that the baby should not do this, they have not been able to stop her from doing it and have sought professional guidance.

Violently repressing a child to prevent self-stimulation is counterproductive and will not change their behavior, and it can be detrimental to their mental health

This situation is common in young children, and I am convinced that this topic will be of great interest to you. Masturbation in children before puberty is a form of self-stimulation that can produce sexual satisfaction, meaning it causes pleasure.

Considering that masturbation, regardless of age, is a normal sexual behavior both in childhood and in adolescence and adulthood, and that it is not categorized as a disease, we must point out that this behavior of self-stimulation has even been observed in very young children and even fetuses.

Within the development and growth of children, psychosexual development is also very important, as it is as important as the need to eat, to be clean, to sleep, and that affective and sexual need to hug, smile, sing, look and be reciprocated develops from very early stages in a child's life.

That is why young children generally need to touch and discover themselves; they can do it with their own hands or with their legs to understand their own body and differentiate it from the world around them. This curiosity leads them to discover pleasurable or pleasant sensations, and this occurs after 6 months of age until approximately 5 years of age, when this situation begins to fade and the child starts to socialize and adapt more to the general culture that surrounds them.

The episode described by the parents, in which the girl crosses her legs and with hip movements manages to change her breathing and with profuse sweating, is part of the manifestations of this masturbatory self-stimulation behavior. It can be accompanied by unusual postures, associated with sounds, moans, or on the contrary, stages of prolonged silence with irregular breathing, sweating, and reddening of the face, but there can never be an alteration of consciousness.

This detailed description of the phenomenon allows the pediatrician to differentiate this episode of self-stimulation from other neurological diseases, such as epilepsy, in which there are similarities of events, but there is a disturbance of consciousness. It is good to note that these episodes of self-stimulation last a few seconds to three or four minutes, can be very frequent, but can also be very sporadic, and what is recommended is to distract the child from what they are doing, never scold them, and much less physically harm them to interrupt what is happening.

Therefore, it is very normal for young children to touch their genitals, they can do it in public or in private. It is normal to be curious about looking at another child's genitals, showing them to others, sitting or getting close to someone, and even trying to see friends or adults naked. This is normal behavior, especially in children under six years old.

When should we be concerned about children's sexual behavior?

• We should be concerned when this occurs in children over 6 years old who are already socialized, who already attend school, a stage in which they should have already adapted to public behavior norms, in the absence of other diseases or childhood behavior disorders.
• We should always be concerned if there is a tendency in the young child to penetrate objects through the mouth, vagina, or anus.
• We should be concerned if their behavior is obsessive and excessive, if they physically harm themselves with their behavior, and if we cannot persuade them to stop their action. That is why it is important to go to your trusted doctor, your pediatrician, because each case is very particular. And if you have this situation in your home with a young child, especially under five or six years old, then seek professional help who is qualified to make the differential diagnosis of these events.

Some conclusions I must give regarding self-stimulation or masturbation in prepubescent young children before puberty is that it is related to the discovery of their body and the sensations of pleasure they can receive by stimulating these areas. Infants and younger children not only stimulate themselves through direct contact with their genitals.

It is very difficult to determine the boundary between what is normal and what is abnormal. Therefore, it is always necessary to seek professional help.

Remember that episodes can last an average of 2 to 3 minutes and are characterized by movements, postures, grunts, breathing, sweating, and facial redness, without loss of consciousness.

Masturbation is not included in any category of mental disorder.

We, the pediatricians, are responsible for helping parents understand this phenomenon and showing them that it is a harmless behavior that should not be reprimanded with violence, scolding, challenges, or physical violence.

As always, I invite you to leave your comments and experiences related to this topic to enrich the knowledge of other families. Remember, I always say that knowledge in medicine is the best life insurance. Here I am, Dr. Franklin Fernández, to support and guide you in any matter of child and adolescent health.

Dr. Franklin Fernández Torres

Specialist in Pediatrics and Family Medicine. Postgraduate in Pediatric Nutrition

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