Hi There,

This is interesting to me because kids may react to stress in this way and although you and I might think there is no stress to cause this, he may have different stressors than you and I.

My daughter was pulling her hair out due to stress and it took a while to find the stressors. They ended up being things that I never would have guessed.

You may want to try and make sure he has chew toys all the times. I know it sounds weird, but try keeping a bag of kid friendly chew tos and offer them to him when you see he is about to bite something he shouldn't.

I'm always around if you want to talk. Hope it gets better soon. I know how frustrating it can be.

Tammy

If it is a problem that seems to interfer with day to day living, I would take him to see a therapist. Seek one that deals with cognitive behavior.

It is interesting the way this sort of thing works (this goes for nail bitting, chewing, hair pulling, skin picking and that sort of stuff) It starts out as a way of soothing ourself when something is stressing us out then it forms into a habit. So if this has been going on for a while he may be doing it at times of stress, but also out of boredem, like when he watches T.V. or when he is laying in bed about to fall asleep, while reading or sitting on the toilet. I know it sounds strange, but it's true.

A therapist can help re-trein his brain how to react to in different situations and how he can become more aware of when he is chewing.

My daughter has trichotillimania, she pulls her hair out. We have had great success with therapy. I suggest getting someone that is trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) She has taken responsibility for hair pulling and made great effort to stop. There are a few things that need to fall into place before change can happen. Your son has to want to stop the chewing and his family/support system has to want him to stop. He should never get in trouble for chewing, this is something that he has no way of controling at the moment.

With my daughter and her pulling, I would gently remind her to use her tools. (breathing and talking to herself) The first thing she is to do is tell herself that everything is ok, mommy is right here or mommy will be picking me up from school soon. (we found out through therapy that my daughter has severe seperation anxiety. I would have never figured it out on my own. I just thought she didn't like school) if that tool didn't work for her she would use her bag of tools. These are things that she can fiddle with, play=doh, squishy toys, rubber balls, rubber bands, anything that she liked the feel of in her hands. Sometime just the act of me gently reminding her that there was no need to pull her hair was enough.

I hope that helps a little. I would love to hear more about how you move forward with this. Keep us posted please :)

Tammy