Kitten sucking on us

Question
Hi, We just recently took home a sweet little tabby kitten. He's a male and so, so sweet and playful. My problems I've come along is we got him when he was probably 6 or 7 weeks old. I don't know if that's to young to be away from him mama. Now he's sucking on us. Our hands, the back of my neck, my arms and even our ears. I always push him away when he trys to do it but he always jumps back up and does it. We have to put him in the bathroom at night because i do have small children for the fear he will try and suck on them durning the night. He's so sweet, but what can I do to break this habbit? I've tried offering him a blanket with strings on it maybe he will suck on that but so far no luck. Any advice would be greatly apperciated. Thank you!!
Chelsea

Answer
Chelsea,

Your first surmisal was correct, the kitten was too young when you got it. Hopefully he will outgrow the habit. It is also possible he is teething which will make him want to relieve the gum pressure. Sometimes kittens will suck under these circumstances.

You may be able to use a behavior modification technique called clicker training.  You can check out Karen Pryor's web site:

http://www.clickertraining.com


Other then that, I do not know of any other technique that will break the kitten of this habit.


Best regards... Norm.