Chewing everything. Do the 'chew toys' work?

[WaftyCrank]

My DS is 4 and as the title says he chews everything. He has ASD traits but no diagnosis yet as his paediatrician wants to see if he outgrows them.
It's mainly when he's at home and watching tv so I think he does it without realising however he also does it for comfort.
His mouth has constant eczema round it from the spit and he's starting to ruin other people's things.
He's chewed the wire for the controller for DH's Xbox and ruined it. As annoying as it is to replace, I'm more worried about him getting hold something dangerous. He'll even chew the window seals on the bus.

So my question is has anyone found any ways to encourage them to stop? I don't want to tell him off as it's a sensory problem but it's starting to wear me down a little. I do ask him to take things out of his mouth when I see him doing it but it's soon back in. He doesn't do it as much at school as his mind is usually occupied with other things but he does chew his clothes.

Do those 'chew toys' work? Has anyone found them successful in that they focus their chewing on them and not other things? I don't really want to call them that as it reminds me of a dog toy however that's what they seem to be called online. They're quite expensive so I'm reluctant to shell out if they don't tend to work however I am willing to try anything!

TIA

Hi Wafty
Just like me writing that!
My eldest boy chews literally everything, even the dog toys...we've lost £20 notes, mobile phones, wires, clothes, lumps of wood (for the log burner)...you name it, he chews it! I find lumps of chewed up paper and cardboard all over his walls and ceiling too!
You're right it is sensory and he does it mostly when he's watching TV...with Fragile X Syndrome they all do it (Youngest trends to grind his teeth)...
Don't know how you'd fell about it but I give mine chewing gum, they've had it since they were young (they're now 13 and 14)
The chewy toys I bought once but were expensive and he lost them within minutes. Just as easy to get a small rubber doggie toy and leave it by the tv!

I do know of someone who used thick plastic straws for their FXS daughter, just make sure the other end is not so long he can put it in his ear and blow (they learnt that the hard way!)
Does he chew his fingers/back of his hand?

A boy I worked with had these. They were indestructable. His mum (home based program) bought about 10. Most were at home and one was tied to the buggy, so he couldn't loose it.

He learnt very quickly what was ok to chew and what was not, we just swapped anything he chewed with a tube as soon as it went near his mouth.

They are a good size for small hands and have a great level of resistance to be satisfying (that sounds bizzare!!)

Also, you can get them for [[http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/230689088389?var=lv

They look the same as what I bought Blue but eldest just threw them and they were lost in the house somewhere! Found one of them once and gave it to him but he lost it again! I gave up then haha

Yes he chews his fingers and the collar of his clothes. I spoke to his teacher this morning and he rarely chews things there, he will put things in his mouth but they just ask him to take it out.

Those are the things I was looking at and I've shown him them and said if he has one he can chew that and not his things and he seemed quite happy with it.

DH thinks it's a bad idea though and will encourage the chewing so I'm unsure what to do.

Yes the chew toys work. Ime, anyway.

I think the judgement call is whether to hold out on the point of principle (ie they shouldn't be chewing anything so need to focus on stopping it) and when to be practical (ie stopping them chewing is a HUGE job, and meanwhile let's get them chewing the least destructive thing we can). DD1 is very low functioning and tbh though she stopped the chewing in the end she got bored rather than anything we did. And meantime switching to the chew was much better than chewing her hands. But it's a different decision for every child.

We didn't use specific chew toys, we used baby teething rings, but not the poncey sort you get in the UK, I found some small tough rubber ones in the supermarket in France. A couple of Euro each and take ages to be destroyed.

To stop DD1 losing it (she has no concept of object permanance so it's impossible to imagine doing this any other way) we attached the chew to her clothes. Bought a small karabiner clip from an outdoors shop (they sell them as keyrings near to the till in most places), got a length of ribbon, about 1.5m, and the chew toy. Tied the chew toy to one end of the ribbon and the karabiner to the other. The karabiner clips to the belt loop at the back of DD1's jeans and the ribbon runs up inside the back of her t-shirt and out through the neck. Then it hangs down over her shoulder so she can grab the chew whenever she wants.

An alternative would be to put it on one of those belt-clip keyrings with the extending cords on.

Yes they do work. My DS is 2.6 and not diagnosed with anything yet other than expressive speech delay but I am pretty sure he has ASD traits at least (very delayed speech, sensory issues etc). He chews his toys, clothes and shoes all the time and I have got him some chewies to get him off that, (realising after a long fight that I just cannot stop him chewing completely at present). When he starts chewing shoes etc we tell him to get his chewie, or hand it to him, and it works (at least the chewie is washable and clean!). I use these ones (called chew noodles), only I cut off the clip. I have bought about 12 as heaven knows where they all go (they are like socks in the washing machine!)

www.specialneedstoys.com/uk/search.php?orderby=position&orderway=desc&search_query=chew+noodle&submit_search=SEARCH

I guess it depends on the age/independence of thought/level of understanding. The boy I worked with was young (6) and severely autistic and we (family or volunteers) were with him for every waking moment (he was doing a full-time son-rise program) swapping objects for chewy tubes every time even if he threw the chewy away so he learnt that chewy tubes were the only option.

You couldn't do that as easily with an older or more able child.