Alternative to plastic chew tube?

[karne]

Has anyone successfully had a child use something more 'natural' (for lack of a better word) than the plastic chewy tube? My ds has a chew tube he uses when he's concentrating in school, which works for him, but the plastic is making me uncomfortable. Are there any other good options?

[moss]

Glee gum--it's gum made with natural ingredients

Beeswax--even more natural, if you freeze it, it has a really strong resistance to chewing (when ds was in school, they kept a container of beeswax pieces in the freezer for him and provided as needed--he chewed on everything and really needed the oral input)

Oral part of the wilbarger protocol--you'd need an OT trained in wilbarger to show you how to do this, but it's super easy peasy and very effective

i'm thinking that now that the dangers of plastics are more widely know that there must be silicon chewies available which are probably not as bad as the other plasticky things. we got some of ds's chewies from the 'baby aisle' of the big box store (i'm thinking the vibrating star with the nasty plastic coating that we were using 3 years ago when his oral issues were a big deal), maybe now there are safer alternatives? actually, come to think of it, fishtank tubing is available in silicone, that might be your best bet.

cheers! and good luck!

[sbgrace]

I tried to find available silicone medical supply tubing.
I've heard that refrigerator line tubing is safe (don't know what it's made of) but fishtank tubing isn't.
If he'll go for gum or the like (my son wouldn't) that would be my pick.
Chewy tubes seem, based on my research, safe in terms of BPA and lead and the like if that's what he's using.
I've heard of people chewing hemp necklaces and stuff. I felt that was ickier than inert plastic but I guess if it was non-pesticide etc. and somehow able to be kept clean it might be a natural alternative.

[moss]

Originally Posted by sbgrace

I tried to find available silicone medical supply tubing.
I've heard that refrigerator line tubing is safe (don't know what it's made of) but fishtank tubing isn't.

that's good to know, thanks. it's been a couple of years since we researched solutions for ds's chewing behaviours (which disappeared when we took him out of the school system, thankfully!)

[Altair]

Natural gums. Natural sour candies work for some kids also. The plus to both of these is that they are very socially acceptable (I work in an inclusion program for kids with Autism) and some kids don't want to stand out with their oral needs. Some kids find it easier to say "gum helps me concentrate" as they get older than explain the chew tubes.