Child Eating Paper!

Wow! Keep everything up high! Some babies just like to get into everything. The paper isn't good for him either, esp. with all the chemicals they add to it.

T.

It's probably nothing and the glue was probably a tiny amount that won't hurt him. You might want to mention it to his pediatrician just to be on the safe side though. There is an eating disorder called "pica" that involves eating nonfood items, but they don't really diagnose it till later since little ones put so much in their mouths to learn and experiment. You might also breifly review his diet with the doctor to be sure he doesn't have any deficiencies since that can sometimes cause people to eat nonfood items. Again, I think this is generally not with little ones. Your pediatrician may also be able to offer suggestions about how to stop the behavior or help you to know when and if it becomes dangerous (like how much envelope glue is too much??). Little ones come up with such crazy things!! Good Luck

H.

I am not sure how normal this is however my 17 month old eats paper as well, he has not yet dined on an envelope however he ate about three pieces of notebook paper in one day.

Hi, T.! I don't really have any advice about the paper eating except to check with your son's doctor. However, you mentioned that you moved to the area and are looking to meet other moms with young children in the community. Where do you live? Are you in NJ? If so, check out Jerseygirls101 on Yahoo. Take care.

Heather

I'm sorry...but I had to laugh as well!

My brother used to eat tp off the roll when he was younger, he also eat pages from books and looseleaf paper. One good bout of constipation curbed him of that habit.

Don't worry - it's totally normal.

T.
there's a story my mom tells TO EVERYONE even now that i am married and have my own kids. apparently as a two year old i loved paper. not just to look at, but eat it like it's chocolate. she says she tried taking it away until ONE day she saw me chew some but she said i had none in my hands so she was wondering where was i getting it. and then she looked closer and lo and behold i had stuffed my ears and nose with pieces of paper so i hide it from her, and would take one piece at a time to eat it.
:)
this story (which i hate when she tells people) is for you to understand that your child is normal, BUT it is something you need to tell the pediatrician and ask them to test your child for iron. now, my mom never found out the cause why iw as doing it but it was later she was told I had low iron. so i don't know if these two are related, but something to look into.
good luck. aidn, looks like, has an awesome mom
vlora

Before you read more, promise you won't panic...

The paper thing may be nothing at all, it may be something. It seems a bit odd in very familiar ways.

Get Aidan screened for autistic spectrum disorders. A lot of pediatricians are still resistant to screening as a precautionary measure. However, early intervention can mean everything if it is autism.

Trust me. It is better to screen and rule it out, than to look back and wish you had known sooner.

hi T.,

I have a daughter who loved to eat paper. I took her to the doctors because it was getting out of hand she would eat boxes, tissuepaper any kind of paper. The doctor said that she was annimic the put her on irondrops and about two weeks later she stopped eating paper. So you might want to have him checked by a doctor the other sighn is if children eat a lot of ice cubes the are low on iron too if they do that. I hope this will be helpfull to you.

M.

OMG! I am so happy to hear that someone elses baby eats paper like its food! I have no advice for you but it is nice to know that that isnt just some craziness that is unique to my daughter! Hang in there, i have hope that it will end eventually:)

i do believe that children who crave eating things like paper, sand, chalk, dirt ect. has an iron level problem. im not 100% sure that its iron but I do know that every 6 months when I go back to WIC they always ask if my youngest eats or craves any of those things.

Better mention something to your doc

wow i thought something was wrong with both of my kids!!! they both eat (non-edible of course) stuff like it's their dinner!! My son is 2 1/2 and still does it! he eats boxes from vhs tapes/dvd's, paper, mail, crayons, etc... he just chews on the stuff and then swallows it... yea gross. all his book corners are always soggy and chunks taken out of them. he puts everything in his mouth (and im always on his case about it!!) he also chews on plastic toys, etc... i thought he'd get out of the chewing stage after he got all his teeth... haha wrong! and he loves to shred stuff
my daughter is only 10 months old and of course she is going to eat everything and she does!!! plus she has big brother to look up to!
i don't have advice but NEED advice and am hoping to read other responses for advice for myself!! good luck!

HI T.!! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE ENVELOPE GLUE....SORRY!!! BUT I DO WANT TO REASSURE YOU THAT EATING PAPER SEEMS TO BE A NORMAL THING. MY DAUGHTER (14 MONTHS) EATS....... TOILET PAPER OFF OF THE ROLL!!! I WAS WEIRDED OUT AT FIRST, BUT IT DOESN'T BOTHER HER DIGESTION, SO IF I SEE HER WITH THE ROLL, I TAKE IT OFF OF HER, BUT LET'S BE HONEST SOMETIMES I DON'T FIND HER UNTIL SHE HAS ALREADY EATEN A GOOD COUPLE OF "SQUARES." GOOD LUCK WITH EVERYTHING!!!

LOL... I'm sorry but when I read your message I had to laugh. I'm going through the exact same thing. My daughter is 16 months old and she'll put everything and anything in her mouth to "taste". I get so frustrated with it. Everyone tells me it's a phase she's going through... but I often wonder how long this "phase" will last! I have to vacuum often because if she finds anything... in her mouth it goes and if I don't get to her fast enough... she swallows it. When she's holding something in her hands like a little box or a book that you would think is safe enough. Eventually I'll look over and there she is ... taking little bites of it and I notice a little area missing. Of course I take it away and she shows me that she doesn't like it one bit! Although there's no words of advice I can give you to stop it, I just wanted you to know that you're not the only one going through this.
Good luck!