# 16 month old boy - laying on belly, stiffly stretching legs



## furrowed (Dec 5, 2007)

Hi Moms!

My 16 month old boy has been doing this for a while:

He will lay down on the floor and proceed to stiffly stretch out/flex both legs. Then while flexed, he will squeeze his legs close together and continue this over and over again.

While he is doing this, he's clearly working hard/concentrating, but will continue to look/interact/smile sometimes with us, so it's not like a seizure type thing.

He will also sometimes stop and get up, only to realize he's not really finished, and lay down again and keep going. Sometimes he might sit and do this for 10 minutes straight, maybe longer.

I brought it up with the ped who said it sounds like constipation. I made a little video of it and am going to make an appointment to show the doctor because it didn't really go away with traditional constipation remedies. (although we weren't really all that consistent with implementing them).

Thoughts guys? I tend to be a worrier and this is freaking me out just a hair.

Thanks all!


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## dakotablue (Jun 21, 2009)

Well...this sounds like what my niece does. We're relatively certain she is masturbating. They have taken her to the doctors twice and they checked for UTI, which she didn't have. She will also push on herself when idle, like stuck in the high chair for a little while after eating, when she is bored and during naps (which I guess is also boredom) She though (being a girl) will put her hands between her legs and then do pretty much what your describing your son is doing.

Don't know if its the same, but figured I put it out there.


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## bella99 (Sep 25, 2008)

Honestly, masturbation is the first thing that came to my mind too.


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## furrowed (Dec 5, 2007)

I hope it's just that, but it doesn't seem like something he enjoys. He is clearly working very hard on something. Also, since he gets up and then sometime immediately lies back down, looking like he doesn't feel "fixed" yet, for lack of a better term, makes me think it's something else.

I would be overjoyed if it's masturbation (ha, never thought I would say that sentence!) but doesn't seem to fit the bill here. I hope it's nothing more serious than constipation or masturbation!


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## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

Well, constipation would be serious if it's going on for awhile. Does he poop regularly? Usually once a day?


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## honeybunmom (Jan 11, 2007)

I thought masterbation, too. I generally let my son just have at it at changing time, so, he doesn't seem interested otherwise. Also, could it be how he is positioned in his diaper? Since you think he may be trying to "fix" something; is there any bunching that could be going on? Especially if you cd and have a soaker in the diaper?


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## beebeemom (Jan 9, 2012)

Hi, My daughter started doing exactly as you described and I was wondering if you ever figured out what the cause was and has your child stopped doing this thing?


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## furrowed (Dec 5, 2007)

We never got a clear cut answer about that behavior. It worried me quite a bit at the time (he would work himself into a sweat at times, poor guy!) Pediatrician continued to say constipation, although that never really fit the bill. Nevertheless, I cut out bananas and other constipaters which seemed to reduce the behavior.

He still does it sometimes, but not nearly as much as he was then.

Wish I had an answer for you! Take some comfort that it turned out to not really be anything in our case.


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## beebeemom (Jan 9, 2012)

Thank you for the reply. Yes, we have been searching all over the web trying to figure out what it could be, but no definite answer so far.


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## bonce (Feb 7, 2012)

im so delighted ive found this although i see u post was a long time ago, my daughter is now 3years and 3 months, she started the ( leg stretching) when she was 6 momths old and still does this 10 times or more aday, she has no energy and will even stop playing or eating to do it  ive bin to doctors many a time and been told it a type of seizure which i know its not... wonder if you had any helpful comeback with ur son, would love to hear back... thanku x


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## Mommom30 (8 mo ago)

furrowed said:


> Hi Moms!
> 
> My 16 month old boy has been doing this for a while:
> 
> ...


 My son is 4 and still doing it! He has been doing this sense he was 6 months old and I’ve told doctors and nothing really becomes of it!!


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## hakunangovi (Feb 15, 2002)

dakotablue said:


> Well...this sounds like what my niece does. We're relatively certain she is masturbating. They have taken her to the doctors twice and they checked for UTI, which she didn't have. She will also push on herself when idle, like stuck in the high chair for a little while after eating, when she is bored and during naps (which I guess is also boredom) She though (being a girl) will put her hands between her legs and then do pretty much what your describing your son is doing.
> 
> Don't know if its the same, but figured I put it out there.


My granddaughter used to do this a lot - of course no shame as it's perfectly natural for them. She was always happy to talk at the same time, so was clearly not just focused on masturbating. It's all part of self discovery! As she got older she was encouraged to self discover in private in her own room!


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