4.5 yr old still sticks things in his mouth?

[mags]

I was wondering if anyone has a child older than 4 that still sticks things in their mouth. Like toys and other non-edible objects. I am pretty frustrated that my 4.5 yr old son still insists on putting things in his mouth that he knows he isn't supposed to stick in his mouth. He also does gross things like he will suck on the coffee table or any table. Most weird thing a couple wks ago was he used his teeth and made scrap marks with them on the foot board of his bed (and this was a nice, dark cherry finished bed, so I was furious) in 1 inch increments. When I asked him why he did it, he couldn't tell me why.

I am constantly having to tell him to take toys out of his mouth. I got him a marble run that I was going to give him last christmas, but held back, since I'm afraid he'll put marbles in his mouth. I know he would enjoy the toy, friends who have kids his age recommended it to me. So, this is one reason why I'm so frustrated that my kid can't keep things out of his mouth. The idea that he will get sick off of something and/or ingest something else bad (ie: lead) really worries me as well. Is this still considered, "normal" for this age? I'm anxious, since he is starting preschool in a few wks and I can't even imagine how many colds/viruses he will end up getting and spreading to members of our household b/c of this horrible habit.

[sbgrace]

You aren't alone!
I find it frustrating too and I worry about lead ingestion. I don't worry too much about choking on stuff but I would not give them any marbles, small balls, or magnets in case they did accidentally swallow. It's frustrating.

I will say a couple of things though. Sometimes this is just a sensory/personal habit thing that a kid will learn to manage but probably never outgrow. I still chew on pen caps, bite my nails, etc. I think I have a kiddo who is going to be like me..he just seeks oral motor stimulation and probably always will. If I can find one I like I'm going to do gum a lot with him--especially out and about. I have chewy tubes around the house and just keep reminding him that those are ok to chew and other things aren't.

Sometimes kids do this if they have a nutrient deficiency or an overgrowth of bad bacteria in their GI tract. This is more likely if a child stops mouthing things at an appropriate age and then starts again or is actually ingesting stuff. Common deficiencies causing that are zinc and iron. I've got a kiddo who does this any time his ferritin (iron) levels get low. He also did it after he was on antibioitics and got bad bacteria overgrowing (he had diarrhea too so this wasn't his only sign then). We treated and the behavior went away.

[mcng]

Lol Im 28 and still put things in my mouth, if its on my hand and its not beeing used itll go in my mouth its a sensory thing, harmless for the most part builds a strong inmune system

[feminist~mama]

I took my dd to Mexico at 3 1/2- we went to Mexico City at the end of the trip. We're on the metro, in this huge city with gabillions of people living there. I glance at her and realize she has the hand bar in her MOUTH.

Ugh. 1) germs and 2) sudden stop could easily = broken teeth.

She's 9 now and I still remind her frequently to get stuff out of her mouth and/or not to put her mouth/face on things.

You are not alone. Give your kiddo the marble thing. I think it'll be fine.

[mags]

I am glad I am not the only with a child with this habit. He is going in for a well child appt this wk. So, I'll ask for an iron level to make sure he isn't anemic. I spent all day today telling him to take things out of his mouth. The weirdest thing today was he was licking the treads/tracks on a playmobile toy, ugh!

[DariusMom]

DS (5.5) does this. We've checked the nutritional element and he's ok, though we do give him a good multivitamin. I got him a special necklace he can wear to chew on, if he wants. Sometimes he wears it, sometimes not. It's hard for me not to get frustrated, especially when he's licking the countertop at the butcher's or something, but I just keep reminding him. I think it's a sensory thing.

[MamaScout]

Originally Posted by feminist~mama

I took my dd to Mexico at 3 1/2- we went to Mexico City at the end of the trip. We're on the metro, in this huge city with gabillions of people living there. I glance at her and realize she has the hand bar in her MOUTH.

My son did this on the New York City subway. My DH nearly had a heart attack.

My 4 year old still puts everything in his mouth. He put tooth scratch marks on my brand new coffee table. I couldn't figure out where the mysterious marks were coming from until I happened to walk through while DS was watching a video and there he was with his lips wrapped around the table!

It drives me completely bonkers that he still puts toys in his mouth. Alot of his toys are all chewed up and have teeth marks on them. I'm not really terribly worried about it, I figure either he'll outgrow it or he won't.

My step-brother is in his 30's and he still chews on anything plastic he can find (usually a drinking straw.)

[treemom2]

My 7 year old DD always seems to have something in her mouth. It drives me absolutely nuts! She is a thumbsucker, but if she doesn't have her thumb in her mouth she has a pencil, pen, her shirt, things she picks up in the store, library/waiting area books or toys, etc. . . It so grosses me out. She does seem to have an awesome immune system, only had antibiotics once in her life and she's rarely sick. We've been trying to give her gum (xylitol sugarless) everytime she puts something in her mouth to try and teach her an appropriate cleaner thing to put in there, but often we aren't quite fast enough. I guess in a way I had the same problem when I was young--though not as severe. I used to chew on my pens/pencils, then was a huge gum chewer, then a smoker until I was pg with DD. Now, I'm an overeater--ugh!

[Phoenix~Mama]

I was just wondering this the other day... DSD is 4 and still puts everything in her mouth too... I was wonderfing when they outgrew that... it makes me shudder when she drops her toy on the supermarket floor and right back in her mouth it goes!

[monkeysmommy]

my dd is 6 and she just recently cut back on putting things in her mouth. My dh joked that we should just get a robot that every 20 minutes said, "Please take that out of your mouth." The grossest thing to me is sucking on her clothes. If she has a shirt or dress that has ties on it, I have to make sure it is tied in a good knot, or she will suck on it. Then it's all wet and drags through the dirt, and then I catch her with it in her mouth again! Or she chews on her sleeves. They get so gross I have taken to just cutting them off at the wrist. (She has short arms, anyway, so they're still long enough.)

[ktcl]

DS is 5.5 and does a lot of putting things in his mouth. I was talking to his pre-k teacher about it once last year, and she replied, "kids tend to explore things with their mouths until about age seven." So there you go, a professional response!