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Post by Heather and Judy on Jan 11, 2009 12:02:50 GMT -5
Our son chews on his bed, bathroom countertops, anywhere he can sneak in chew marks without being seen. He used to bite things in the barn too and I was always interested in seeing the tooth marks after. He is six. He has actually chipped one of his adult teeth by doing this. We have gone over all the "sensory" possibilities for it and it is not sensory related. It's a big fat "up yours" I'm going to destroy this stuff in the places you can't always watch me: #1 - my bedroom, #2 - the bathroom. He seems to do it just to damage things. So, although he has come a long way in other behaviours and self control and is very manageable with us, secretly, he is still working on being sneaky. Anyone else have a child who bites things to damage them and does anyone have any innovative ideas to deal with it? He did sand and paint the bed the first time he did this but of course, certain consequences, such as this one, do nothing to prevent a recurrence. We're usually good for ideas but a little stumped on this one. Thanks!
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Post by sunflowermom on Jan 11, 2009 21:51:44 GMT -5
My DD10 used to chew and chew and chew......mostly her shirt sleeves and neckline, fingers and hair and bedding. She did it out of a nervous energy and to self soothe. She would destroy at least one item of clothing a week. She still chews her fingers it if in a new situation or while relaxing.
I helped her stop with the clothes etc by giving her a braided rope necklace that she could wear to chew. We went through a couple. She was quite relieved to have something that was OK to chew that had a similar texture.
Maybe you could find something for your son that it would OK to have to chew...maybe even something he could leave bite marks in.......take the negative control out of it and make it OK.
If it really is just an "up yours" then you could make him fix it or do restitution for your time.....
Good Luck......I liked your other idea of going into the the sea of pee in a rowboat........got a good chuckle out of that one!!!
Sunflowermom
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janet
New Member
Posts: 7
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Post by janet on Jan 11, 2009 22:41:01 GMT -5
Hi, That is a difficult behaviour. Is it possibly an OCD behaviour he's displaying? Often people, even kids, with OCD know their compulsion is unacceptable so they do it in secret. Our younger, non-attachment challenged son has just started some chewing issues, and OCD is in the medical history of bio-family. He chews on mittens, shirtsleeves, neckline, bedsheets--like sunflowermom's daughter! Although it's not too severe yet. He was chewing his shirtsleeve while running around the house at Xmas with his cousins. Shirtsleeve was so wet we had him change---to a short sleeve shirt!! Then he was fine--he said he just couldn't stop himself. Recently he was chewing his mitten while public skating, and also at skating lessons--falls right over, still chewing the mitten, instead of using hand out for balance!
I am still wondering if it is OCD, or "teething" as he is getting ready to lose baby-teeth. But is more than likely the OCD.
I like Sunflowermom's idea of giving the child something that is ok to chew. You might even be able to tell if your son is just really needing to chew, or if he's doing it to be sneaky. If he's doing it to be sneaky--he'll continue to chew the inappropriate things.
Best of luck, let us know if you try this and how it works out!
Janet
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