4yo still putting everything in his mouth

[SparkyMcSparrow]

Ds currently has sores on the corners where he has been poorly. I have some cream, but its only really become apparent to me in the last few weeks how much he does it.

We were on the bus the other day and he picked up a ticket and promptly started chewing on the corner. He chews his bears/toys, always has his fingers in his mouth, and he chews clothes (sleeves,neck,coat). We were shopping today and he started chewing the corner of packaging

I think Iv'e only really noticed now because I have cream for his sores and I am constantly telling him not to put things in his mouth either that or I am a terrible mother. Its a problem now.

I have asked him about his teeth. They are fine, dentist has said the same on visits.

Anyone got any advice on what could be causing it, or if its a habit how I break it?
The words 'don't put that in your mouth' are getting boring and are not working!

Sorry no advice for you but my ds, aged 7, is the same. He has always mouthed everything other than food since a baby. We are so used to it we dont really notice it except when we look at photos and he has something in his mouth in every photo. also all his clothes have holes in them not just cuffs and necks but knees, shoulders, chests etc and all toys chewed.

His 2 younger siblings have never put anything in their mouths. Wish he had sucked his thumb. I have never kept saying stop as I always thought that would make him do it all the more but no advice on stopping it. School have had no success as a new school sweat can be covered in holes in just one day. I think his teacher tells him to stop.

My DS is in pain and has medical problems so I guess our focus is on these and if it gives him comfort to mouth things then so be it. I am sure he wont do it in public as an adult. He is extremely intelligent but seems late emotionally if you were wondering if he had delayed development.

How is his speech?
My ds is 7 and does this (but has severe language delay plus other things), in his case I think he needs the sensory stimulation in his mouth, he has weak jaw and tongue muscles.

presume you mean OP and not me. My DS has great speech, sentences at 18 months and always been commented on as fantastic by everyone. Strange now you raise this as he must take things out of his mouth to speak!

In our case I think my DS may have been in pain since birth and uses mouthing as a comfort, he certainly has a diagnosis now confirming that he is in pain. He was never really been able to explain that he was in pain as he knew no different and just showed it in anger.

Thanks for replying.
I've tried not saying anything but it doesn't work, he just carries on chewing.
Ds is a thumbsucker, but only when he is tired and he has his bear.
It not a really major problem, but I think because of his face being sore, I can't seem to make him understand that he needs to stop for it to get better :(

Also what worries me is that its going to make him ill. I'm not one for dettoling everything asap, i'm quite happy for him to roll around in the mud if he wants to (occasionally!) but picking things of the street and then shoving them in his mouth is making me nervous. He did it with a tennis ball he found in the park the other day, more than likely a dogs tennis ball

time Speech is fine, always been a brilliant speaker. Can't ever shut him up

No other development problems or pain. I think he's quite smart though but not overly, knows the alphabet/count to 50/recognise names and places etc.
But then I don't really know for sure as I only have him not really alot to compare as he has friends of all ages.
He starts school in sep!

I never really thought about the germs because he has always done it with absolutely everything but the scariest thing for me was when he got a small ball stuck in his mouth aged about 4 or 5, it filled his whole mouth. I did manage to get it out without going to A & E but dont have any small balls in the house now.

Bumping!
Anyone got any ideas?

The more I think about it the more I think its just habit. How do you brak a habit?

*break