does your 4 year old put things in their mouth??

DevonPow

DS is driving me CRAZY. The last month or so it is like he is a teething infant - EVERYTHING is in his mouth. Toys, his hands, he sucks on his shirt sleeves or the bottom of his shirt (gross). I found jacks in his mouth today...I'm getting worried he is going to accidentally swallow/choke on something. I don't get it, anyone else's older kid suddenly go through this phase? He can't tell me why he is doing it, just that he "likes it", and I am getting really sick of telling him to take things out of his mouth 2000 times a day.

ridesbuttons

Sorry, no.  We do have 60 days before he turns four though, so who really knows?  lol.

IDK, stay the course: things don't go in your mouth, etc.

Sometimes parenting is just a grind.

jettagurl

YES!

Said child has also swallowed a dime and a penny, both of which needed to be removed in an OR. 

It's not daily anymore, but he's always done this.  I tell him to take it out of his mouth, then ask him what things are allowed in his mouth (food & drinks).  

One day, I pray, I am no longer a broken record.

 

ridesbuttons

^^^

1st child swallow a quarter, you call the ER and get an X-ray.

2nd child swallows a quarter: you wait for it to pass.

3rd child swallows a quarter, you deduct it from his allowance.

Probably doesn't help any.  My first born got the third born treatment.  I'm a terrible mom. 

lizard76

Nope, but he never really did once he got past teething.

jettagurl

ridesbuttons:

^^^

1st child swallow a quarter, you call the ER and get an X-ray.

2nd child swallows a quarter: you wait for it to pass.

3rd child swallows a quarter, you deduct it from his allowance.

Probably doesn't help any.  My first born got the third born treatment.  I'm a terrible mom. 

The first time, we didn't know he'd swallowed anything  (10ish months old).  Found by x-ray, lodged vertically in his airway.  We don't know how long it had been there, but was discolored when it was removed. VERY lucky it didn't shift. We were told he has an abnormally small airway. 

2nd time, he put something in his mouth and it 'fell' to the back.  He fessed up, I packed everyone up (last August) and headed for the pedi.  Stopped by the radiology on our way. Lodged vertically again.  Back to children's hospital for it to be removed by anass of a dr. "At $10K a clip, don't ya think you should keep him from doing this again?"  Cheers - due to our income they wrote off our portion.  

Anyhow, letting it pass would have never happened.

 

 

josie402

DS has just started doing this too...I ask him why and he says he needs or wants to. He never used to chew on things so I don't know where it's coming from. I keep hoping it's a phase that will pass soon.

passar3588

Yes, my DD is 4.5 and she goes through phases where she does that. She swallowed a nickel a few weeks ago. She put in her mouth and then swallowed it while dancing and jumping up and down on her bed. It required a 3 hour trip to the ER. It was really terrifying when it first happened because she was so scared.

That incident really scared her because I haven't seen her put anything in her mouth since except for the occasional sleeve from her shirt!

Just tell your son what happened to my DD, the ER is not a fun place to be on a Monday night!

RobinSparkles214

My DS just starting doing this when he started pre-school, and it is driving me nuts. It grosses me out so much. I am always telling him to stop putting his hands/action figures/random crap in his mouth.

Just typing it out makes me shudder. So gross. I hope it passes soon.

cokt

OMG, yes! He is only 3 1/2 and has just started doing this in the last couple of months. It is seriously driving me insane. He is constantly sucking on his fingers, shirt or whatever else. Gross. He has also gotten sick more this season than any other. Wonder why? He seriously might as well just lick the floor wherever we go because he puts everything in his mouth. He never used to do this, seriously not since he was a tiny baby so I don't know what is going on. At least he isn't the only one...He also can't tell me why he does it and when I tell him not to he says, "OK, I will stop." and then 2 seconds later has something in his mouth.