Toddler touching her 'boobies'

[Emitob]

Hi all
Lately my little girl has started touching her left nipple all the time. She keeps putting her hand down her top and she tells me she is 'just checking her boobies'. I have asked her if it is sore and she says no, but I am just worried about why she is doing it. Does anyone else have any experience with this, or any advice about what to do?
Thanks...Emi.

[HotI]

Are you breastfeeding your little one? Maybe she is trying to be like Mum.

[Muppity]

Are you breastfeeding your younger DD?

I know a lot of kids are fascinated by breast feeding and mimic it - maybe this is what she is doing.

[Bumperstump Cummerbund]

Does she see many of the breast check ads? Maybe she's checking for lumps - good habit to get into, even if its a bit young!

[AnyDream]

My DD who is a few months younger than yours is veeeeeery interested in boobies (esp nipples) at the moment...constantly points them out on family members, etc. When my eldest was that age we went along the ABA coffee mornings quite a lot and she was often feeding her dollies 'boobie'. I wonder if it's not the very beginning of gender awareness - mummies have boobies and daddies have boobies but they are different, kwim?

Do you have any worries at all that this might be related to someone touching her inappropriately...it's worth reading up on the signs of sexual abuse because all parents need to be vigilant when it comes to our children's safety, and you know will know better than anyone if something isn't 'right', kwim? There were some really good threads on this topic a while back so it's worth checking them out. I'm not suggesting that this behaviour is a sign or anything, but I just wondered whether it was something you were worried about and if so wanted to address it in my reply.