My baby is 20 months old. He cannot talk that well, mostly only saying a few words clearly or baby speak. He goes to nursery twice a week, for the rest of the time he is at home with his mother.
We had some mild concern about him trying to kiss us on the lips - open mouthed, we don't do this with him, we kiss him on the head, or peck him on the check. We mentioned this to his nursery caregiver, she advised it was pretty normal and I wasn't too concerned. I'm providing this information for context.
Today, my wife called as we had a weird incident at home, he was laying in our bed in front of her, and he reached for her hand. She thought initially that he just wanted a cuddle, but he pulled her hand towards his crotch. She thought maybe he wanted to go to the toilet (we really want him to start vocalising about toilet needs more so we can start toilet training and getting him to use a potty) but instead he wanted her to rub him on the crotch (through his nappy) - she pulled away and said it was inappropriate but he pulled her hand back, she realised as well while hes doing this that he had a baby erection.
We are used to when changing him for him to grab himself down there a bit (but not excessively) which I always viewed as self exploration but this seemed different to her and has caused us both concern.
We know that we have no real evidence of anything, if we suggested anything to the nursery they would not admit anything and would probably be more concerned about covering themselves. It's so incredibly frustrating when a child is not at a verbal stage to be able to tell you anything themselves and am at bit of a loss as to how to proceed.
I know babies/young children can play with themselves out of boredom or exploration - but my wife feels someone must have taught him this. We could take him out of nursery and try somewhere else, but it's concerning and we have no evidence/proof of anything bad, just a potential suspicion.
Is this behavior normal? What should we/can we do? Has anyone had to deal with a situation like this?