11 mo eating lots of paper

[red and lulu]

dd loves to eat paper. whenever she gets ahold of any — in any form, be it business card, toilet paper, index card, magazine, tissue, paper towel, post-it note — the first things she does is take a big bite. she chews, swallows, and goes for another. i always try to fish it out before she can swallow it, but she bites, squirms, and usually gets it down before i can get it out. the other day she ate a sticker. when i saw it in her hand i knew what she wanted to do and headed towards her saying "that's not for eating sweetie" and she crammed it in there and started crawling for the other side of the room. by the time i got to her, it was gone

so my question is: how normal is this? i read somewhere that when babies and toddlers frequently eat non-food items it could be a sign of anemia. i know that they like to put things in their mouth at this age, but she seems to really want to eat the paper.....

[Limabean1975]

IMO and IME, very very normal. Most babies attempt to eat non-food items...it's what babies do! And the obsession with paper is quite common. I've tried to find acceptable (to me and to her!) alternatives for my now-13-month-old, to no avail.

[mamadelbosque]

Yeah, I definetly rememember ds1 going through this, and ds2 is 10.5 months now and definetly in the 'i love to eat paper!' phase!! Normal

[Abraisme]

This is totally normal. It does not mean that your baby has pica or any other deficiency. My 10mo DD's favorite thing to play with is a stack of business cards. They all have at least 1 bite out of them.

[Norasmomma]

Both of my kids have eaten tons of paper, totally normal. That's why there are board books.

[BellinghamCrunchie]

DD went through a paper-eating phase. I gave her nori (seaweed paper which is edible).

[sky_and_lavender]

My babe is 10 months old (almost) and is the exact same way. Life is all about paper products for her. But she likes to put every little bit of anything in her mouth, as well.

[To-Fu]

Originally Posted by Norasmomma

Both of my kids have eaten tons of paper, totally normal. That's why there are board books.

Mine ate board books, too.

[Beauchamp]

Oh, I do hope it's normal, because I have had a Paper Eater for a few months now. Before that its was carpet fibers, so I am much happier with paper eating!

I started saying "Show Mama!" (in a fun voice, smiling) and would do a quick sweep of her mouth and try to get it out. At some point, she thought this was really funny, and now voluntarily shows me so I can get it out. It's much easier than chasing her down, like we did before. So, maybe try this with your LO. Now everytime she hears "show" in almost any sentence, she sticks out her tongue and smiles.

[sugarpop]

I thought paper was just another food group! And so does my DD. Nori, I am going and buying nori today! I try lettuce and tortillas but nori is much more like paper!

[leam811]

Almost 11 mos and DD loves The New Yorker, looks longingly at the mail, and gets offended if I don't share it with her.

[BtotheG]

This thread is making me laugh...happy to hear I'm not the only one with a paper eater on her hands! DD goes bonkers for paper.

[octobermoon]

LMAO! we have a baby billy goat too!!

[MsVyky]

My DD LOVES paper. Give her all the toys in the world and she'll still prefer a bus transfer. LOL.

[red and lulu]

Originally Posted by octobermoon

LMAO! we have a baby billy goat too!!

i call dd my little goat

[Norasmomma]

Originally Posted by To-Fu

Mine ate board books, too.

LOL-I know right. Cardboard, paper-it all is so gourmet to a 9 month old.

[4myfinn]

DS loves paper. Board books, mail, magazines, newspaper. Whatever he can get his hands on. I know he has ingested it several times. Totally normal at this stage from what I understand.

[femalephish]

Originally Posted by 4myfinn

DS loves paper. Board books, mail, magazines, newspaper. Whatever he can get his hands on. I know he has ingested it several times. Totally normal at this stage from what I understand.

This is my daughter, too. She only has cloth books right now.


Are you guys saying that you let your LOs eat paper because it's normal? Or that despite your best efforts they eat it anyway?

[BtotheG]

Are you guys saying that you let your LOs eat paper because it's normal? Or that despite your best efforts they eat it anyway?

It's definitely despite my best efforts. It doesn't help that my two dogs will also shred any paper they can find...and then dd comes along and will find the smallest scrap of paper I overlooked picking up.

She's also really quick! She'll grap the mail right out of my hands and start chomping.

[Norasmomma]

Originally Posted by femalephish

This is my daughter, too. She only has cloth books right now.


Are you guys saying that you let your LOs eat paper because it's normal? Or that despite your best efforts they eat it anyway?

Well both my kids were/are really fast crawlers and sometimes there is no way I can get to them before the paper is in the mouth and eaten. I'm not for paper eating, but as everything in raising a baby-it's a phase, they get over it. For me I have to pick my battles, my DD wore me down. Ds is much more free range because she tired me out.