teething, cavities or habit? finger chewing

SallyAnneS

Ds is almost 3 and for the past few weeks he is constantly chewing on his fingers. There aren't new teeth that come in around 3 y.o. right? Why would he start chewing on his fingers all the time? Tonight after dinner I even gave him a wet wash cloth to chew on to help with whatever his need is. My first thought after teething is maybe cavities. Can you get them at his age? Or could  he just be all of a sudden getting a new soothing technique?

I have a dentist appt for myself in a couple weeks, I am going to ask about it when I am there as well. And get him scheduled for a checkup himself. If he lets them look in his mouth. lol

lyingliarlies

has he been sick recently?  DS has just started this in the past couple of weeks & i'm trying to distract him to make him stop before it becomes habit. he's getting over 3 weeks of a cold & then double ear infection so i think the referred pain caused him to chew on his fingers to kind of relieve the pain.  he's the same age as your LO OP (within just a few weeks) so i thought we were well past this too! it's definitely not teething, he's had them all in for a very long time.

SallyAnneS

ExpectantSteelerFan said:

Is he doing it at certain times?
I've noticed my ds will end up chewing on ANYTHING when he is zoning out watching tv.  He once accidentally ruined a measuring spoon by chewing it out of shape without even realizing it.  He KNOWS not to put things in his mouth, but if he's watching something and holding something, it ends up in his mouth.  If you tell him to stop, he does, but 10 seconds later he's doing it again, so I've learned just to take stuff off of him, or give him something I don't care if he chews on (he has a water cup with a hard plastic straw, and I let him chew on that).  He sometimes does it to his fingers too.

Yes, it is more so when watching tv, reading with me or in the car. And I don't think he realizes he is doing it either. He will stop if I ask him to but then he will start again. Sometimes I notice he will get his hand half way to his mouth and then realize what he is about to do and stop.

I didn't expect a new soothing habit now. I figured him not being a thumb sucker/finger chewer as a baby meant I was home free from this! I guess not. 

magentawarped

DD chews her fingers. I fully blame my H because he chews his. I'm trying to break both of them of it at the same time...so much fun.