Boys Clothing Help!!

[cjnix29]

Ok...my son has this thing about chewing on his clothes. His sleeves, collars, anything. He is ruining all his clothes. I am not about to go out and buy him new ones, and I have thought about making him go shirtless. Fed up! How can I get him to stop doing it?! Maybe this is my payback because when he was little he didn't put things in his mouth really when teething! He's 6.

 

[happily single]

Sugar free chewing gum. Keep him loaded up on it. My ds10 still will twist and chew anything in site, but distraction with something such as gum usually works.

 

[3boymthr]

First, I'd check with your pediatrician and/or dentist, this may be a sign that something is wrong with his mouth/teeth and he might be chewing to alleviate discomfort.

If not, I'd suggest trying putting a spice that leaves a "flavor" in the wash with his clothes. Something that's totally going to turn him off chewing, like white pepper for whites and cumin or cayenne for his darks or other spice that he hates. May not smell too good, test it on a couple of socks first.

 

[cjnix29]

he was just at the dentist...so that's not an issue. I like the gum idea, but doesn't work at school. I'll have to find a spice. Keep the ideas coming!

 

[indimom]

Mostly he chewed on the cuffs of his long sleeve shirts, literally put holes in them doing this. I never did much more than reprimand him when I saw him doing it AND I did not provide new shirts. I did consider putting him in t-shirts for a while (it was winter), but never did. I just left him wearing the "chewed" ones. I figured if he was going to make them look like garbage, he could wear them like that. He quit on his own within a season or so. Not sure why he started OR what made him stop.
Not much help, but I do feel your pain...

 

[dawson5]

what about bitter apple spray that they use to deter dogs from chewing on things. I would think if it's safe for a dog, it would have to be safe to a human. I know that they sell nail polish with cayenne pepper in it, but I can't imagine doing that to the sleeves of all of his clothes.

There is hope that they will outgrow it, all of mine chewed my hair. All through their toddler years.

 

[cmaee]

My DS(7) just started doing this too. We have decided that we are going to make him wear them no matter how bad they look because he has chewed holes into the cuffs. I am at complete loss to why he is doing this. Whenever we see him doing it, we reprimand him, but he hasn't stopped chewing on his clothes while at school. I hope this is just a phase that he will outgrow.

 

[WantToGoNow]

My ds8 has done this for the past 3 years. When we brought out the long sleeves, I reminded him to NOT chew on his clothes - and I remind him every am. So far, we've only had 1 hole.

 

[deawd]

My 8 year old does the same thing. We've tried the no-bite nail polish, gum, nagging him, etc. We told him that he has to replace the coats he destroys with chewing. We talked to the pediatrician who suggested letting peer pressure handle it. This school year we've noticed a significant decline.

 

[ckrum]

Since he's 6, I am assuming he is now in school. Sometimes kids chew their clothes when they are stressed, worried or even having some difficulty with sensory processing. Try some other options such as: chewing sugar free gum, having something to fidget with like koosh balls, items with interesting textures, etc... Your school should have an Occupational Therapist that can give you some good ideas. I'm not saying your child has sensory processing issues, just that some children go through this as a developmental stage and he just needs some other ways to help him through this stage.
My dd also did the chewing when she was 5 - 7 and occasionally still does it at 9. I got some ideas from our schools occupational therapist and it was very helpful. Good luck!

 

[indimom]

And it looks like most of these kids were in the same age bracket. My son was 7-8 also. I guess its just another of those developmental issues some kids wander through growing up?

 

[mousebymarriage]

My DD did the same thing when she was about 8 or 9 and it drove me crazy! She would chew the cuffs of ALL her long sleeved shirts and even put little holes in them because she chewed them so much. I would remind her every single day not to chew it and would also remind her if I was her doing it. She eventually stopped but, not before she ruined a bunch of shirts.

I mentioned it to one of the people on the Child Study Team at her school and they said it was a self-soothing situation and she was probably doing it when she was stressed or just thinking and she most likely didn't even realize she was doing it.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Mine did it too. He was 12. We went thru quite a few shirts before I finally figured out he seemed to only do it when playing video games or was on the computer.

So I made him take his shirt off when he played those and he hated it. So now he has stopped. It only took about 2 weeks to break him of that habit.

 

[patchchild]

You can find products called chewelry as well, it's made for kids who really like to chew. You can make them something that's ok to chew. I've used the clear aquarium tubing and made it into a bracelet and a necklace. It's clear so it's not super obvious, but kids can wear it in the places they are used to chewing and have something that's ok to chew, rather than their clothing.

 

[RangerPooh]

I have a little guy in my class who chews on his shirt sleeves and occassionally bottom of his shirt. It is very annoying an distractable to others, but we do our best to remind him to stop. We did talk with his mom about this and she's considering hemming his sleeves so they are not past his wrist as well as wearing shirt sleeved shirts. Even though it's winter it might be enough of a deterent to him if he's wearing hsort sleeved shirts, where to get the sleeves back he has tostop chewing them. Just a thought.

As for the spices, would do a few tests to see if they leave a smell, the last thing you'd want is to send your child to school stinky and have that rep attached to him.

 

[akcire]

When I was in college a kid I babysat for was doing this mostly to long sleeved polo or t-shirts, but never to button downs.

When all his shirts got junked up, his mom shortened them for summer. Then she took him to JCPenny's and bought him 3 button downs. She intentionally bought them in smaller sizes than she normally would--now I am not saying she bought the clothes small, just fitted. (Normally she would buy clothes with room to grow). He was unhappy that he had to wear church clothes everyday--but he stopped chewing. As a side note, after that he always wore his clothes more fitted (once again not small--but that almost out grown look).