This might sound a little bizarre, but my son is chewing chunks out of the walls. He finds an area where there is a corner of the wall, and he likes to chew on it to the point where he chews small chunks of paint and the texture of the drywall. He does it so quickly, and he has three bottom teeth and three upper teeth which allow him to really sink in and chew off a significant chunk. He knows that he is not supposed to do it. He will crawl over to the corner, shake his head and then attempt to chew. He was only trying to do it in one spot at the bottom of our stairs, but now it has turned into wherever he can find a corner, he's there trying to chew on it! You can't leave him unattended, because that is usually the first thing he does. He has been able to get a chunk out only once by the stairs, but this morning, I had him in his room while I was putting laundry away, and when I turned around, he was chewing on the corner of the wall by him closet. It is sooo frustrating. We always redirect him by giving him something else to chew on, and we always tell him, "No" and move him to another part of the house. But, he gets up and goes right over to the wall again. It usually takes five or six times until he does stop. But soon there after, he's making his way back. He also has a million toys, but he prefers the wall. We have all types of barricades to keep him away, but he always seems to find a way to tear them down, or move them. We are worried because it cannot be good at all for him to be getting paint and drywall texture in his body. But we are beyond confused as to how we can get him to stop. Has anyone ever had this issue with their child before? What did you do to get them to stop? Please help! Even if you have just a suggestion, it will be greatly appreciated!
I am wondering if he has a deficiency in his diet, maybe? I know this sounds completely wacky, but when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter I had this strange compulsion to eat chalk. (I did not actually eat any chalk, I just really felt like I wanted to.) Anyhow, I called my doctor, who said that wanting to eat non-food items is a sign that your body needs something. He guessed it might be calcium that I was lacking, so he told me to go buy a big bottle of Tums and eat as many as I wanted (being that they are made from calcium). That did the trick! Who knows, maybe that's what your son is after, what with the texture of the drywall, etc?
Or it could just be that he's 1 and is getting a pretty exciting reaction from Mommy and Daddy for chewing the walls, so it's a fun game. In that case, my advice is to go get clear corner guards for all your walls! =)
I thought the exact same thing as Catherine. I would contact his doctor to be sure he's not lacking something in his diet. When my sister was younger, she craved pool water...something about the chlorine. I don't remember exactly what the outcome was, but it was diet related.
As the other two people mentioned it could be a diet issue. I was addicted to brass and chrome when I was around 7. My mom gave me a multi vit and it went away, although I still like the taste. I think it's gotten nostalgic for me. Any way considering his age it probably has more to do with teething or with texture. Get some of those pool noodles and cut a small wedge out of them (or foam pipe insulation which already has a slit in it) and attach them to the corners to keep him from chewing off your wall texture. You'll probably have to screw or nail them to the walls but small holes are easier to fix than missing wall texture. You'll still want to keep an eye on him incase he bites off a chunk of the foam (don't want him to choke). This also works well as a bumper on coffee table edges.
I agree with the others about a possible deficiency in his diet. My daughter did not have a deficiency in her diet but she did chew on any books, boxes or paper things. We found several tethers she liked and pined it to her with one of the passifier straps. We also found one that was a bracelet. She is now 4 and still occasionally chews on her tethers.
Hello, It totally has to be something he is missing. When I was pregnant I chewed on toilet paper, could not be scented just regular toitlet paper, Dr said I was missing something. Went on a vitamin and it stopped.
Good luck
Ok, so with a bizzare question, here comes a bizzare response. Even once you rule out why he's doing the chewing, it may still be a habit. So you may want to go to PetSmart or PetCo and buy something called Bitter Apple. Spray this on the corners and I can almost guarantee that after one bite, he will stop. It's actually used to teach pets to leave things alone. However I got some on my hands once without realizing it, and tasted it. Let me just say it's downright nasty. Make sure that he does have something that he is allowed to chew on too though. Good luck.
You sound overwhelmed, and extremely frustrated. Chewing on non-food items is known as pica. Often pica can be caused by a vitamin or mineral deficiency: most often this is an iron deficiency. A simple blood test can rule this out. Chewing on walls with lead-based paint (usually found in older homes), can lead to lead toxicity. This can be quite dangerous. Hopefully, the "chewing on the walls" phase will disappear by the time your son is 2 or 3 years-old. Nevertheless, you should probably make an appointment with your pediatrician for further testing & advice.
I don't want to alarm you, but my 8 1/2 year old son has been dealing with Pica since he was about 15 months old. He has chewed on & ingested things like flowers, small pebbles, hair, crayons, pencils, erasers, bits of toys, clothing, dirt, lint, paper, etc. He honestly cannot stop. It has become quite a habit. Iron & mineral deficiencies, in his case, have been ruled out. His doctor thinks this behavior may be caused by anxiety. When my son feels the need to chew, we usually give him a pretzel rod instead. That way, his need for chewing has been met, and we have redirected this behavior so he learns to associate a need for chewing with food.
Maybe when your son starts chewing on the wall, you could offer him some type of food instead - possibly a teething biscuit, dry cereal, a cracker, or whatever you have available.
Good luck with your son. Please let us know what happens.
I concur with previous advice. First have child seen by pediatrician to rule out vitamin deficiency (particularly iron). Once you have ruled that out, then you can try other suggestions that have been offered on how to help your son with this behavior. Let us know the outcome.
Hi Mary,
I've never heard of this! But, I'm a speech therapist and it sounds to me like he is in need of oral stimulation and, for some reason, the texture of the wall is providing him with satisfying that need. I would try to steer him toward some more appropriate things that are safer for him to chew on. There's a water bottle called the Camelbak that has a "chewy" straw that's good for this type of thing. Also, there are these things called "Chewy Tubes"- we use them with school-aged children who are constantly chewing on their shirt sleeves and pencils. They attach to the end of pencils, but I imagine you can affix it to something more appropriate for his age so as to avoid choking. I believe the Camelbak can be found at sporting stores like REI and if you googled Chewy tubes, you could probably find the site for them.
I would give him these things before his chewing behavior begins so he doesn't go seeking it out. Give him a few minutes to chew on something periodically throughout the day so his need is satisfied. As he's older and is exposed to more foods, you can try giving him foods that take more effort to chew, such as beef jerky or hard bagels.
I would also try to steer him from the wall behavior by giving him something else to do with the walls... possibly by covering them with butcher paper and let him finger paint or color. Or, Target sells "aqua doodles" (a bit old for him, but??) which you can hang on the wall and kids can color over and over without the use of paint or crayons. Just a thought, but it would also protect the walls and him from potentially harmful material.
Good luck!
Kara
Hi Mary
It sounds like hes missing something in is diet and go see a doctor it like when kids eat dirt there missing something in there diet good luck Dani mother of 4
Hi Mary,
I would think, especially given the other moms responses re: PICA (something I was thinking about too) you might want to consider meeting with an early child development specialist of some kind so that you feel supported, practically and emotionally, until this behavior resolves. Perhaps your pediatrician can help you find someone who works with young children on these kinds of behaviors, if you're feeling stressed being in this alone. That would be understandable.
My 8 year old daughter ingested napkins, so I talked to nutritionist friends and a therapist and got ideas that I was able to use. It helped so much to nkow I could go back to these people if I needed more support or assistance -- my team. I was able to work out with my daughter, substituting either chewing gum, chewing her sheet, or preferably an herbal tea ceremony as a chewing and/or stress reliever, because she was older -- obviously, your child is too young to be reasoned with. My son chewed his shirt for awhile and then outgrew it.
Both my children have some anxiety issues, so we needed to take the route of talking about self-soothing strategies, and finding safe ones. Our relaxed and open stance towards anxiety and self calming behaviors has been a great help.
Keep us posted.
Deb
Have his blood checked for Iron defficiancy (Anemia). There is a sympton called PICA which involves eating chalk, dirt, clay, ice, "drywall". My favorite was flour right out of the bag........
Mary,
Your little son may have some kind of mineral deficiency which is causing him to actually crave non-food substances there are different types such as Pica, Geophagia,Amylophagia,plumbism. I would discuss this with your babies doctor. Good Luck
Although this may be caused by a deficiancy of some sort - after you get that corrected, the only way to break that habit if he is not responding to other types of discipline would be a spanking - I know it sucks to spank your kids, but given that it is such a serious thing, and could possibly bring great harm to him, it is important that he understands that he cannot do that!
I just wanted to suggest one of those little pacifier-looking things with a little mesh bag on the end for putting food into. Have you seen those? It's for a baby with little to no teeth to chew on foods but not get a chunk in their mouth they can choke on. Maybe put an apple slice in there or something hard he can bite a chunk off of, ya know? Maybe it's the sensation of sinking his teeth into something and getting pieces off that he finds interesting. I don't know, just a thought.
Have you tried putting something that tastes horrible on the wall? I know hot sauce would be going a little far but something with a horrible taste like straight ginger or something, something that wouldn't stain the wall but has a bad taste.
I don't know if this could be the same but my nephew was eating dirt and I said something about low iron. My sister-in-law took in my nephew to the Dr. the next day and he was diagnosed with Pica or Pika, which is when you iron levels are so low your body tells you to eat dirt. Weird I know but the Dr. also said he had high lead levels which would cause the body to not absorb the iron. The lead was from the old house paint that they scraped off for their remodel. The treatment was to remove the child from the back yard where the paint chips might not have been completely cleaned up and a liquid form of iron. His iron levels are up and lead levels are down and he is no longer eating dirt. I know it is not dirt but dry wall but still you might want to talk to the Dr.
Good luck.
Hi Mary,
Are there plastic strips that you can attach to the wall (like what you attach to a coffee table or the crib rail for babyproofing)? Otherwise go for the padding that is used to cushion and babyproof fireplaces. It won't necessarily be pretty, but when go goes to chew he will be biting plastic instead of wall. You should think about have him tested for lead at the pediatrician so that can be treated if the paint he has managed to get his teeth into has any lead in it. In terms of containment, have you considered a "superyard", which is basically a large baby-gate enclosure you can set up in a room?
Good luck!
Hi Mary,
I am a wellness consultant and it sounds like he may be deficient in some nutrients. I used to eat dirt when I was a little girl and later my mother found out I was missingg iron.
I have my granddaughter on some great supplements that are wholefoods. She has been on them since she was 2 weeks old and she will be 7 on the 28th of this month.
If you want more info check out my page. www.nikken.com/ninamarie Let me know if there is anything I may help you with.
Have a blessed day.
Nina Marie