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Oral fixation & chewing on clothes

My 9 year old son has a serious oral fixation. He chews his fingernails, chews his toenails, picks his nose & eats it, eats the collars on his polo shirts (he doesn't just "chew" on them, he actually "eats" the material....& there is no collar left) & chews holes in all his t-shirts right below his chin. We can accept the nervous habit of chewing his nails, but no matter how much we try to get him to stop chewing his toenails & picking his nose & eating it, he seems to be doing it without realizing he's doing it. He chews & eats all the collars off the polo shirts he wears to school (all to his left side). I know it "could be" anxiety or stress-related, but does anyone know any other reason he may be doing this? The nails, toes, and nose issues have been around for several years, but the chewing on the shirts seems to have popped up within the past few years.
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973741 tn?1342342773
Hi there. Several sources of these items on line.  Therapy Shoppe is one place I've ordered from.  Any type of therapy supply site for occupational therapy would have them.  

http://www.therapyshoppe.com/therapy/

http://www.therapro.com/Default.aspx

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!!
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Avatar universal
Where would one find the special chewing things for kids you spoke of?
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973741 tn?1342342773
Hi.  My son chews and ***** on clothing as well.  He does it as a self soothing thing as he has sensory integration disorder.  

What we do to combat it is to first, look for ways to help the overall nervous system remain calm.  We call this regulated.  Physical activity is one of the best ways to do it---  heavy muscle work.  And man kids respond well to deep pressure.  I have many ideas for this if you are interested or you could google occupational therapy and 'heavy work'. The sensory processing disorder (SPD) website has lots of heavy work ideas for kids and over active nervous systems.  

We then work on stress---  looking for triggers.  Some kids chew to self soothe and some kids chew to stay alert.  I'd start logging when you see him do it and what is going on.  For my boy--  it seems like both.

so, one of the main things we do is transfer the behavior to something more acceptable.  They sell things for kids like your son and mine.  We've had these hard rubber p's and q's, some  are smooth and some are textured and they are made specifically for chewing.  They make things you put around the wrist, beaded bracelets and knecklaces as well that are also meant for chewing.  A simple straw cut in half or a coffee stirrer works.  They make things that go on the end of pencils and some even vibrate.  The sensation of that is very soothing for some kids.  

Snacks given frequently that are super chewy also are excellent.  At home, give him thick pieces of bubble gum.  

I'm assuming from what you've written that his collars get ruined with the chewing and not that he is purposely eating them to digest them.  That's different.  But chewing and destroying the garment from the act of chewing is something that we've overcome in our home.  
good luck
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134578 tn?1693250592
I would speak with a children's therapist.  It probably isn't something that can be solved by knowing a reason.  It certainly sounds like an obsessive habit, but in your shoes I wouldn't try home diagnosis, I'd talk to a pro.
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