Teaching kids to keep toys out of their mouths...

[kristin8888]

Ok ladies, I do daycare in my home and my cousin's daughter comes here. She will be 2 next month and every single toy she touches she puts in her mouth. Every time I see her doing this I tell her to take it out of her mouth and she listens. So she knows what I'm telling her but as soon as I turn around she's got another toy in her mouth. I don't know what to do to get her to stop. Please help!

[jessijo]

I also do daycare in my home and have a terrible time keeping toys out of my 3 yr old nephew's mouth. And he's that kid who always has a runny nose. I guess just keep telling her not to do that and maybe someday she will listen.

[kristin8888]

Bump!

[sharon]

Give her something she can suck or chew on. Peapods has chewable necklaces. Or theratubing can be cut into beads and put on a string. IME you can't get a kid to not need to put things in their mouths until they outgrow it - it's developmental - but you can teach them to put something more convenient or appropriate in their mouth. Gum works great once they are old enough, but I wouldn't start it that young.

[aprilandy]

Actually this is a develpmental stage that you don't want in interupt --it will go away on its own. This is how your child is learning at this stage -- you wouldn't want to stop her from learning. Making sure the daycare has appropriate items for putting in the mouth and a good practice for handling/monitoring toys that were in the mouth is important.

[angel22]

DD3 just turned 2 and she still puts a lot of things in her mouth. I am pretty sure a lot of it is just out of habit because all I have to say to her is, "Mouth" and she stops. When DD1 was a baby ANY time MIL saw DD put something in her mouth she would flick her mouth! Thank goodness we stopped seeing MIL for almost 2 years when DD1 was just 4 months old! When we had DD2 and started seeing MIL again she tried to stop DD2 from mouthing anything and I got all over her about that! Babies DO learn from mouthing things- by age 2 though they should start getting out of the habit.

[tiffythatsme]

Some kids just have higher oral needs. My daughter recently turned 3 and is still very oral. We've gone through several bouts of trying to get rid of the pacifier and it has only made things worse as then everything else goes in her mouth. Toys, fingers, clothing, blankets, food, etc. I'm not sure what the right answer is, but for now we've decided that the pacifier is better than some of the other things she's put in her mouth. We encourage her to keep it out as much as possible, but if she needs something in her mouth, I'd rather it be that than something she could choke on or destroy or food that would cause her to gain weight.

[apryllraye87]

Maybe thats why I never had this problem.. DS had his pacifier until he was 2 (way longer than I wanted him to have it) so I think by the time it was gone this stage had passed.

[kristin8888]

I do understand that that's How kids learn, but she's going to be 2 next month. I guess since I've posted this it has gotten a little better. I'm going to buy a few teething toys this weekend and give her those to chew on if she wants them.

[supermommy]

My ds1 is extremely oral too, he is now 3 and we took away the paci but he always has to have his fingers or shirt in his mouth, it drives me crazy....doc said the issue could resolve once we get his adenoids/tonsils out, i sure hope so! I agree though with providing something appropriate for her to chew on.

[aprilandy]

Children vary on when the lose the need to put things in their mouth as a way of experiencing their environment -- generally sometime between the age of 2-3 the need diminishes and then disappears.

As suggested above some children have higher oral needs than others -- but it does and will go away on its own as the child moves to the next developmental stage.