Problem Behaviors--Part 1

My friend Wendi asked the following question:

My two year old likes to randomly put small things up his nose so far that you can't see them. How can I stop this behavior positively and effectively? Telling him not to stick things up his nose hasn't really worked very well.

I have a really long winded answer to this (at least something you can try) that should apply to almost all undesirable behaviors.

There is a method called a "functional behavior assessment" and "behavior plan" which I used all the time in the schools. While I have never done this on a two year old, I have implemented it with kids with Autism and Down Syndrome (as well as many other kids), so I think the same principles will apply to all kids.

The basis of it is that all behaviors have some function or purpose (to get attention, for sensory input, avoid something, etc.).

When you are trying to stop a behavior that is annoying, dangerous, disruptive, etc., you need to first look at the behavior in a broader picture. The ABC method:

A--Antecedent (or what is happening before the behavior occurs)
B--Behavior (exactly what is the child doing)
C--Consequences (what happens after the behavior occurs)

I will use our original question as an example:
(Keep in mind I don't know all the details so I will put various possibilities)

A-- 1) kid is bored, everyone else in the house is occupied, mom is doing a million things and hasn't been able to give kid individual attention; 2) find small objects, find them interesting, trying to figure out how things work

B--kid puts small object into his nose

C--1) mom gets mad (kid gets attention--even if it is negative this is something the kid gets out of it--negative attention is still attention); 2) it feels good (this would be a sensory thing); 3) kid gets satisfaction out of putting something in a hole

I will post tomorrow about the behavior plan...what to do once you've kind of narrowed down the "ABC's" of the behavior.