Obsessive eating of weird items

[charxivy]

Hi,

My LO has not long turned 2 and over the past year I have noticed her eating weird items such as paper, magazines, tissue, cardboard, ice etc...

Over the last few months I have found that it has gotten a lot worse I don't allow her to eat these items but when she gets her hands on it she will hide and do it, she asks to go the toilet to see if she can get tissue and she has now gotten that bad that when she has been left to play with a jigsaw I have come back to her having eaten some of it...

I've read online that it could be something called PICA or maybe an iron deficiency, she's also never really been a big eater she never seems to have an appetite and I've only seen her finish a meal once.

I'm just wondering if anyone has experienced this or has any knowledge on it as I feel silly going to a doctors about it..

Mine did this, it can be a sensory thing or iron deficiency - might be worth getting doctor to run an iron test.

Yes, sounds like pica. I'd take her to the GP. They will have seen much stranger things!

Does she have any other issues/problems? Is she developing normally? I'm sure the GP could do blood tests to check for vitamin deficiencies.

Take her to the GP and dont let them fob you off with a phase.

Agree with Gamerchick. If her appetite is poor and she's been eating non-food for a year, this is more a than a phase. Good luck.

i used to do that. Still get the urge sometimes (bath sponges)
Theres nothing that a doctor could have done.

As a pp I also did this a lot- paper and bath sponges for me. It was pica strongly linked to anaemia.