DS sucking on his shirt--drives me nuts!

[freestyler]

Does anyone else's little boy or girl suck on the front of their shirt?? Our little 5-yr-old guy just started doing this occasionally, and it's really gross and annoying. He just stuffs a big wad of shirt into his mouth and sucks on it, how gross!! He started it after our baby was born four months ago, guess he sees her sucking on the breast and her thumb, and figures if we think she's cute doing it, maybe he's cute sucking too. Ugh. A friend of mine says her 5-yr-old boy does it too, but that guy has no younger sib. What's up? Anyone have this happening? It is so gross, plus I had enough laundry BEFORE! I don't give it much attention because it isn't worth it, but does anyone know how long it'll last? ???

[anhaga]

It can last a few years for some children.

My 2 children with this habit particularly loved the cuffs at the neck and wrist. Because we pass clothes down from 1 child to next, I talked to them about how they were ruining shirts, etc. I think it was a couple months for one child and maybe up to 6mo for another?

I do have one friend that had to just go buy a bunch of cheap, white t-shirts b/c her child was so hard on them with biting and chewing. And he was about this age too (I think he might've been six?).

Hope its a short-lived thing for you.

[proud mama of 2]

My 4 year old just starting doing this with his cuff.. I have no idea why?

[JayGee]

My DS did that for about 8 months when he was 3ish. Drove me INSANE, but he eventually stopped on his own. His new irritating clothing habit is to pull one of his sleeves down over his hand, thus stretching the neck of his shirt out over his shoulder. Of course, he then says he doesn't want to wear that shirt anymore because "the neck is all funny". Ugh....

[Boadicea]

My four-year-old DS does this, too. It drives me nuts, but I try to ignore it, as I know it's just a phase and he'll get over it quicker if I don't make a big deal. I don't really think there's a way to stop him doing it, as he doesn't really understand that he's "ruining" his shirt. I just see it as one of those instances in which I have picked my battles, or not in this case.

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

My ds did that for several months when he was 4. It finnaly stopped when he chewed the picture off his favorite Buzz Lightyear shirt. Then he finally got what I ment when I said "chewing on your shirt is going to destroy it". Every once in a while I will see him start to suck on his shirt and I will remind him of the Buzz shirt. He'll say "Oh ya" and stop.

[freestyler]

[QUOTE=Rhiannon Feimorgan]My ds did that for several months when he was 4. It finnaly stopped when he chewed the picture off his favorite Buzz Lightyear shirt.

:

[KaraBoo]

My stepson did this for years. All of his shirts were gnawed on the front collar LOL (My theory at the time was that his mom traumatized him by weaning him too early and in a sneaky way but I don't really know exactly why he did it.) My other stepson actually gnawed on his bedposts while lounging on his bed! I called him our "little beaver." They grew out of it. I can assure you that by the time they were preteens, the behavior had ceased. They are now young adults and no longer chew on their shirts or bedposts!

[nicole lisa]

ugh.

DS did this for about a year from 3.5-4.5. (OT, but god this kid is such a perfect example of equilibrium/disequilibrium and every time I write about something that was difficult to get through it always took place between the second half of his age )

I just had to let it go after a while because the numerous talks we had didn't stop the sucking and it ended on its own. Drove me crazy though. His shirts were always so wet. Gross.

I don't know why he did it. I can't imagine it was connected to weaning as he extended nursed and self weaned.

[Zach'smom]

My 4 yo ds recently started sucking/chewing on the coller of his coat. He also has very sensitive skin, so he got a lovely rash on the side of his face. He always chews on the one side. Now I have to tuck the collar in on one side whenever we go out. And whenever we are shopping or inside somewhwere I instantly take off his coat.

I know that removing the shirt of dc that sucks the shirt is not possible in the winter, but if it is still an issue this summer, you could try going shirtless as much as possible.

[Leatherette]

My 5 year old son has been doing this for several months - it has been on the decline, so maybe it's stopping. I thought maybe it was a type of teething, as lots of his friends are losing their baby teeth now. The adult teeth are pushing their way out, I guess. It's a theory.

L.

[Viv Buentiempo]

Am I really horrible for finally giving up and getting my 4.75 yr old son an infant chew toy? I just couldn't handle having his shirt slime me whenever I reached for him. We were out so I detoured to a local drug store and we chose one. I told him, probably with a hint of exasperation in my voice but w/out anger, why we were making the purchase. I didn't like the plastic component, but he seems to have been chewing on his shirts less and he doesn't keep track of the chew toy very well. After a couple of days, the toy was on the found/lost/found/lost cycle.

[moss]

Viv~that sounds like a great idea. my 4 1/2 yr old is sucking on his clothes constantly. i need to get him a good chewey.

I like your theory, Leatherette. Makes sense.

Another explanation is that chewing/sucking on fabric is a very sensory experience and that it might help kids who have some sensory integration issues get organized~could be a kind of self-therapy for some kids.



ps, dc ebf until just a couple of months ago and self-weaned, so i'm pretty sure the clothes chewing/sucking isnt because he was traumatized by weaning at an early age,

[Viv Buentiempo]

We are still nursing here, so I don't know why the sucking. Lately, it has mostly disappeared. we'll see if it disappears.

[FreeRangeMama]

Chewing on fabric *can* be a symptom of mineral deficiency. I believe that was the case in my ds. He stopped doing it after I started him on cod liver oil, flax seed oil, and pumpkin seed oil. He hasn't done it since.

[Twocoolboys]

My son did this a lot last year, when he was 5. I did read somewhere that it is the big kids version of teething. Once he lost his front teeth and the new ones broke through the gums, he stopped. Now he has a few more loose teeth and he has started doing it a little again.

[The Lucky One]

Why is it only boys doing this???

Anyway, my 4 year old ds recently started doing this as well. I don't mind it so much, because he isn't chewing hard enough to ruin the shirts or make holes in them. Also, he chews on his socks. That I do have a problem with. We are having major remodelling done and our floors are coated with a nice layer of drywall dust and who knows what else. I do not want that stuff ending up in his mouth, so if I see him chewing on his sock I ask him to chew on his shirt...lol. Or, I have also gotten out some of his old cotton receiving blankets and started giving him those to chew on.

I had a blankie that I chewed on when I was a kid about his age. I distinctly remember chewing on it (mainly on the corners) and getting it wet with saliva. Then I would let it dry and then I would sit around and smell it. I LOVED the smell of my own dried saliva on those blankets. Weird, huh?

[3boysmom]

My ds had a friend in kindergarten who did this - he had been doing it for quite a while and his mom was at her wit's end trying to get him to stop before school started. She mentioned it to the teacher on the first day and the teacher said "He'll stop soon, the other kids will see to that." Sure enough, it only took a few days of his classmates being grossed out or making comments and he stopped completely. This was years ago (these boys are now in 6th grade), so I haven't thought of this for a while. I do wonder why it seems to be a boy thing

[sunrise3]

I have a daughter who used to do this, so it's not only boys. : ) She would chew on either the front of her shirt or her favorite was strings or ties(like on a hooded shirt or a sash on a dress, etc.). She was about 6-7 when she did this, and finally stopped on her own. In her case I noticed she did it more when she was nervous or in a new situation when she was a bit shy.

[Marsupialmom]

Teething, take a look at the back of his mouth. He is getting his 6 year old molors.