Eating sand

[goobledygook]

My DD is 20 months old and puts anything she can get hold of in her mouth. It is actually quite stressful as I can not leave her for a moment.
We have a sandpit and she pours the sand in her mouth. I have been keeping a lid on the sand pit, but I am wondering if I should just let her get on with it and hope she tires of it?
Is it dangerous for her to eat sand. It just doesn't seem right to me.

This so reminds me of dd2 at that age and younger

She used to scoff handfuls of sand

We could have hired her out as a builder's mate... her nappies were like ballast (IYKWIM!)

She is fine now, no lasting effects

I have a sand eater too (in fact he eats most things, but sand with great relish). Doesn't seem to have come to any ill effects so far. The nappies are a sight though!

Yes, you could have laid bricks using the contents of dd2's nappies

I think she is exfoliating herself from the inside! Thanks for the replies. I will leave her to it then and hope she tires of it soon.

My DS used to do the same - sand, paint, playdough etc etc. As soon as I stopped giving him attention for it as none of these things are dangerous (usually) and once he realised I didn't care he stopped!

My DD2 loves wet sand, ideally with a bit of seaweed thrown in for good measure and I have to say it hasn't crossed my mind to try and stop her . You'll be pleased to know that I have stopped her from eating stones, shoes and newly creosoted fence panels though!

SE13, how did you win the battle of the stones? 12mo DS is constantly eating stones in the garden. Woodlice too. I've already pulled a half-eaten earwig out of his mouth today.

DS1's speciality was worms. Probably a fairly good source of protein. Oddly enough his favourite food now is sausages!

RuthieCohen, when I said 'stopped' I should have added that this is a regular activity (the eating and the intervention!). We usually take the stone from her mouth (in the same way as one removes something from a dog's jaws - squeezing the sides of the mouth together to release the jaws) and try to do so without making eye contact or giving verbal attention. We then give her something slightly less hazardous to occupy herself with...until she encounters another stone that is....!

Popped to my friends today and DD wandered off for 2 minutes. When I found her she had blue chalk and a stone in her mouth.

This morning she has also eaten the mud out of the plant pot and tried the cat litter.

Really sand is the least of my worries.

you have made me laugh tea onto my keyboard

We also have a sand eater aged 15m. Well,she eats anything actually! Sand, soil from plant pots or the garden, pebbles, grass, leaves, woodlice, you name it!

I have also learnt the knack of the 'jaw squeez'e to remove said pebble

The worst so far was found when removing a pebble only to find it was a snail she was sucking on with delight! (I was almost sick)

I don't think it does too much harm does it? DD seems the picture of health so far, plus we live by the sea so plenty of sand munching years to come!

I had to post this is hilarious!

DS2 (11mths) is a big eater too, totally surprised me as he is unlike his older brother.

Today we have had soil from the plantpot eaten after he posts his brothers cars into it, a crayon, paper (any form of paper lying around is a massive hit with a particular penchant for toilet roll), a small 'sticklebrick' (he just loves the small round ones and hunts them out), grass a small unripe apple fallen off our tree and of course sand!!

Glad I am not alone with the constant stone removal too .. phew

Sand, compost, slugs,worms,wax crayons, paint and playdough are regular fair in our house.DS1 and DS2 will literally eat anything. Had to call NHS direct twice last week about a plum stone that got swallowed and to enquire what diseases could be caught from a child eating a half eaten(by god know what?!!)/decayed cooking apple that had fallen from our tree.

DS1(23 months) has now taught DS2(11months) how to lift the toilet lid and clean the toilet with any toothbrush he can reach...Poor DP! but at least i told him

Not just me then! Phew. And I was worried about sand and water. Not encountered anything once living yet. Not looking forward to it esp as me and DD are vegetarians!

My DD used to eat sand. I had to stop her because it was making her bum really, really sore. Just avoided sand pit for a while. Be warned it took longer for her bum to heal than it did stopping the sand eating.

This thread has made me feel a lot better! I was worrying about salt content in sand/how much she might ingest, as we're going away with our 7.5 MO on Sunday. Will be quite excited if she manages to ingest shrimp/crab etc - she'll need to be ridiculously quick to catch them and eat them before I notice, heh heh!

This thread is hilarious! And has also made me feel much better about the stones/sand DD eats - not to mention her single minded determination to ingest the contents of the cats bowl!