Hi, this is quite odd really; My 3 yr old boy and 18 month old daughter who share a room have recently been having some kind of weird competetion involving trashing their bedroom in the night/early hours. They empty out all their drawers of clothes and wardrobes, I have had to put cupboard locks on EVERYTHING! Then Rhys started biting his bunkbed rail, and i mean biting chuncks out of it, hes bitten it so much its gone all splintered and i've had to wrap a counterpane round it to stop him getting splinters in his fingers, Eve retaliated by chewing corners off books and Jigsaws, Now i'm starting to find pens with the nibs bitten right off, and dolls with fingers bitten off, and jumpers and blankets with hole threads pulled right out of them BUT more disturbingly the TV cabinet has now got chunks bitten out of it (and the edge of the Dining table)
I know they are not swallowing the bits of wood, paper, plastic, and if I catch them I tell them off and the older one Rhys who is old enough to be explained to - I sit him on the stairs till he says sorry. But I am at a loss, no one I know have ever had this probelm, and they find it comical, I dont find it comical cause furnature can be replaced but I am worried about them damaging their teeth! I really have no idea how to stop them from doing it, I cant wrap everything in counterpanes or ban them from everything bitable. Help! Its driving me CRAZY.
I'm not sure at all how to curb your children's behavior, but as for preventing damage to your furniture while working on the behavior - perhaps you could try a bitter apple spray? Most often the spray is used for puppies teething, but it is non-toxic, and doesn't harm furniture. I know from (accidental) experience that it tastes AWEFUL. As always, check with a pediatrician first. Good luck!!
You could try the nail biting the have for children..Put some the spots you know the bite,I know that it safe for children it is used for thumb sucking and nail biting..Most children hate the taste of it..When we got some for our children I wouldn't use it with out trying it myself,all I can say is it was nasty..It did work though..
Hello E.,
It does sound like you have your hands full. I did some reading about children's natural cravings, when my boys were biting and tasting things that were not food. One folk remedy book suggested that the children were looking for something that they were missing in their current diet. Children's taste buds are much more sensitive than an adult's. It may sound a little stupid, but If they are biting wood and paper, try adding fibrous foods; carrots, shredded wheat, leafy greens. Also, try pickles. Sweet gherkins or bread and butter pickles have the sour taste they may be craving, but their heads won't cave in because it's too sour. Pickles are what did it for my bunch.
Good Luck!
E.,
Wow you sure have your hands full! I am not quite sure what to tell you about the biting the furniture stage, but I would like to correspond with you about your son Ethan. I have a four year old daughter Angelina who is mildly autistic, she has speech, is very intelligent and was entered into early intervention at 15 months of age. She has progressed through a year and summer of pre-k and is in her second year of pre-k going into REGULAR kindergarten. She does have a full itme aide at school, and the school has done wonders for her. Behaviorally though, through meltdowns, miscommunication and eloping on her independent little mind....is very tough. I cannot imagine how you have FOUR! Does Rhys or Eve show any signs? I am petrified to even think of having another child, for fear of losing her on one of her great escapes. We are also looking into getting a service dog for her for at home and outside....enough about me. I would love to hear about you and your experiences with Ethan. Where is he on the spectrum?
I hope you get alot of repsonses to your real question, but I saw a chance to reach out to someone who may be a big help to me...so I took it....Thanks! Please write!
Wow - I don't know if that is considered pica or not but I found this website that does a really good job explaining it:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/nutrition/pica...
But from my experience with preschool age children (I am a TA in Head Start) it sounds more like that is a behavioral thing, maybe to get attention? I imagine the five year old on the Autism spectrum demands a lot of your attention, maybe the three year old is feeling neglected and acting out because of it? I have a 5 year old with Sensory Integration Dysfunction which causes him to have really hyper and impulsive behavior and I know if I had other children I would feel I was focusing more attention on him because he needs it. I can't imagine having four children - especially with three so young! I think you should focus on talking about things they can bite - and maybe get him something that he can chew on when he feels he needs to. Maybe start offering crunchy vegetables for snacks? like raw carrots, celery, etc. I would begin with timeouts for the 2 year old too, just a minute or so - so she understands that what they are doing is not acceptable. Do you watch Supernanny lol? Try her technique of using a naughty spot. It'll be hard though to discipline if you are just finding the stuff after the fact, they will not understand WHY they are being punished if you find the chewed furniture three hours later or something and then put him in a time out. I hope this has helped! Good luck!
