I need some parenting help.

Ever since Bryant has been on this planet he has been perplexing me in ways the other two never did. He's the child who put random objects into his mouth way after the "normal" time for this. He's the one that would stick his fingers so far in the back of his throat that he would gag himself and puke. A couple of months ago he began shoving things down the front of his diaper. I go to change him and never know what kind of special prize will await me there.

But recently he's developed an affection for putting foreign objects into other orifices as well. It started with his ears. This didn't worry me to much, because he was just putting them in the outside part. Easily seen; easily fixed.

But over the past week he's begun shoving things up his nose. I realize this sounds funny, but I assure you, it is not. I will hear him blowing out his nose really hard, and then he'll sneeze out a bead or piece of foam or something. Or I'll find a piece of something covered in mucus and realize that he's already been through the process.

What scares me about this is that I've heard horror stories of kids having to have things surgically removed, like beans that get up there and swell or even grow roots (I'm picturing last month's experiment and getting palpitations.)

This morning when I got him up out of his crib he was saying, "Nose. Nose." I immediately knew something was up there, so I laid him down on the changing table and tried to look up his nostrils. His right one was completely blocked, but whatever it was, was so far up there I had to get the tweezers. It obviously was bothering him because he lay perfectly still and allowed me to stick the tweezers up his nose. I pulled out, not one, but two wads of paper from his nasal cavity. He had torn them out of a book I'd left in his bed overnight.

I've tried being very stern and telling him we do not stick things up our nose. I've tried spanking his hand really hard when I see him going for it. I'm just not really sure what else to do. Obviously I don't need to leave anything in his crib anymore.

Anyone have experience with this and can offer some advice? I'd be in your debt! I fear what I'm going to hear is, "He'll grow out of it." Sadly, that's just not helpful at the moment.