5 year old DD chewing on everything and putting stuff in her mouth a lot suddenly

[pushe]

I keep noticing that she’s got something in her mouth, like a pen or a toy - she also often has her clothes in her mouth.

It has really increased recently.

I am in bed with her now and she’s chewing her Teddy and it’s wet. Gross !

That’s so weird, my just turned five year old has just started doing it too and it’s driving us mad! He never put anything in his mouth that wasn’t food even as a baby so we’re baffled! Following to see if there’s an explanation

my 8 year old has always done this, have to bin loads of her clothes as they have holes in

She’s lots a couple of teeth recently, but the new teeth are in already. So I doubt it’s the discomfort of the teeth coming in. She’s 5 and a half.

It’s more the fact that it’s new that’s confusing us

My about to turn five year old is doing exactly the same. I was wondering if her 6 year molars were coming through and her teeth are uncomfortable. I have no idea though,

Do they still have teeth that need to come in ? I thought they have all their baby teeth and now they’re going to fall out ??

Same. She did occasionally chew her top before, but now it’s a looot more.

There’s a set of molars which come in around this age usually before they lose any baby teeth. They’re permanent adult teeth. My daughter grew all 4 in 6 months without noticing though!

my daughter is also like this with the chewing. I think it’s a nervous thing. I’ve bought her a chew necklace to save the clothes!

I didn’t realise about a new set of molars coming in ! Thanks for the info. She’s lost her two front teeth at the bottom.

Maybe got the toothache? Might be worth taking her to dentist for a checkup.

mine is 6 year old still chews everything and has regular dentist check ups .I got her a kids chew toy to chew instead of her uniform

She went very recently and surely she’d say if she was in pain, I reckon.

Mine started doing this at about 6 years old, he's 8 now. There were holes in all his clothes. I did a reward chart last year and it really helped. A star a day and then a good reward at the end of the week, like a day trip or toy. Tooka few weeks but he hardly shows anything now, only his towel after his bath.

Kids don’t always. If she went recently and got told her teeth are fine then toothache may not be the case but it’s worth asking them. A GP has limited knowledge about the mouth and teeth.

@lilacbreezei took her to the dentist recently and she has told me before when her teeth have hurt

As I said a dentist will know more about why she may be chewing on stuff so it’s probably worth asking them anyway as opposed to the GP. Gnawing on that stuff at that age isn’t normal unless there’s some sort of ND.

DS was always chewing in reception. He used to suck his tie. I had to buy one for each day as they were soaked and dried all crispy with a tide mark. I ended up giving him an old muslin to chew. He stopped after a while but still chews from time to time.

Hi, it's worth considering stimming as a possibility here. Age 5 the kids start to become a bit more socially aware and she might be chewing on things in response to a bit of anxiety/apprehension etc as a way to regulate. If stimming, the advice is not to make them stop but give things like a chew buddy (rather than chewing clothes etc). Doesn't necessarily mean Neurodiversity although could be.

My daughter started doing this about the same age and it was her molars coming in.