Chewy tubes ... available from an OT ...
Gum drops or other small chewy candy ... or dried fruit.
My son chews on everything. He is 2. He has sensory issues /under-sensitivity to oral stimulation. Any advice on what to do with chewing? Chewy tubes worked great for us. Also, ST and OT used the Z-vibe to stimulate his oral muscles. Eat lots of crunchy and chewy foods. Now at 3, chewing and oral issues have pretty much disappeared.Tips for oral hyposensitivity here:
http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/oral-sensitivitie s.html
Here are some more tips, from a general autism perspective rather than a sensory processing disorder perspective. Good luck with everything.
What do you do about the child who puts lots of things that are not edible in his
mouth?
Autism SA Information Sheet 19 Eating difficulties December 2004
Remember that mouthing is a normal developmental stage that most children go through
at a young age. Your child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder may do this later than other
children, so don't panic. Just accept it as a normal developmental stage that will pass. Some children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder eat grass and other plants. Make sure
there are no dangerous plants in your garden. Any nursery or the Department of
Agriculture should be able to advise you if you have any doubts. Offer substitutes if you see
your child eating plants, for example a piece of fruit (but not chips, chocolate). Generally
eating garden plants does not appear to have any ill effects on a child, though it does not
do much for the garden.
Try ignoring the behaviour. It may be that your over-the-top reaction to a child mouthing
his sleeves is enough to keep him doing it, just to check how you'll react.
If your child is chewing collars and cuffs of clothing to the point where clothes are
becoming very frayed, or are constantly soggy, you can try painting the collar or cuffs with
a solution that is used to stop people biting their fingernails (available from chemists). It
tastes very bitter, and may be enough to remind the child of what he is doing. Chewing
may have become a habit he is not even aware of, very much like some people who chew
their nails.
Try to avoid the situation and break the habit. For example put your child in shirts or
jumpers that do not have a collar.
The chewing may come and go, and be a sign that something is not right. It could be a
result of stress, which is a problem for most children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder,
so look at what may be causing the situation and try to change that. The chewing may just
mean that your child is getting more teeth
Source: http://www.autismsa.org.au/pdf/strategies/IS19_Eating_diffic ulties.pdf
i think my son must have some type of sensory problem..hyposensitivity i believe. He puts non edible things in his mouth, sometimes eating it such as he used to pick pieces of lint or the lining of his carseat and put it in his nostril but usually just mouth and he knows its wrong cause i look back and say get it out and he will look at u with a guilty look and either spit it out or scream and cry and not let me take it out. we just got a new carseat because of this. also weird things like pieces of carpet, styrofoam, stuff like that, he loves it...
my ds has always chewed on EVERYTHING! For a whilt he got better about it, recently he is starting again! He will chew on a book sometimes or paper.He loves to chew on plkastic toys and anything else. He bit ny cell phone so hard it cracked! I have tried chewy tubes and he throws them. I wish I had better advice!We used "ARK Grabber XT", which is a form of a chewy tube.
Is he possibly getting his 2 year molars? Ds had serious chewing issues about that age, then they subsided for about a year, and then last summer he chewed through most of his shirts, kept chewing through much of winter, but has again subsided. We realized the second period was likely due to his teeth because it seemed to subside after he lost two teeth as his adult teeth came in. I wonder if the first bought was molars, but I don't know.
My oldest son used to put everything in his mouth.