2 yr old boy... medical problem?

mummy2girls wrote: ok guys i have a 2 year old boy in my dayhome. And this child puts anything and everything in his mouth. He is my vacuum cleaner literally! I get really scared because if i drop a nail im vacuuming like a mad dog because if he finds it he will eat it. If it fits in his mouth he will eat it. im not even kidding guys!!!He will find foam crafts pieces and eat them, eat the ink from ink pads if he is given them for craft time. So needless to say he cant do crafts unless im right beside him. His mom gave him an 8 ball shaped car freshner to occupy him thinking nothing of it and he ate half of it and got violently ill. His mom found a piece of styrophone in his bedroom with bite marks in it One afternoon we were coming in from the back yard and the kids shoes were a bit mucked up. as i was getting the shoes off the younger ones this little boy picked up a shoe and started to lick it, I grabbed it away just as he liked one part and i had to hide the shoes. and then i turn around and see him licking his fingers where the dirt was on them he will eat rocks,sand, grass, leaves and anything on the ground which is scarey in itself! Im not sure what could cause a two year old to have the need to constantly be eating everything! food is one thing but things that are not edible.. BLAH! he even found a broken hair elsastic jenna broke and threw and this little boy put it in his mouth and tried eating and swallowing it. I grabbed him so fast and pryed his mouth open to get it out. im so scared to take raw meat out of the package because if a piece drops he will dive as it hits the floor and eat it... so needless to say he is banned from teh kitchen while im doing that. what do you guys think of this? i talked to the mom and she thinks its normal! me not so much!

booey2 replied: Sorry Shelley, not sure what to say. Thomas used to do this, not to that extreme but yes everything used to go into his mouth, he has outgrown it now, but we did have to pay close attention for a couple of years so he didn't put something in that was too dangerous.

My2Beauties replied: I would say normal if he were 12-15 months or so, but not 2 years old. I mean he should know better by now than to pick those sorts of things up and put them in his mouth. I mean at 2 Hanna could comprehend this type of thing. I don't know though.

mom21kid2dogs replied: We know a child who was alot like that but it was part of a whole implusive/tactile/oral thing. Although the oral thing let up some by about 5ish, she to this day (she's nearly 8) is way more oral than O (who really never put anything but food in her mouth). Last year I brought some glow sticks to a football game and this child immediately put hers in her mouth and started to chew it. This child also is EXTREMELY impulsive in some ways and must always be touching someting. Does he have other components other than the oral thing? Is he oral in other ways like biting or chewing things he shouldn't?

redchief replied: I truly don't know what to tell you. This is certainly abnormal behavior for a two year-old, and I can see how it would stress you out badly. How could you watch your other charges if you have to spend every moment making sure he doesn't eat the house? I wish I had some advice, but I really don't.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Yeah, sounds like a tactile issue to me. Almost like he has an undersensitivity (if that's the right word) to bad tastes. It would stress me out, but I wouldn't say anything to the mom as far as it being a personal issue. Maybe just tell her that you are concerned he may get hurt and to have her bring appropriate chewing things with him to your home (an air freshener is NOT one of them). Sounds like she should take him to an OT, but hopefully she will figure that out on her own.

Calimama replied: Is there something you can get him that IS safe for him to chew on? Good luck hun.. it sounds a bit frustrating.

mummy2girls replied:
he chews any toy he gets hands on... play food etc.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: PICA? lol

Boo&BugsMom replied: Doubtful it's PICA, although that was my first thought too. LOL Kids with PICA go out of their way to eat inedible objects. They throw tantrums if they can't get something they are after, chew on walls...it's VERY extreme...more extreme than this. You would notice something wasn't "mentally" right in a child with PICA and they would be after something 24/7. Does he chew on walls to get off paint? Chew on his plate when he's served food and try to eat it? Pick paint or wallpaper off the walls and eat it? PICA is more than just tasting and chewing...it's indigesting and eating things and going out of the way to eat those objects. PICA is hard to identify at this age too because a 2 year old has many qualities like this naturally (eating weird things and exploring their senses). He probably "knows better" but it doesn't mean that will stop him from exploring his senses. Some kids are just very oral. I've had a ton in the past, but then I've also had kids who aren't oral at all.

My question would be what do the parents do when he does this at home? Do they tell him no, do they discpline him when he puts stuff in his mouth? Many two year olds are very oral, Tanner was (he ate paste, glue, chewed on paper), BUT...if the parents do not curb the behavior at home the child will continue to put things in their mouth because they think it's still ok. Unfortunately this is somewhat normal behavior for this age, BUT...if it's allowed, the child will continue to do it.

I had a 2 year old in my childcare that found lint and fuzzies on the floor and stuck it in her ears and up her nose. Mom and dad NEVER scolded her for it so she continued to do it. It wasn't until she started coming to me and I started disciplining her for it here, that she stopped. Children have weird habits and strange fixations at this age. They do at all ages really. I would talk to mom and and dad to see what they do at home first and take it from there.

Boo&BugsMom replied: Oh...and I'm sorry, I have to ask this...what in the world would possess a mom to give her 2 year old a car freshener to keep him occupied????????? Duh!!!

mummy2girls replied:
- he actually injests the objects as well. rocks he will swallow and grass and sand as well. And he will also chew anything in front of him, toys, furniture( tables etc)

- no the mom just tells him take it out , and no. Nothing really else.

This morning he arrived and he went straight o the crayons my daughter was using and ate half a crayon. the mom was standing rigth there and didnt say anything

Boo&BugsMom replied:
Eek. Gosh Shelly....maybe he does have Pica??? Has the mom talked to the doctor about it or asked the boys ped anything about it?

ETA: I'm torn. One part of me thinks gosh that kid eats anything in front of him and there is something going on, but another part of me thinks mom is too leniant if all she does is say "take it out". Maybe a combo of both???

boyohboyohboy replied: jake is 21 months old, and he still puts all kinds of stuff in his mouth, he doesnt eat it, he eventually spits it out, but we found that the bigger deal we made of it, if we punished him, then he did it more..he also got to the point where he would find fuzzies on the floor or mulch from calebs shoes show it to us, then run away and put it in his mouth, just to get us to chase him..
he takes it out as soon as he sees we dont "care" and throws it in the sink..
but i dont think at the age of 2 it makes him abnormal to put things in his mouth.
maybe he is cutting teeth, does he chew everything? i know caleb was way behind in getting some of the larger teeth and chewed lots of things later in life....until the came in.