3.5 yo., is this normal?

luckyluvr

Is it normal for a 3.5 yo. to STILL put everything in their mouth? DS is not behind developmentally in any way, but we cannot keep anything from his mouth. It's disgusting at this point.

meghans30

I have a 3 yo and he does not put things in his mouth. I no longer worry about little lego pieces and such laying around. He may have a sensory issue, I am not expert on that, but I would say it is probably not normal for him to be mouthing things at this developmental age. Probably not a huge issue though.

buffalo_buckeye

I think so. A friend of mine has a dd who just turned 4 and she is right on target or ahead developmentally, but she is constantly sick bc she is always putting stuff in her mouth. She even had the pedi give her dd a talk about it bc it is such a problem.

CTFandme

my son will be 4 in a few weeks and he still puts stuff in his mouth.  I think he does it because his little sister does it and he gets attention.  Both of my kids like to suck on kleenex and tp. I don't get it. It drives me nuts!!!   It started when they were young and I'd wipe their faces with wet paper towel. They'd ask to suck on it and now they do it all the time.  I'm not entirely worried...yet...

jettagurl

B is 4.5 and still does occasionally....he always has.  N is 3 and never has.  

I think it's more the personality/individual thing rather than solely a developmental thing.

 

lizard76

My 4 y.o. was never one to put much in his mouth and we stopped worrying about him putting small things in his mouth somewhere between 2 and 3 (I don't quite remember).

Heidisean

By 18 months you should no longer see a baby putting toys in their mouth. That is the age that is on our developmental tests that we use for Early Intervention.

My dd never liked anything in her mouth other than a pacifier which she used all the time!

ilovemygirls

My youngest who is around that age doesn't do it, but I seem to recall that my oldest licked things FOREVER.  Looonnnggg past what I thought was 'normal' (and, btw, she is a typically developing child).  It was disgusting- I caught her licking windows & such.  It eventually went away, but I don't exactly remember when. 

MrsHadley

My 3.5 year old does, not in like a he-might-choke kind of way but more a I-like-to-chew-on-stuff way.  I started giving him gum when we're out so he isn't chewing on random stuff, and it has really helped.  I remember doing it as a kid too so I feel for them:)