my four years old daughter masturbates .

hi
my four years old daughter masturbates usually when she wants to go to bed or when she is tired,and i am worried about whether its a normal behavior,and how to deal with it should i just leave her,or try and talk to her,i found her once putting a pencil in her part ,i tried to explain to her that she could hurt her self,but she a told me that she was only playing,what can i do and how to react.
thank you.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Yes, masturbation is normal even in a child her age. She should not be inserting things, however, so set a very firm limit on that behavior. If she masturbates it should occur in the privacy of her room, so that's another groundrule you should establish.

[beatfreak]

I have been catching my 5 ur old rubbing on her self at night everytime walk into her room. I asked if anyone has done this to her and she said "what ?" then made the motion like she was just lying there and I had mistakes it for what I actually saw. "that you mean" she asked, I just looked at her and calmly said "you know what I meant", my only concern is that it's ecerytime she's in her room and that she seems embarrassed about it. I read they weren't suppose to make theconnection at that age. Is her embarrassment "that connection"? She seems uncomfortable to discuss it.