I received an email from Angela who has a 5 year old cousin with Down syndrome. Angela refers to her cousin as ‘amazing and her whole world. ‘
Angela says that her cousin recently started chewing on his fingers to the point that they bleed.
She’s wondering if anyone else has experienced this with one of their kids, and if so, what did you do to stop it? Angela’s tried bandaids, but they just get chewed through.
Maybe we could all put our heads together and come up with some ideas for Angela?
You can also find Tammy and Parker hanging out at their other blog, Praying For Parker and on Twitter where they are known as @ParkerMama.
I am the mother of 5 wonderful kids. My youngest, Parker, is a medically fragile blessing with Down's Syndrome. I am @ParkerMama on Twitter.
You may have already tried this, but the first thing that comes to my mind is offering him something else to chew on. Have a few really good oral stimulation toys on hand and every time you see him chewing his fingers offer him a more appropriate option instead. If the focus becomes the positive replacement maybe he will soon forget all about his fingers…
My 3 yr old has chewed on her thumb since the day she discovered it as a baby. Luckily in her case she has developed lots of callouses on that finger to protect it. I asked her speech therapist once for some replacement ideas and she suggested really stale red vine licorice. You could give that a try – although all the constant sugar on his teeth might lead to worse problems. Good luck. I hope someone out thre has a great solution.
Find bloggers whose children have sensory disorders and or autism to get more recommendations. A good resource is Ecki at Opposite Kids. Also, the mother might want to consult a physician.
My five year old daughter with Down syndrome has been chewing her fingers (and toes!) as well, I’d love advice on this too! She refuses other chewy things and only stops with CONSTANT reminders.
What about putting something that tastes bad on the fingers? That’s how my mom stopped me from chewing my nails and cuticles.
My son chews on his arms (wrist area) he does it when he’s bored. We placed sweat bands, they’re sold in the sport goods areas of the store. This protected his arms from getting marred up & he’d bite & ping them on his arm. Maybe you can try that to move the biting or try gloves. It’s not a permanent solution but the fuzz from the gloves doesn’t exactly taste good either. good luck! If you find a solution for grinding teeth, I’d LOVE to hear that one!
HI im pablo and i chew on my fingers (all my fingers)and i would want a way to stop eating my skin from my fingers.ialways cover my fingers because,i don’t want my mom to see that i’m chewing my fingers,soplease help me find a way to stop chewing fingers