HELP!! I take care of a 11 month old. She put EVERYTHING in her mouth! I have 2 kids of my own and have never experienced it to this level before. I keep small things away from her, but my own kids are getting frustrated because she tries and sticks their stuff in her mouth. (she even has tried sticking the LeapFrog play table in her mouth) I try and keep her away when they play with smaller items but that only frustrates everyone because then someone is not involved or in the same room as everyone else. I am positive her parents are having this issue at home with her cause there have been times I have changed her diaper only to find small objects that she has "passed". But they do not say anything and act as though things are great with her at home. (She is the youngest of 3)
I have tried giving her chew toys of all kinds and variety but she has NO interest in them. She is not currently teething. Also, she does not play with any sort of toy or item. All she does is stick things in her mouth.
I do not think she has Pica but am starting to treat her like she does. Giving her only things that can go into the mouth. But with my other 2 I can not be around the 11 month old at EVERY second.
So any advice how to keep her safe, my snf my kids sanity would be highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!!
My son did the same thing. However, it's tapered off now.
Can you try giving her a pacifier? Maybe if something's in her mouth already she won't put anything else in. I suggest, because my son is 13 months old and hasn't figured out that if his nuk is in his mouth, he needs to remove it in order to put anything else in (food, sippy cup ect). It's actually kind of funny to watch.
I don't know if this is helpful or not... But my daughter, now 18 months, does also love to put just about anything in her mouth. However, this has tapered off some, and of course she does play w/things, doesn't NEED to have something in her mouth. (My dau never used a pacifier, either - at all.) She went through a period of loving to have an apple to carry around, she would just rip off tiny pieces of skin and drop them on the floor - she LOVED this for over a month. She never would take any of those cool rings, or anything meant for teething at all. She has only 7 total teeth now, so much of this time she wasn't really teething. Does this little girl want something to eat? Would she enjoy something to "do" with her mouth like the apple thing? Does she use a pacifier? What do the parents do at home?
Sounds like you have a perfect life from your "little bit about me" writeup! Good luck!
T.
As a general rule for things going into the mouth... she shouldn't have anything that can fit inside of an empty toilet paper roll. I know it's frustrating but a lot of the time they will grow out of it. My son did the same thing. To keep his mouth occupied we have him frozen mini bagels to chew on. I would deffinately ask the parents what they are doing at home with her. Do you have something you can stick her in when you have to leave the room? A pack-n-play, an exersaucer, and jumparoo or something of that sort? Those are also things she can go into while your children are playing with toys you don't want her to get to. I would continue only giving her things that she can safely put into her mouth. Good luck! I'm willing to bet she will grow out of it eventually, but of coarse that could be many months.
I worked at a inhome daycare as a assistant and had two kids do the exact same thing. My own daughter NEVER did this. These two particular kids not related would put anything in their mouths and didn't outgrow it either they were doing this from infantcy to 3 and 4 years old. I know it's normal for some kids to explore things with their hands and others to explore using their mouth but it's annoying. We had problems with colds and illnesses getting spread and toys being broken and ruined. We took toys away from the 4 yr.old who was eating power rangers and he got in trouble for it. We would constantly remind them but it was a STRUGGLE and it from my experiance it always seems like more boys do this than girls. Although we had a 3 yr.old little girl come over last year in a few hours she had literally eaten a wood puzzle piece and several of my daughters toys so she wasn't allowed over anymore becuase my daughter was in tears... Also when I worked at the daycare and the older kids wanted to play with small pieces they knew only at the kitchen table or when the babies were napping that was just the rule we had to keep the babies safe. Good luck I feel your frustration.
I would put everything small up and away intill she get thru this stage! Chocking would be my #1 concern. I have 2 yr olds here that do the same thing, I think they don't even realize they are doing it intill I say something. I just keep telling them to keep it out of thier mouth or it gets put away, and then I put it up if they keep doing it, wash it and give it back to them the next day.
Hope that helps.
