Help! So I have a five-year-old son that is constantly biting holes/ chewing on his shirts and not sure how to get him to stop. I throw away between 3-5 shirts every time I do laundry. Does anyone have any tricks, tips, or advice?
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It’s probably a oral sensory thing.You can buy chewies that they wear around the neck made from soft material to help with oral stimulation.Or soft chewy toys.I know how you feel my grandson does the same hence we buy the cheapest shirts we can find.
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my grandson does it alos i think its a depression thing
My son stopped doing this just recently. I just kept gently reminding him when I caught him in the act of doing so that we don’t chew on our clothes. I also, showed him how chewing on our clothes ruins them and he didn’t like how it stretched out his shirts from chewing so he stopped ( he’s very finicky on how his clothes fit)
I had a similar situation with my 6yo. He’d make holes in his socks, he’s not doing that anymore. He also was changing his clothes 3-4xs a day. He stopped doing it on his own.
My son did this and it was from his ADHD. He is 13 and still struggles with chewing on things. We let him chew gum and it helps.
My daughter did it alot, corners of blankets, her hair, toys, pencils wads of paper… She did it from About 4-8. She still bites on pencils occasionally but she grew out of it.
Get him a rubber band and turn his anxiety biting into popping a rubberband on his wrist
My son did this, also had ADHD. He stopped but I found that he started to bite his fingers on the side. He already had scars from being burnt on that hand (he fell into a brush fire at his dad’s) but I didn’t notice right away due to the previous scarring from the burns. Now he has scars from biting. Once I did notice we sat and talked about why he was doing it and it was literally when he’d get upset or angry he didn’t know how to release. We figured out a way to release and talked about the severity of him biting himself (he also sucks on his arm leaving hickeys). His adhd along with stress caused it. Find the reason why and try to tackle that issue and the biting will hopefully go away. That helped us thankfully. Also maybe offer gum to chew on and a stress ball to squeeze for anger, when upset, or overly excited.
My husband is 51 and he STILL chews on his clothes, pillows, comforters! I have noticed he does do it more often when he is stressed about something… Especially regarding our family. Not saying your son is stressed! 
Maybe he uses it as a comfort as some children suck their thumbs, have a blankie. If it’s concerning you to much, maybe take him to a therapist just to calm your mind
My son always has his hands in his mouth and my daughter likes to wring the hell out of her clothes so I bought them chewies and fidgeters.
My son used to do this with long sleeve shirts. Constantly chew on the sleeves when he was younger. I cut all the sleeves off his clothes. He stopped because he got mad that I kept cutting his clothes, I mean he was already putting holes in them so it didn’t make a difference to me. Now that he is older 14 he bites his lip, chews gum, or chews on a straw. It’s an anxious habit
ASD & ADHD trait, they don’t stop doing it sadly.
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Give him a plastic straw to chew on. Worked for mine
Chewlery. Just type it in on google. Something like this.
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Make him wear the tore and holey shirts my son did this and I finally made him wear them where they were ruined or not I did not buy him any new ones til he realized he would have to continually wear what he ruined
My son did the for years. He just eventually grew out of it. Drove me crazy too!
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My 12 year old still chews…
Some kids can’t help it. Adhd, sensory issues, anxiety, and more. Some kids do it when they are just nervous. Chewables help. They have tons of necklaces that are food grade silicone and safe for your kid to chew on. He will outgrow it.
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When I was little( about 5 or 6 ) I would chew on the sleeves of my winter coat,my mom ask me why I did it I said it tasted good, she changed laundry detergent and I quit.
My daughter doesn’t chew but, she wraps her fingers in her shirts and stretches all her tops. I notice she does it when she’s nervous about something. She also has a lot of anxiety. You may want to check into that.
I would get something like this it looks like a cool necklace but is a sensory chew toy
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Silicone necklace. So many shapes and colors. My daughter loved them. She put everything in her mouth. I got it when she was 3 and she stopped using it just a few months ago. She just turned 6.
I just think my kiddo was orally fixated. Cause she did EVERYTHING straight to the mouth
My son did this for a while after his dad and I separated but he eventually grew out of it
This is a sensory issue. My son has the same issue. You may want to look into sensory processing disorder to see if you notice any other traits relating to this. An occupational therapist can help you.
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I bought my son a 3 pack of chewy necklaces on Amazon for about 12 dollars
My son stopped when he accidentally chewed up a brand new shirt that he loved. He never noticed he was doing it until the shirt was ruined. Otherwise chewing gum. It got to the point even at school he was aloud to chew gum so he didn’t chew up his pencils. One day he was even chewing on a desk 
Gum !! My child’s teacher introduced him to gum and it worked !!
My son does this & he’s 13
That’s an anxiety disorder thing
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Sounds like anxiety of some sort. My daughter twirled her hair… so much so one entire half of her head had barely any hair - she was around 3, I had to take her to get a pixie cut to even it all out. She finally stopped after we had to cut her hair off, but now she’s a nail bitter.
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My son did this in kindergarten when he first started going to school and I bought a silicone necklace from amazon. He eventually grew out of it that year.
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My son did it and even now has a tendency to put things in his mouth when he is not paying attention. I used to tease him I was going to get him a puppy chew toy. I suspect it it some form of self soothing like thump sucking. Maybe gum would help. Ir some type or hard candy to suck on. I still just call him out on the shirt or ear bud cord when I see it in his mouth. He is 11 now.
Chewlery! Except my kid refused the Chewelah because she couldn’t bite through it. She wanted squishies for chewing. I’m like that doesn’t exist for like 36 reasons, including death. She’s found grosser things to chew on than her shirts since. 
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My sons 17, and still does it. I bought the chews for around his neck when he was younger, never worked… it’s stinks, but it’s a shitty habit
My 4 year old does this really bad, I have just bought him a sensory chew necklace and it’s been the best $22 (plus shipping) I’ve ever spent 
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They make those teething bibs that kind of look like handkerchiefs that have a rubber piece at the bottom. Maybe rig something like that up for him so he will chew on that instead. Also wouldn’t be a bad idea to talk to his doctor about possible anxiety
It can be a sensory processing thing. It’s a need to bite on cloth. You can buy sensory “teething rings” which can help, or I use muslins. I still chew most nightwear and my bathrobe though…
My son used to do this. Nothing worked for us. He did grow out of it though…
He’s teething, my son did that up until he was 11 years old. Their teeth hurt.
I swear this is a boy thing. Both of my sons did this too
It’s a sensory thing. Amazon has tons of chewlery, chew scarves, pencil toppers and hand held chewies.
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He is definitely anxious
My son does it some times hes almost 7. Its anxiety. He mostly does his in school or when he thinks hes in trouble. If hes not in trouble and he cant think. I tell him to go occupy his brain with something. Something he can do without thinking and he stops. His go tos used to be legos but hes been pishing away from then so were on the hunt for more brain builders. Yesterday it was puddle jumping with his brothers.( puddle jumping is where i wrote there abc and 123 and there kindergarten sightwords on construction paper thats there puddles. Im now expanding it to include his sight words and his addition and subtraction. Hell also learn to use it in a sentence sometimes. There color coded because a 3 and a 5 year old are playing aswell. My oldest has the ability to do them all all the colors can be drawn from his bucket) or playing tick tac toe or uno. I hope that helps.
My son did this at that same age. Holes in his shirt collars and sleeves. If he was at school he would sometimes move to pencils and then chew the metal tip by the eraser to the point where it came off and he would be chewing the metal alone…obviously dangerous! Chewing was where it started but then it progressed to impulse control…basically hitting other kids without provocation. We tried a LOT of thins to redirect or substitute behaviors. He is now 8. He was diagnosed as having ADHD (diagnosed at 5) and he takes a dose of meds that fits his needs but keeps him just as spunky, energetic, and funny as he always was. My husband and I were really hesitant to do medication…and we had to try different doses to find a good fit, but it was one of the best decisions for our son. He is more calm, but he is also able to fully engage in schooling, friends, sports, etc, because he isn’t so fixated on chewing and fidgeting. Every parent has to decide on their own…but this was what worked for us. Hang in there!!!
My son used to do this. It’s an anxiety thing. He was a little older so I gave him sugarless gum to chew on instead. Eventually he didn’t need the gum as much and hasn’t gone back to chewing on his shirts.
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Whenever he began to bite or chew give him his favorite fruit. Invest in keeping the child busy by drawing. It appears your child is bored. Help your child build with building blocks. Interact with the child and provide a safe environment for the child.
With my kids it’s due to their sdhd so when do it they usually are bored or stressed I find redirecting them works but I also have not found anything long term
Both my boys did this.
They grew out of it.
He needs therapy. He just might be autistic.
My son used to when he was little especially when he was anxious, eventually he stopped
My son did that for about a year at the same he grew out of it
My son did for the longest time. My husband and I told our son if he doesn’t quit that he won’t get any shirts and he doesn’t do it anymore.
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My son is 5 and does is too. We used a sensory chewing necklace it helped for a while but he would just chew through them too.
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Sounds like he’s A sensory seeker. I’d suggest getting him the proper help instead of this
This could be an anxiety/ nervous thing… it is for my son
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My son is 16 and still does this. So far gum is actually the only thing that has helped. His teachers allowed it during class all throughout elementary and up just to help with it.
Does he have Adhd or autism this is very common for them. Its a coping mechanism.
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My son did this all the time,for about 3 years. Then stopped
My son did this too. His pediatrician and occupational therapist suggested a chewy tube, it worked wonders saving his shirts!
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get a teething necklace for him.
My 5 year old grandson started doing this after wearing masks in school
I bought these shark tooth teething necklaces, it helped a lot cause they can wear it and just pick it up to chew
My GROWN ass 34 ur old husband does this and it drives me nutzzzz but he can’t help it so I just politely remind him to stop EATING his clothes 
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Let him go naked just joking
My son did this and grew out of it 
You can find info on chewlry. It is sensory chew necklaces. They come in different sizes and material.
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Spank him when you catch him doing it, sooner or later he’s bound to pay attention to what he’s doing and stop