SPD Mamas, I need a brainstorm.

[AFWife]

DS2 was doing really well recently with his sensory stuff. We discovered that HFCS and artificial colors were triggering it BIG TIME and it all but disappeared when we cut those out. I even closed his file with the therapist. 
The past several days, however, he's started sensory seeking again...but things he used to AVOID. This is the child that made me wipe his hands a dozen times during a meal because he hated having stuff on them...and yesterday he was wrist deep in our raw butter squishing it around. (I left it out because it never used to be a problem...) He's started playing with his food at dinner and actually squishing things around. We're so confused and unsure as to what to do. Where is my child? lol

[EarthRootsStarSoul]

It doesn't sound like a 'problem', but you should give him all the sensory stuff he craves.  Play doh, dry beans, dry pasta, beads, pebbles, clay, jello, -- as long as he is old enough not to put things in his mouth.  He's growing up, his brain is maturing and it will continue to do so.  Kids never stay the same.  My younger son went through a phase where he needed lots of oral stimulation - he was chewing shirts, toys, whatever he could.  It lasted over a year, and I gave him different flavors of gum and free access to all my kitchen spices which he loved tasting.  Now he doesn't need it anymore. 

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by EarthRootsStarSoul 

It doesn't sound like a 'problem', but you should give him all the sensory stuff he craves.  Play doh, dry beans, dry pasta, beads, pebbles, clay, jello, -- as long as he is old enough not to put things in his mouth.  He's growing up, his brain is maturing and it will continue to do so.  Kids never stay the same.  My younger son went through a phase where he needed lots of oral stimulation - he was chewing shirts, toys, whatever he could.  It lasted over a year, and I gave him different flavors of gum and free access to all my kitchen spices which he loved tasting.  Now he doesn't need it anymore. 

I guess it's just weird for me to see him actively seek all of the things he was avoiding! I wasn't prepared for the sudden shift. 

[ErinYay]

DD (2 yrs) shifts all day; it's very frustrating for both of us, as she'll be in the middle of finger painting, and then decide that she no longer cares to have "frog" on her hands (I think she uses "frog" to mean "slimy, sticky, etc") and boy howdy, you best get that frog off her before it's too late.

She's a mix of seeking and hyposensitive, and more recently has added selective avoidance as well. Trying to give her a wide range of sensory experiences each day really helps, and if she freaks out more than usual, it often means she needs to go jump on her trampoline or run laps.

But also sometimes it just means it's Wednesday...