Singersgirl - can I ask a question about clothes chewing!

[sphil]

You mentioned on a thread a while back that your DS goes through phases of chewing his clothes and you think it may be related to a food intolerance. DS1 has just started doing the same and I wondered if you could tell me which foods set your DS off?

I also wondered if it could be to do with teeth - DS1 has just started losing his (quite late, he's 6.5) and the chewing seems to have coincided with this.

It could also be an anxiety thing - he's been much stroppier than usual lately.

my boys were sleeve and collar chewers at that age. I put it down to boredom. I sprayed their cuffs and collars with bitterbite which you get from pet shops to stop puppies chewing. It works really well.

Sorry to butt in on here but have you thought that it could be a sensory issue?
Ds has ASD and chews his clothes to bits. Especially round the collars of tshirts.
He costs me a fortune! He especially does it when his teeth are falling out or coming through.

Ah well this could be it. DS1 has odd traits of AS/dyspraxia tho no dx - but has never had sensory issues before apart from a fear of noises which has now more or less resolved itself.

I wonder if I should get him something else to chew? He is also chewing toys - particularly his Bionicles!

Meant to say - we have months on end when he appears more or less NT, and then a few weeks of AS-ness. He is def in an AS phase atm.

My ASD boy also has fads of chewing.

The worst period we had did coincide with his back teeth coming through. He is just 7 and has only lost 2 baby teeth so far. He has sensory issues in a "teething" fashion when his teeth move according to our dentist.

He came home with his third tooth wrapped in a tissue today - said it had fallen out while he was chewing his coat sleeve!

Ooh, me! How exciting!

DS1 was a terrible chewer up until 5 and 6, and, at 9, is still more 'mouthy' (probably in all senses) than most children. Lots of things set him off, but it's usually a build up that we notice.

I try to avoid all artificial colourings, artificial preservatives, artificial sweetener and flavour enhancers, and his diet is supposedly low in salicylates - in most fruits and vegetables. I say supposedly because it is very easy to lapse with this, and very hard not to. So this weekend past, for various reasons, he had pizza out, dim sum, Cadbury Mini Eggs (a gift) and a Coke (DH being indulgent ) and I notice that this week he has a streaming nose (also one of his reactions) and keeps chewing his coat collar. He also can't sleep or concentrate.

This Australian website is fantastic if you think food may be an issue. Lots of DS1's behaviours and physical stuff clears up on a 'clean' diet, but it is incredibly difficult to do.

He definitely has some dyspraxic/ADHD tendencies and is slightly 'eccentric' - not massively, I think, but a bit oddball.

He is a sensory-seeking child, and does a lot of twirling and twittering - he has to touch everything and can't sit still.

Sorry, that was long enough, but I meant to add that, even with an elimination diet (which we did when he was 5), it is really hard to isolate food related behaviour. Tiredness, rows with friends, illness, can all have similar effects.

What I also meant to say was that it is definitely sensory-seeking, but that his need for sensory input goes up when he is not eating the right stuff.

Thanks Singersgirl! All this makes sense where DS1 is concerned - he also has sleep problems from time to time. His concentration is never brilliant but has been very off recently (so that even he's been saying his brain has gone 'flitty'). He had more sweets than usual at weekend (MIL's visit) but we've also just put him on a probiotic supplement to try to sort out gut issues (on the advice of a nutritionist) and I wonder whether this is having an effect too. I'll look at that website now.