Our youngest had a very challenging habit, he was a chewer. Not only a chewer but EVERYTHING he could put in his mouth went in his mouth! He was very sensory driven that way. To this day (at almost 15 years old) he still likes to chew but limits it to mostly gum now, however straws are high on his list when he doesn’t have gum.
Anyways, he would chew and lick and eat nearly anything including rocks. He was sick often and though this seems like the likely contributor, it actually was still food that made him sick the most. He needed a lot of sensory input for his mouth and though he had a lot of raw vegetables to help with that, it wasn’t enough for him. He DESTROYED so many shirts and metal coat zippers it was crazy!! If he could bite it, he would chew it.
So through research I found a website that REALLY helped. Though I don’t remember exactly what that website was back then. When I bought for my youngest I bought quite a few because I knew how much he chewed. The day they came in my oldest really loved them as well, so they each had their own “chewy” which save me so much of clothing costs!
Some of the things we got were the lanyards and bracelets. The lanyards were by far the best investment and I would definitely highly recommend them. I am still trying to figure out how to do the affiliate links so when I do get it sorted I will be putting the links here for the kind I had gotten.
To this day, at nearly 15 years old he still needs to chew on things! He really loves his gum and it doesn’t matter what kind, as long as he can chew. Otherwise straws are a big thing and toothpicks work too. It is so wonderful to see how God has created everyone so different.
Psalm 139:13-14 “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”