3 y.o. Chewing on His Shirt

I recently replied to another post asking the same question so I've copied my answer here:

Oh man!! My older son did this at about the same age (3-4). He would ruin shirts by chewing the stretchy part of the neck on his t-shirts. He even chewed holes in a couple!!

You are right, this is a coping mechanism, so you can't just "break" them of it, you have to find a replacement. For our son we would give him a washcloth of his own that he could chew on at home. He welcomed this and after a while it broke him of chewing on his shirt. Not to say he didn't have setbacks when he was stressed, but it did help a lot!! Even now, at 7, he occassionaly gets a washcloth to chew on.

Good Luck

My son also chewed on his shirt collar and/or sleeve until about age 6. It was bothersome and many a shirt was ruined, but what can you do? His pediatrician suggested wearing shirts that were a little tighter around the neck so he couldn't physically get it in his mouth. It did seem to help...unless the shirt had sleeves of course. He will stop eventually, but like all coping mechanisms he'll have to do it on his own time.

My 3 year old son does the same thing with his shirt collars and he has Sensory Processing Disorder. He is a "sensory seeker" and this may be one way he can get additional sensory input. He also crams his mouth full of food when he eats, and gargles his drinks before he swallows them....It can all be very annoying at times, especially when we are eating out. Chewing or sucking on his shirt and pillowcase can be symptoms of SPD. You may want to look into it, especially if you notice little things you think are just not normal, but you can't pinpoint what is it.