My son is eating his shirt non-stop

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This is a new habit. All of his shirts look like he poured water down his front and he's getting a rash.

Do any of your kids do this? Any suggestions to help get him to stop?

Thanks,

Fitzi

Depending on his age, let him grow out of it. I was chewing my hair from preschool through first grade.

He's about to go into first grade. He used to suck his finger all of the time, but he suddenly stopped a couple of months ago. Now this. I just find it kind of icky. I wish he would stop.

Maybe I'll just (since it's summer) keep a shirt off of him as much as possible for awhile.

My son has done this for awhile. it got worse when he went to school, then it got better b/c he didn't want the chewy they gave him to use and he saved it for home. He does it exclusively at home, now so I just tell him to take his shirt off. He still gets chewed up shirts b/c I am balancing trying to get him to wear clothes at home with the chewing issue.

He is 7, if that helps you.

My son hates wearing pants at home . He needs to be reminded NOT to take off his pants when he walks into someone else's home. He has even unconsciously started to take his pants off at school. But, he does usually wear a shirt.

I think I'll just keep his shirt off and see if it stops. I was thinking about getting him a chewy, but I doubt he will go for that.

My son did that same thing for several years. After a while I noticed it got much worse when he was getting ready to lose a baby tooth. He did it in between losing teeth though, as well. I still have some of the shirts from back then which have large chewed spots out of the neck areas.
We had some success giving him Hyland's Teething Tablets, other than that giving something else more appropriate to chew. He seemed to grow out of it at about age 8.

Do you think he might go for a cloth chewy (like a lanyard or a cloth wristband)?

Oh, maybe he's getting his 6 year molars? Don't they get new ones at around this age? Maybe he's actually teething.

He has lost a lot of baby teeth already without doing this, but I bet it's the molars. He has been complaining off and on about his mouth hurting, but not often enough or with enough discomfort for me to worry about it at all.

Thanks, alpineglow. Hopefully it's just a passing phase. I'll get him some tablets.

He probably would. I'll try that. Thanks.

My daughter did it for years, then "grew out of it," but still needs an oral stim sometimes. Gum works great.

I hadn't thought of gum. He LOVES gum.

I did this till I was around 16 I still do it sometimes unconsciously. I chewed holes in the collars of practically all my shirts. I did it partly because I liked the taste and because I liked the chewing action.it was one of my most prominent stims in my diagnosis paperwork. maybe a chewable necklace of the same material. your probably going to have to encourage him to chew it instead of his shirt because if he is anything like I was at that age he is going to prefer to keep things the same

My son is a chewer. Shirts. Pencils.

It gets expensive, lol.

He no longer chews his shirts, but I say he IS a chewer because the need for the stim is still there, even if he's learned to apply it more appropriately.

You have to teach them to divert the need to chew to something else. Straws are a good one. Or carrots. And to encourage the diversion you can put him in short sleeve shirts (although he'll go for the collar).

It is also helpful to discuss the habit, and then develop signals to let him know when he is doing it and needs to stop. Something gentle and unobtrusive, but that he understands.

Many ASD kids chew their own hands, which can get a bit scary, depending on how far they go with it, so be wary of inadvertently sending him to an alternative you find less preferable (if he's a light chewer the hand is fine, and some people think perfect, but I just could never see that one for my child).

As with all stims, it tends to be related to stress and a desire to self calm. As you mitigate the causes of stress in his life, you also mitigate the stim.

Do create a fun chew festival he can freely pursue at home. Keeping stims in check at school and public takes a lot of energy; at home they should be free to be themselves. Without ruining all their clothes and giving themselves rashes

Thanks DW_a_mom,

He is going for the collar, and the whole front of his shirt. I'm going to try gum today. I really wish they allowed gum in school. Not only would it help a lot of the kids who needed to chew, studies show if helps kids concentrate.

He does chew his arm too, but not to the point where he is harming himself.

If he has an IEP or a 504, then adding an exception to the school rule that will allow him to chew gum during certain situations can be an appropriate accommodation.

There are so many options out there, that if gum doesn't work there are many things to try. After a quick search here are just a few. I really like the chewable jewelry, cloth bracelet, and pencil toppers.

http://www.nationalautismresources.com/ ... welry.html

My son doesn't eat his shirt, but he constantly pulls at the front of his shirt and twists it. He is stretching out all his shirts!