How did you get your child to stop chewing on their shirt sleeves/collar

April 17, 2013 8:43 AM

If your kindergarten-aged child chewed on their shirt sleeves or collar, how did you get them to stop?
posted by drezdn to Human Relations (23 answers total)

My former kindergartener is not your current kindergartener; your mileage may vary.

Mine was diagnosed with a sensory processing disorder and he had occupational therapy for three years. We also gave him "fidgets" to mess with, instead of his collars. This (and other accommodations) required intervention plans with the school.
posted by cooker girl at 8:47 AM on April 17, 2013 [2 favorites]

Oh man, I chewed on my collars through most of elementary school. No one ever brought it up. And I guess I'm OK now? I'm not sure what would have gotten me to stop to be honest, maybe if I had chewing gum constantly or something.
posted by The Biggest Dreamer at 8:53 AM on April 17, 2013 [9 favorites]

My eldest son did this for about a year when he was 4-5. It was disgusting, and wrecked a lot of shirts. And then he just grew out of it. We noticed that the problem was worse when the sleeves were long and hung below his wrists, so shorter sleeves can ameliorate it. We didn't have a problem with collars. Is it t-shirt collars or collared shirts that are being chewed on? My son won't wear collared shirts, but he did chew on coat collars. Once again, he just sort of grew out of it. For the shirt problem, I would recommend t-shirt type collars that fit nicely around the neck, as loose ones are a temptation.
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:53 AM on April 17, 2013

My kindergarten-aged child also chewed his shirt (particularly zipper ends), and also has (very mild) sensory issues. We purchased him a chew tube recommended by an occupational therapist, to chew instead of his clothing. (They come in a ton of shapes and sizes.) He also enjoyed chewing on regular baby teethers, which we kept in the freezer (although he did have a tendency to chew completely through them, so we only got ones with distilled water inside.)

However, interestingly, the chewing behavior completely stopped after his front four teeth had all fallen out. So, I actually think it was related to the process of losing his baby teeth, and was not related (at least not really) to his sensory issues.
posted by anastasiav at 8:55 AM on April 17, 2013 [2 favorites]

Ha! I did this. Sleeves and collars, and my hair as well. I'm sure my parents told me not to do it, especially in public, but as far as I can recall, eventually I just stopped on my own.

(Many years later I ate some extremely cheap rainbow-striped ice cream, and the intense flavor of dye brought memories of kindergarten flooding back. It happened again when I read this post...)
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:04 AM on April 17, 2013

I don't have a fix, but the way we dealt with it was by having tight-fitting shirts. So many shirts got ruined, but then they all grew out of it.
posted by thatone at 9:04 AM on April 17, 2013

I chewed because I had referred sinus pain that made my teeth hurt and kind of itch, and chewing seemed to reduce that enough to help me feel better. My doctor had me change my diet (and move away from an area with smog) and the chewing stopped.

One of my former students chewed because he had anxiety and needed an outlet for it. YMMV.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 9:12 AM on April 17, 2013

Fidgets (504 plan to accommodate), short or 3/4 sleeves, no collars, snug shirts.

At home, chewing necklaces and or teethers. Cut the hair shorter than chewable when hairballs started to become a problem.

I had the same issues. Of the items listed above, I got a haircut. I was handled without the other things mentioned above, but other things I do not recommend and/or would get me reported to CPS.
posted by tilde at 9:18 AM on April 17, 2013

I have read that for some kids this is caused by zinc deficiency. You could try a supplement and see if that helps.
posted by Michele in California at 9:27 AM on April 17, 2013

I did that through, I dunno, second or third grade, and just stopped on my own. I am not fidgety as an adult.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 9:32 AM on April 17, 2013 [2 favorites]

When I had a son that age who constantly chewed on his shirts, I avoided white shirts, because they look so bad when chewed on, and tried to find v-necks, which are harder to chew on.

What helped most was when I bought him a sterling silver pendant (so it wouldn't contain the toxic metals that children's cheap jewelry often does) and strung it on some one-eighth-inch-diameter black surgical latex tubing, so he chewed on the tubing. Now there are commercially made pieces of jewelry for chewing on which would be even better.

Eventually he managed to switch to fingernail biting, which was much more socially acceptable. He also always, always had a bit of plasticine clay in his pocket to fidget with. He was able to quit the fingernail biting on his own when he was in high school.
posted by artistic verisimilitude at 10:28 AM on April 17, 2013

It's not cool if your parents do it. Therefore…
posted by Nomyte at 11:33 AM on April 17, 2013 [2 favorites]

My daughter still does this in grade two but she has Asperger's and we assumed it was part of that. She has a variety of rubber bracelets now, and those tend to deal with the oral fixation in a non-destructive way.

I assume she will otherwise grow out of it.
posted by WinnipegDragon at 12:08 PM on April 17, 2013

Oh wow, I did this too, but mostly chewed on/sucked on my hair. Eventually my parents chopped my hair off (not for this reason, but because I hated having it brushed) and by the time it grew back a few years later, I'd stopped. But I'm a really fidgety person and I think a fidget object would have done it for me, too.

(Many years later I ate some extremely cheap rainbow-striped ice cream, and the intense flavor of dye brought memories of kindergarten flooding back. It happened again when I read this post...)

Word. For the first time in years I now remember the scent of chewed-on hair (ew, though at the time I liked it? Kids are weird.)
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 12:16 PM on April 17, 2013 [2 favorites]

I totally did this and I don't have any sensory issues or anything else (to my knowledge). I just did it because I was a chewer, generally when I am thinking about other stuff. End of my hoodie strings, end of my braids. I grew out of it. Although I am still and will always be a person who chews on the end of her pen. I'm sure my parents told me to cut it out, but I basically just lost interest in it by like 2nd grade.
posted by Countess Sandwich at 1:08 PM on April 17, 2013

I did this in to first or second grade. My parents tried various things to get me to stop and it was utterly a waste of time. Looking back on it, i don't see what the actual problem was.

I grew out of it around 6-7 and never did it again. I probably would have ignored any weird thing my parents got me to chew on instead of the shirt too because i would think it was weird and made me stand out(why don't the other kids have one?). I remember rejecting other stuff for that reason.

I guess it's also worth noting that i grew up to be diagnosed with aspergers a few years later, although it's pretty mild.
posted by emptythought at 1:18 PM on April 17, 2013

My older son did this till 2nd grade. He only did it with T-shirts so we found a polo shirt that he didn't chew. And a turtleneck in the winter. And I bought them in every color and he just wore variations on the same shirt for years. Also: chewelry!
posted by selfmedicating at 1:24 PM on April 17, 2013

I grew out of it around 6-7 and never did it again. I probably would have ignored any weird thing my parents got me to chew on instead of the shirt too because i would think it was weird and made me stand out(why don't the other kids have one?). I remember rejecting other stuff for that reason.

Eh, a few years after I had my hair chopped off, my mother got me a necklace with a turtle on it--I used to fidget with it/gnaw on it constantly. Looking now at the "chewelry" available online, I honestly think it would have worked perfectly for me. They look, more or less, like regular necklaces.

In fact, almost tempted to buy one now. Wonder if it would save my pencaps.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 1:36 PM on April 17, 2013 [1 favorite]

Mine still does this at 12 when he's intently playing video games. I think it's kind of gross but don't worry about it otherwise.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 4:02 PM on April 17, 2013

My 7 year old does it, has been on and off for several years. I've been trying to stop it for several years. Not much luck obviously. He has chewy pencil toppers for school and chewy bracelets at home. Short sleeve shirts help as do tighter necklines. I just sewed up a hole in his favourite t-shirt the other day. I actually find it gets worse when I bug him about it, I'm better just to hand him one of his chewy bracelets and keep my mouth shut.
posted by Cuke at 6:22 PM on April 17, 2013

My kid did this with shirts (especially with too-long sleeves), hoodie ribbons, and the ends of her hair. It ruined shirts and was distressing to me, but she grew out of it.

I tried nagging, mostly gently, sometimes not so gently. It wasn't really effective. I also threatened to cut her hair short, but I really couldn't get it short enough.
posted by jeoc at 6:24 PM on April 17, 2013

Sugarless gum. My 5 year old will notice he's chewing on a shirt and ask for gum.
posted by beccaj at 8:36 PM on April 17, 2013

A LOT of my students use chewelry, and it seems to do the trick. Other kids don't even notice that the awesome necklace is designed to be chewed on.
posted by superlibby at 5:32 AM on April 18, 2013