#3 chews. Everything. I've talked to doctors about it. I've talked to child psychologists about it. They say he'll outgrown it. I say there is a problem here. There are times when I hate to be right.
He ate my wedding ring. Chewed it up. Swallowed a sapphire out of it. He wanted to know how shiny tasted. He was sad to report that it tasted nothing like he expected. It was a disappointment to him. I'm kind of sad to hear that. There's a twisted part of me that feels that if he's going to eat my wedding band, it should be the most singularly fulfilling chewing experience of his 6 year old life, and he's chewed a lot of stuff.
He ate the corners off of the coffee table, and the pleather off of my brand new computer chair. If his t-shirts have pictures, then they will also have holes. I was thrilled to find a Pirates of the Caribbean shirt which was pre-chewed. No one noticed when he added some fraying to the collar. He ate holes in his floaties when he was 3. Swimming around in a friends pool, biting the floats, sinking, unable to stop himself.
He will outgrow it. Children chew things. They chew pencils, and pen lids. They eat paste and paper. Children chew. #3 chews. I don't think this is "normal".
He chews on hard things like rocks, jewelry, tree branches, and ball bearings(we found that out when we heard the 'clank' of metal hitting porcelain). Soft things like bubble gum do nothing for him. He likes to chew legos.
Is it caused by an allergy? Is it a developmental thing? Is he just a bad kid? These are the questions we ask. At last he has eaten something which has a doctor agreeing that we may be dealing with a problem. Someone in a position to help sees the problem at long last.
He ate my wedding ring. Someone finally listened to us. He ate my wedding ring. Thank God he did.
11 comments:
When I was 3 or maybe 4, as I was laid down for the nap, I was chewing a little ring, those for little girl. Then I swallowed it, by accident. Later, I remember chewing in the classroom my pencil, and top pen. I remember it, but I can't explain why.
we have never had a chewer like that. i have no advice to give but i'm glad that the doc is now taking it seriuosly.
will pray for y'all and #3 in particular.
there's a thing called pica which causes kids to eat non-food items. Has he been looked at for that?
He has been tested for pica. We actually think it may be a sensory processing disorder called Hypo sensitivity to oral stimulus. Meaning that he needs oral input in a way that is similar to what a baby needs, which is why they chew and mouth everything.
I'll pray for your #3's "strange-but-true" condition. Hide those electrical cords!!
I have a wedding ring with a blue stone in it, too. It's a London Blue topaz though. Oh, but I don't have a chewer, just a couple of spitters.
Any luck with recovering the stone? ;-)
Doug,
I have not. I gave it up as lost. However, if you want to volunteer to go looking for it...well, I won't stop you.
Is #3 the one that was in NICU? That could explain things. I am a chewer. I was adopted at three months of age. At one point in my life I had been diagnosed with a form of attachment disorder due to lack of early infant bonding. Could that be it?
Love, Suzanne
Suzanne,
Nope, #2 was our NICU baby. #3 has been a chewer from almost the very beginning. It made nursing him a LOT of fun.
Only based on what you've posted on your #3, have you ever had your son evaluated for having Aspergers? I only ask because he sounds so much like my son and several other children I know with it. Brilliant, a learning disability of some sort or another, sensory input difficulty...maybe not be specifically aspergers, but something along the autism spectrum? Just an idea.
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