My 4 Yr Old Son Is Always Chewing on His Shirts

I have family that went though this but my son still has a bink. He uses it only when he is upset and needs to calm down or when he is watching tv. Some children have blankets or stuffed animals that get chewed on. I think its similar to that, as in a bored/upset (anxious) habit but maybe he doesnt have the stuffy/bink/blanki to chew on so its his shirt. Its always available to him. It does make the shirt soaking wet and smelly and destroys it. Maybe try gum (my son loves gum but it needs to be a mint type so it doesnt taste like candy or he just swallows it) Or distracting him with something hands on to do. Clay is a good one because its very hands on and creative. You can even pound on it and its ok. You may consider talking to the doctor about it as well since they deal with LOTS of children. Good Luck, Jen
p.s. I myself have anxiety and I can tell you that yelling at him or punishing him is the worst thing you can do. He NEEDS to have an outlet and right now its chewing on his shirt, dont force him to change but offer other solutions and praise him for using them instead.

My kiddo does this, too - more on days when she hasn't had enough water. I don't know if it's just mine, but I take her into the kitchen and give her something to drink when she's sucking and chewing in her sleeves, and she lays off for a couple of hours. Might be worth a try ....

I read an article on this in either Child Magizine or Parents Magazine. In children, especially around that age, it is a way of relieving stress. There may be some stress in his life that he is dealing with by chewign on his shirts...may not even (and i would suspect probably not) know why he is doing it. I think I read that it will pass with time, but I think if you help him find another way to relieve his stress (playing longer outside, running it off, something he really enjoys doing, more physical activity, etc.) it will help give him a different outlet and will help you keep money in your wallet! Good luck.

My son does this, too. I don't know that there's necessarily anything you can do about it. Sometimes my son will chew on a toy instead, but just while he's playing. If the shirt is the only thing, or his favorite thing, available at the time, he just goes right back to that. I think what you are already doing sounds really reasonable, going without a shirt when it's warm enough. Or just put certain shirts on, that you aren't worried about getting ruined.

My 3 yr old used to do this...it would drive me nuts! He'd chew on 'em 'til they were completely soaked. The only thing I would do, is whenever I would see him do it, I'd walk by & pull the shirt out of his mouth & tell him it was icky-and show him how his shirt was all wet! After a short while, he grew out of it!

Wow, this is a tough one. I compare it to my grandson always licking around his mouth making it red and chapped. I learned two ways to extinquish behavior in a class preparing to be a foster mother. They said that you either ignore it all the time or stop it all the time. It's easier to ignore it and focus on when he doesn't do it. Eventually the child gets it.

I don't know if this would work but you could devise a reward system. We've done that with my granddaughter using star stickers. Every time she did something that she was supposed to do without being reminded several times she got to put a sticker on the piece of paper. At 6 that was enough for her. She loved counting the stickers and bragging about how many she had. This would mean catching him when he wasn't chewing on his shirt. At first you might have to be really quick because you know the shirt is about to go into his mouth. What we're doing when we give rewards is positive attention and kids really do like that attention.

we go through this with my step son. The Dr told us it was stress or agitation he was trying to deal with and didnt know how. They have to give him gum at school to save his clothes and pencils. If you cant think of anything that might be bothering him sit down and talk to him.

how funny to read this my neighbor was just telling me her youngest (now 29) chewed on this shirt sleves when he was little, he did it obbsessively. She said she had the only three year old she had ever met that knew how to chew gum! They tought him how to chew without swallowing sugar free gum and after he got thru the stage of getting new teeth all the time, he gave up the habit and the gum! I wish you the best of luck with that.

Have you tried putting a little bitter apple extract on his shirt? You can usually find it at whole food stores or nutrition stores. I found that this really helped my daughter stop chewing on things in general.

I actually laughed when I read this...only because my son used to do the same thing and I'd never heard of another child doing this. Now after reading the responses, I see a lot do. I would constantly remind him not to chew on his shirt (he'd chew holes in them!). Finally he grew out of it. Sometimes when things are a little stressfull (as stressfull as being six can be), he will chew on them. It doesn't last long, though. I would suggest being patient and just trying to talk to him about it. He will probably grow out of it soon. Good luck.

usually kids chew because their teeth hurt, they might be too crowded, or he might be getting molars that are pushing the front teeth. Take him to the dentist.