Children and Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes is on the rise in young children. So, how do you prevent this condition commonly referred to as the “silent killer”? What are the common risk factors associated with it and what are some subtle symptoms to look for in your children? We've got some great tips to help keep the whole family safe.

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The Skinny Gene Project

Are you at risk for diabetes?The Skinny Gene Project is dedicated to preventing the onset of diabetes. Unlike other organization whose primary concern is managing diabetes, their focus is on screening, educating, and treating at-risk individuals before they are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Learn how you can get involved!

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Episode Transcript

Parent Savers
Children and Type 2 Diabetes

[00:00:00]

Please be advised, this transcription was performed from a company independent of New Mommy Media, LLC. As such, translation was required which may alter the accuracy of the transcription.
[Theme Music]

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Diabetes is one of the most chronic diseases in children with type 2 diabetes steadily rising. So what exactly is type 2 diabetes and how is it treated? I’m Marlayna Bollinger, executive director and founder of the Skinny Gene Project. Today we’re giving you some practical knowledge about type 2 diabetes. You can become your child’s most important ally in fighting this disease. This is parent savers.

[Theme Music/Intro]

SUNNY GAULT: Welcome to Parent Savers, broadcasting from the birth education center of San Diego. Parent Savers is you’re online on the go support group for parents with infants and toddlers. I’m your guest host Sunny Gault.

Thanks again to all of our loyal listeners who join us every time we release a new episode. And for those of you who continue our conversations as we’re posting on Facebook and Twitter. If you want to get even more parent savers content be sure to join our special club The Parent Savers Club.

You can also check out our parents savers apps so you can listen to all of our episodes wherever you go and that app is available on android as well as windows phone and IOS. So, Colina, our producer is going to tell you a little bit more about our virtual panellist program.

COLINA CAROTHERS: Alright. So, if you enjoy the show but you want get on to the conversation and can’t be here with us in studio, we do like to still keep you included. So if you are on our Twitter, Facebook as well, you can post questions, comments using the #parentsaversvp and we will definitely make sure we get you included

SUNNY GAULT: Okay. So let’s meet the parents that are joining us here in the studio. You guys know me but I’m Sunny and I have four kids of my own. I have a four year old and a two year old and identical twin girls who are about to turn one. And Scott what about you?

SCOTT KILIAN: Hi I’m Scott I have a one boy, he is four years old and I’m always happy to be part of the show

SUNNY GAULT: Alright

COLINA CAROTHERS: And back to me, of course, Colina. I have one son, he’s seventeen months now and it definitely making life exciting for us

SUNNY GAULT: Okay, thanks for joining us guys

[Theme Music]

SUNNY GAULT: Alright before we get started with today’s show we are going to talk to our expert today a little bit more about the organization that she’s involved with. So, again it’s Marlayna Bollinger, and she is with The Skinny Gene Project. So Marlayna tell us a little bit about the project and what you guys do

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Sure. Thanks for having us. So, The Skinny Gene Project is a diabetes prevention organization. What we do is we help those who are at risk for type 2 diabetes, either because they have a family history or they’ve been diagnosed with pre-diabetes. And we help them to make the positive lifestyle changes that are needed to prevent type 2 diabetes.

SUNNY GAULT: So this is something you’re passionate about. Were you impacted by diabetes personally or

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Absolutely. So, I lost my aunt in 2001 to type 2 diabetes. She was a very educated woman. She was tiny. It was all the things that don’t fit with a stereotype. And she actually stabbed her toe and it was getting gang green and she died in the waiting room before they were able to amputate it. And that was kind of my wake-up call that this was serious. And we didn’t actually find out that she had diabetes until two weeks before she died.

SUNNY GAULT: Wow. I didn’t even realize that you know it could result in something like that so quickly

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Yes and I thought it was, when it happened in 2001, I thought that it was just one of those rare circumstances and then I started doing more research and realized it happens a lot more frequently than we like

SUNNY GAULT: Wow. Okay so there are different programs that you guys offer, can you tell us more about that?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Absolutely. We have a variety of programs that which fit each person’s fragrance for change. For example if somebody just wanted some additional information they could find that on our blog at www.skinnygeneproject.com If they wanted some guidance, we have counsellors that can do one on one counselling with them. But for those who need more invasive lifestyle changes, we have one on one programs that go from either ninety days which kind of reboot their metabolism or one year program. In fact, we’re the only non-profit in San Diego County with a diabetes program that is recognized by the CDC

SUNNY GAULT: Wow, okay so is that primarily then or is it only for San Diego residents then this. . .

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Yes. The one year program is currently only for residents of San Diego County because it’s something that we do in person. We actually go in to the community and do the classes for one year.

SUNNY GAULT: Okay. Okay but there’s other services that you offer for people who don’t live in San Diego

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Exactly our Boost your Metabolism program which is a ninety day program which can go on for as long as you need it that is designed to help a new one that is in the United States. And because we do it virtually when [inaudible]

SUNNY GAULT: Okay. Alright so, what would you like parents, what additional information I guess would you like parents to know about the program and the project in general that are listening to this podcast. So, how can they get involved?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Great question. So, what we are doing is we would love. . . Great Question, in fact we actually have a raise coming up on November 16th that were calling it Skinny Gene strides for prevention. It’s going to be a 5K run, walk in one mile kids fun run. And our goal basically is to celebrate a child’s decision to live a healthy lifestyle.

We want family you know being physically fit together. So if fitness is a big part of preventing type 2 diabetes this is one way we’re doing it. So we would like anyone in San Diego County to come join us it’s going to be at Roadrunners on November 6th. And registration, if you would like to come then is at 8 o’clock and the race will be begin probably at nine.

If you would like to, we are supported entirely by donations like people like you and me that are committed to changing the future for our children. We have a text to donate option if that’s convenient for those whose cellphone’s that like to do that like me. And you can text the word prevention and in any dollar amount of your choice to 5, to the number 5-9-7-6-9. Again, the number is 5-9-7-6-9 and any dollar amount whether be ten dollars, five dollars makes a big difference

SUNNY GAULT: Okay. Well Marlayna thanks for being with us today

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Thank you

[Theme Music]

SUNNY GAULT: Today we’re talking about type 2 diabetes in children and you met our expert a little bit ago Marlayna. She is the executive director and founder of The Skinny Gene Project and welcome to parent savers Marlayna, it’s good to have you

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Thank you. Thank you for having me

SUNNY GAULT: So let’s start off with some basics. Type 2 diabetes, what is it?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: That’s a great question. In the simplest way of explaining it we like to say that diabetes is the disease of the metabolism in which our body is not properly converting food into energy. And honestly that sounds very simple but it’s actually quite complicated. So if you don’t mind I like to kind of take a minute and discuss that. So, we all have heard before the fact that food is fuel.

SUNNY GAULT: Right

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: But what does that even mean? Well, in the case of carbohydrates, which is the primary source of fuel for our body, what we do is we eat food and the food is then goes in to your stomach and it’s digested and turned into glucose. And that glucose now goes in to your bloodstream. And when your body has the glucose in your bloodstream, your pancreas puts out insulin. And I want you to imagine that kind of the cells in your body which is what needs the energy needs the insulin to basically unlock the door.

So that the glucose or sugar, what’s called sugar, comes in to cell and is burned. If you don’t have insulin, there’s no way for that glucose to get into your cells. And if it doesn’t come in to your cells, you can actually use food for fuel. So, essentially when this process is out of balance, that’s how somebody ends up with pre-diabetes type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes.

There are two main reasons why a person gets diabetes. And that can be broken down to your body has a shortage of insulin which is in the case of type 1. Or your body can’t use the insulin it has which is the case of type 2 diabetes

SUNNY GAULT: So, what is more prevalent I guess in children? Type 1, type 2?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: That’s a great question. Actually, type 1 diabetes is far more prevalent in children than type 2 diabetes. In fact, currently there are about two hundred and six thousand children that have both type 1 or type 2. And about only twenty five percent of that is type 2. But I think we’re that kind of the information gets a little skewed is we don’t want to look at that and say “okay, well there’s not a lot of children, it’s not a really big problem” because really it is. The fact that there’s twenty five percent of that number is type 2 shouldn’t even really exist. You know couple of years ago it could have been five percent or even less. It’s the fact that it’s growing. So what we are trying to figure out is why

SUNNY GAULT: So, why? Do we know? Do we know some of the risk factors or what’s contributing to it?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely! So, the number one reason why, so I’d love to take some time and kind of go over that is obesity. So if our children are obese then it doubles the risk that they have for developing type 2 diabetes later in life

SUNNY GAULT: Define Obese

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: That means that they have a BMI that it will actually, the children and BMI’s is different than adults and BMI’s because they’re still growing and there’s still a lot of hormonal things that are happening. So really depends upon your age, your height and your weight. So you want to, so when you go to, what I really think is important when you go to the doctor and make sure your doctor will tell you that whether you’re child’s BMI is in a healthy range or not in a healthy range.

So, and then we also have to take into some other considerations too because just going with BMI doesn’t calculate muscle content or something like that. So we really have to kind of get a better idea of the entire physiology of the child and make up the child before we label them. I don’t think it’s appropriate to just say, if you weigh more than this or weigh less than this then you’re healthy or not. I think you have to take all things into consideration

SCOTT KILIAN: Marlayna can you, now you talked, I think when you first started here you was talking about the diet, you know or use your body or your food is fuel and such, is it, is it the, you know a specific diet, the types of foods that are eaten that contribute a lot to, you know pre-diabetes type 1 type 2?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Absolutely. Well first I would like to differentiate between type 1 and type 2 diabetes because I think that there are a lot of misconceptions. A lot of times when we talk about diabetes and children we naturally assume that we’re talking about type 1. Actually type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented whatsoever. The only thing that we can prevent is type 2. In terms of diet, the things basically, having excess amount of calories in any form can cause type 2 diabetes.

A lot of times we pick on sugar, but in reality sugar are necessary for our brain but it’s got to be natural sugar meaning coming naturally from fruits. Foods such as the dairy, fruits, vegetables, things like that, not added sugar. Well whenever we do have too much added sugar in our diet or too much fat or just eating food that don’t have nutrients whatsoever, all of those pose a huge significant risk. Because what happens is, is that when the sugar is in the bloodstream and it’s not being brought into the cells, two things happen.

One, we call it glycation. You guys have seen an M&M before right? It’s got like this the you know the hard shell? Well essentially what happens is the excess sugar that’s in our bloodstream coats our cells like sugar, in sugar rather. Making them very sticky which makes it prohibits blood from flowing to our organs. Another thing that happens is the excess sugar in our bloodstream acts kind of like shards of glass which kind of cuts the inside of our blood vessels. And what happens when we get cut

SUNNY GAULT: We bleed?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: We bleed and when it starts to heal, what happens?

SCOTT KILIAN: Scabs

SUNNY GAULT: Yeah, Scabs

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Yeah scabs, exactly. So when we have that excess sugar in our bloodstream is basically creating lesions and hardening the insides of our blood vessels. So in terms of what kind of damage can be done, you know when you look at diabetes, diabetes affects every organ or major organ of the body. Form the heart to the blood vessels, to the eyes, to kidneys and nerves and teeth. And the reason why is because of that, all of that is caused because of the damage in the blood vessels

SCOTT KILIAN: So say that a lot of excess sugar is not natural sugars are eaten up over the course of time and then you realize it might be a problem and then you switched to essentially a whole foods type of diet, can what’s happened in the past be reversed?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: That’s a fantastic question. The great part about our body is that our cells regenerate every night in a hundred and twenty days. So I believe very much in the fact that if we can teach people how to eat the right things then we do or we are able to get them a second chance with pre-diabetes. Because you can now stop the progression of type 2 diabetes.

However, once that you have diabetes, you’ll always have diabetes. There is no cure as of right now. There are things that people are looking at as cures, but they are currently is no cure for type 1 or type 2 diabetes. That doesn’t mean that you’ll always going to have high blood sugar, you may continue to have a, once you have diabetes your blood sugar may be in a normal range or it may be in control.

But you will still be diabetic which means that if you all of a sudden stopped eating properly or stopped taking your medication, your blood sugar go right back up. Because at that point, your body is no longer using the insulin it has or not manufacturing enough insulin. So earlier when I talked about how when you eat and your sugar in the bloodstream it signals for insulin to come out and bring it in that key basically opening, you know kind of upbringing sugar into the cell.

Any, what happens is that we’d like to call like burn out. If you’re younger and you’re eating a lot of junkie foods, a lot of fats, a lot of high sugar, added sugar with your base, every time you’re eating your body is going “oh wait, there’s sugar, I got to put out more insulin, more insulin, more insulin” so I kind of feel like it’s like a car battery where eventually is going to try and keep up with what you are doing until it just can’t

SUNNY GAULT: So when I was pregnant with my second son I had gestational diabetes. Is that one, you know, is that a type of diabetes obviously I was tested after he was born and I was found to not have the gestational diabetes anymore. And I know that women who have gestational diabetes are more prone to have type 2 diabetes in the future. But that is an example of diabetes that kind of could go away and not necessarily come back, correct?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: That is very accurate. Yes. Usually with gestational diabetes, once you have your child you no longer have it but the risk once you have gestational diabetes the developing at later in life is pretty significant

SUNNY GAULT: Okay

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: So, it just means that you have to be that much more proactive about doing what you can now to prevent that from happening.

SUNNY GAULT: Do you find that, or are there any stats I guess to support that a mother who had gestational diabetes, her child is more prone to getting type 2 diabetes?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: There are definite stats to talks about genetics and the role that it plays in the development of type 2 diabetes. And I’m glad that you brought that up because I definitely, that’s one of the main things that we would like people to know in terms of the risk factor which is something that you asked earlier. So, when we look at risk, genetics plays a significant role. And we’ve always talked about genetics and diabetes primarily in terms of type 1. But one thing that I think that I would like people to know is that genetics also plays a significant risk in type 2 diabetes. For example, you said you have twins, correct?

SUNNY GAULT: Right

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: So when we look at it, we actually see that if a, if you have identical twins and I’m sure you know exactly what that

SUNNY GAULT: We have identical twins yeah

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: So the risk of with the link with type 1 diabetes that if one twin has it and the other one has it is fifty percent. However with type 2 diabetes, if one twin has it which again the same genetics the risk of the other twin will have it is seventy five percent

SUNNY GAULT: Wow

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: So, we, there is a course two when we look at the genetics and parents and the likelihood. If you have one parent that has diabetes the likelihood of their child having type . . . if there’s one parent that has diabetes the likelihood of their child having diabetes is about fifteen percent. But if both parents have diabetes the likelihood of their child developing diabetes could be as high as seventy five percent. So genetics plays a significant role in this

SUNNY GAULT: Are there other risk factors that play a big role for example ethnicity or anything like that?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Yes that’s also a huge one. They are definite, uhm, yes there are definite ethnic groups that have a higher risk and have higher predisposition for type 2 diabetes. Latinas, Hispanics, African-Americans, Asian Pacific Islanders. So, there’s a lot of minority groups and it can be explained lots of different ways and one is something called the thrifty jean which basically makes, makes it so that some or… the thrifty jean which makes it so that some ethnic groups are more predisposed to holding on the fact than not.

But, one scary stat that I found, so I have a seven year old daughter and when I lost my aunt to diabetes that definitely is my wake-up call. But when you’re a mom, and I know, you parents, as parents you know this. You’re view of life changes in an instant. I have diabetes on both sides of my family. My Aunt died of diabetes, my grandmother has passed away from diabetes on my dad side.

On my mother’s side has diabetes as well. So I know that I’m at risk. So it’s not a matter of, if it’s when if don’t take action, looking at my daughter that’s a sign, I am African-American, looking at my daughter I also see, wow like what does this mean for you. And having experienced the tragedy of losing someone I love, I definitely don’t want her that to be her outcome.

And one stat that I found which really knocked me kind of back was when I found that if females under the age of thirteen that are African-American are diagnosed with diabetes, so, before they’re thirteen they could lose up to twenty three years of life. Twenty three years. For me, if I go away from my daughter for a week, I miss her.

Every second is important. So, to be in a place where we are, having our children, you know this chronic disease is basically taking over. It’s like it has a tsunami effect affecting so many different organs. And we have to as parents become more engaged and more involved and do something about that.

So, I know that that’s an important thing for me and my family and I feel that is important for others too to understand the risks and get involved and do something because right now we have the ability. We have the ability. But when our children are developing diabetes as early as the age of three, type 2, you know, that’s just not okay, we have to intervene

SUNNY GAULT: Okay. Well when we come back we’re going to talk about some of the symptoms that come with type 2 diabetes so you can recognize it as a parent. Also are there ways to prevent it? We’ll be right back

[Theme Music]

SUNNY GAULT: Alright welcome back, today we’re talking about type 2 diabetes. So, Marlayna when it comes to symptoms, I’m thinking of parents looking at their children making sure that they’re eating what they need to be eating because I this is something that we can control. What are some of the symptoms we should look for if we think our child might be at risk for then defining it and therefore, you know, working towards controlling it?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Diabetes has always been known as being the silent killer because a lot of the symptoms are asymptomatic. They’re not things that is going to show up so aggressively or abrupt that you’re going to notice it and say “oh that’s must be diabetes”. But there are some things that we can, we can look at and say that they may be clues. The first one is unexplained weight loss, also increased hunger or thirst even after eating. Now take that into consideration, our kids are growing, they’re active, they’re moving around, mine is always hungry

SUNNY GAULT: Like me too

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: And thirst too, I mean if it’s hot outside and they’re thirsty, there are some things that we have to be able to look at the context of our children and say is this abnormal. But going down the list also dry mouth, frequent urination, fatigue, blurred vision, heavy breathing, slowed, slow healing of sores or cuts, itchy skin and numbness and tingling of the hands and feet.

Those are some of the symptoms that we can say okay these are might be kind of, you know, something that we might want to take them in and make sure that everything is okay. I did also want to point out that in regards to children, knowing when, so the time that we’re really going to see that diabetes is going to start to most likely to just show on our children is when they’re at puberty

SUNNY GAULT: Okay

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: So after that I think is if there is, if they are having a problem with insulin, that’s generally when it’s going to start to show

SCOTT KILIAN: So is that generally when we go looking for something like this, not necessarily in the toddler area but when they’re older

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Most likely yes

SCOTT KILIAN: Okay

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: I mean I definitely think that if you see something that looks questionable, always take them to the doctor or you can always get a blood sugar test and kind of put your mind at ease. I definitely don’t want to encourage people to kind of self-diagnose. If there’s ever a question please go talk to your physician

SUNNY GAULT: I mean if you’re seeing your paediatrician on a regular basis, would some of these stuff I mean if you’re, you know my paediatrician always ask, well, have you noticed anything abnormal and if you’re being honest and say “well, I noticed you know that he seems to have dry mouth recently” you know I mean I would imagine the paediatrician would be kind of taking note of all this and would be able to say “well, maybe we should a test for this or maybe we should try this

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Absolutely. That’s exactly correct. I think that’s why they asked you about your family history and it’s all important to make sure you’re giving them all of that information. If they know that you have a family history of diabetes. Then there’s quite a few signs that are abnormal for your child and it can’t be explained for just, things that are happening in the environment. They may want to go ahead and do a blood test to find out.

SUNNY GAULT: And that is the test to determine if some sort of blood test to determine

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Yes. There’s three different ways that you can do it. There’s a haemoglobin A1C , there’s a fasting and an oral glucose tolerance test. So there are three different ways that you can actually be diagnosed with having diabetes

SUNNY GAULT: Is this similar to what they do when you’re pregnant? Because I’ve had a lot of those test

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Oh yes

SUNNY GAULT: Okay. See, drink the stuff and then they test the sugar

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Yes. Yeah that would be the oral that they’ve given you to see how you’re able to metabolize it. My favourite one is by far the haemoglobin A1C because it tells you how well you’re metabolizing sugar over the course of ninety days. So it’s not like a snapshot. It’s this is how you’re doing it and since we are metabolism experts that’s, that’s definitely my favourite

SUNNY GAULT: I would imagine that’s probably the most accurate too because it gives you a longer

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Yes

SUNNY GAULT: You know view of what’s happening

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: It is now one of the gold standards. It was kind of hard, you know with anything. It takes a while to kind of come into be accepted but

SUNNY GAULT: Right

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: It definitely is one of the gold standards now

SUNNY GAULT: So, hopefully this doesn’t happen in our families but if one of our children does develop type 2 diabetes, can you give us an idea of what it’s like for children to live with that and how their lives change a little bit. What are they have to do?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: I think that a child developing type 2 diabetes is very similar to an adult that would develop type 2 diabetes. What they have to go through would be, would very much depend upon the level of which they’re struggling with getting their blood sugar under control. For example, a child type 2 diabetes might be able to be on medication, oral medication.

Insulin can’t be ingested because it’s a protein so, the body we try to break it down so it has to be given in an injection. So if their blood sugar is at a point where they need to be on insulin, then they would have to be taking insulin every day, multiple times a day as well as pricking their finger multiple times a day. If a child has develops type 2 diabetes, they’re going to have to be a lot more diligent about making healthier choices and knowing which activities and foods are going to spike their blood sugar.

So, I think they’re going to have to be a lot more self-aware of what’s going on with their body at all times. And if they’re not, there are repercussions of that

SUNNY GAULT: So just to be clear, when we’re talking about diabetes in children, as parents is type 2 diabetes preventable?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Yes

SUNNY GAULT: It is

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Type 2 diabetes is absolutely preventable. It is eighty five percent preventable. There are some things that we cannot control such as genetics and hormones which on the off chance. Sometimes makes it more difficult for someone with pre-diabetes to get their blood sugar under control. But eighty five percent of the time type 2 diabetes is absolutely preventable. And to do it, you need to as we just mentioned you need to know what your blood sugar numbers are.

You need to know where you are, so you know where you’re going. So that you know if you need to turn around, you know, reverse it, go back. You can reverse pre-diabetes. And with, once like I said before with type 2 diabetes, once you have it, it’s a lot harder to keep it under control. And the thing is that if you have type 2 diabetes, you’re going to have to make changes to your diet. If you want to keep the blood sugar in control so my thing is let’s just do it now.

You’re going to need to make these changes anyway, so do it now. And then, and as parents, we are the ones modelling behaviour for our children. We’re the ones making the few choices, yes they’re having [inaudible]. But we’re ultimately in charge. So, we have absolutely have the ability to prevent type 2 diabetes

SCOTT KILIAN: And when we say its preventable is it as simple as saying preventable with proper diet and exercise?

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Yes. Yes. It is preventable if you take control and you live a healthy lifestyle which means exercising a minimum of thirty minutes five times a week, ideally every day and eating a well-balanced healthy diet

SUNNY GAULT: And same thing for our kids

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: Oh yes, it’s the same thing for them

SUNNY GAULT: Okay. Thank you Marlayna

MARLAYNA BOLLINGER: You’re welcome

SUNNY GAULT: For more information about type 2 diabetes or if you want to learn more about our expert, visit our website at www.newmommymedia.com This conversation continues for members of our parent savers club and our extra bonus content, were finally get the answer to the age old question, will your sweet tooth lead to diabetes? And all of our kids want those sweets right? It’s a good question to ask. For more information about our club you can visit our website

[Theme Music]

JOHNER RIEHL: We have a listener question from Annie from Wisconsin. She says she has a two and a half year old son who’s developed this weird habit of licking people. She writes: It’s not only embarrassing but I’m also concerned about germs. I certainly don’t want him getting sick. I’ve asked him to stop but he seems to enjoy the extra attention he gets when he does it. How can I stop this?

SUSIE WALTON: Hi Annie, this is Susie Walton from the Joy of Parenting online course and Indigo Village. And you had a question about your two and half year old son who licks people. You know actually that’s a eventually becomes a habit or he may be in a habit. So you can let him know and you can actually role play with him on when he wants to connect to people he can hug them, or he can kiss them.

And when he forgets and he licks you just remove him from the situation and say remember, it’s okay to kiss or hug. And that’s all you do. And if he comes up again and he licks, you remove him and say remember it’s okay to kiss or hug. So you don’t really get upset about what he is doing but you’re going to be very proactive on what you want him to do and you can just going to keep doing it.

To where if he licks you, you go “uh uh uh” as you remove him, you’ll know what to do. And you’ll just do that over and over again, and I have a feeling that will help stop that habit. Because as you know he’s not, you know he’s doing it for attention, but you don’t want to make him wrong. You just want to keep going over and over again what you want from him not what you don’t want from him. Okay? So I hope this helps up, let me know if it does or it doesn’t. And thank you for that question because there are a lot of little kids out there that are doing the same thing. So, thank you Annie

[Theme Music]

SUNNY GAULT: That wraps up our show for today. We appreciate you listening to Parent Savers.
Don’t forget to check out our sister shows:
• Preggie Pals for expecting parents
• The Boob Group for moms who breastfeed and
• Twin Talks for parents of multiple kids.

This is Parent Savers empowering new parents.

[Disclaimer]
This has been a New Mommy Media production. Information and material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Statements and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of New Mommy Media and should not be considered facts. Though information in which areas are related to be accurate, it is not intended to replace or substitute for professional, Medical or advisor care and should not be used for diagnosing or treating health care problem or disease or prescribing any medications. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby, please seek assistance from a qualified health care provider.

SUNNY GAULT: New Mommy Media is expanding our line up of shows for new and expecting parents. If you have an idea for a new series or if you’re a business or organization interested in joining our network of shows through a co-branded podcast, visit www.NewMommyMedia.com .

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