How do I get my daughter stop biting her pencils?

[Ester Maria]

I know it sounds like a ridiculous question and a developmental phase she should have gone through a decade ago, but obviously she didn't - so how do I get my 13yo stop biting her pencils when she's reading, or working on something? It seems to be almost unconscious, they somehow end up in her mouth.

She also sometimes plays with caps of pens she's writing with and they, too, tend to end up in her mouth.

 

Nope, she's not hungry, and she knows it's unhealthy and we talked about it, but it seems to be a tic, involuntary movements which happen without her noticing it.

She doesn't bite other stuff (nails, books, whatever), only pencils and pen caps. It bothers me because it's both unhygienic and unaesthetic. It's not totally new, but it seems to have intensified in the past months.

 

Help. Thanks in advance.

[Garga]

Dog chewie?

 

No, I'm just being silly. My son is 7 and has the same problem, so I'm :bigear:.

 

I tried getting ds7 to chew gum when he got to nibbling on stuff, but for some reason he hates gum.

 

Maybe you could give her some sugarfree gum?

[Karen in CO]

I don't know. I know adults that do it - in meetings. Uck. Anyway. My dd cannot use a pencil that has an eraser or a mechanical pencil. She just has to take it apart. It drives me crazy. She'll spend a whole math lesson taking the pencil lead out of the pencil after every single problem. I switched her to professional quality sketching pencils - 2B right now. She gets one. She broke hers last week playing with it and is now using the broken stub until we can go to the art store so she can buy another one. I just got tired of replacing things that she destroyed. If she ever used one all the way until it was noticeably shorter, I might even replace it. But that has never happened. At least she can't pull the eraser out or take it apart. She even puts it away after school - the dog taught her that lesson. She actually used her last pencil since Christmas so I am considering it a huge improvement. Good luck with the biting.

[Laurie4b]

I know it sounds like a ridiculous question and a developmental phase she should have gone through a decade ago, but obviously she didn't - so how do I get my 13yo stop biting her pencils when she's reading, or working on something? It seems to be almost unconscious, they somehow end up in her mouth.

She also sometimes plays with caps of pens she's writing with and they, too, tend to end up in her mouth.

 

Nope, she's not hungry, and she knows it's unhealthy and we talked about it, but it seems to be a tic, involuntary movements which happen without her noticing it.

She doesn't bite other stuff (nails, books, whatever), only pencils and pen caps. It bothers me because it's both unhygienic and unaesthetic. It's not totally new, but it seems to have intensified in the past months.

 

Help. Thanks in advance.

 

Doing something orally aids concentration. If adults think carefully, they'll realize that they tend to do something oral like biting a lip, compressing lips, biting slightly on the tongue, etc. Michael Jordan used to stick his tongue out when shooting . Tobacco chew was popular with baseball players for the same reason, though they switched to gum when tobacco became stigmatized. The action in the outfield is sporadic so it's harder to concentrate than say basketball. So it makes total sense that pencils and pen caps are what she chews because that is what's around when she's concentrating. Additionally, biting hard on something is giving proprioceptive input to her neurological system. (This is input from your muscles and joints). It is an organizing influence on the neurological system. In other words, though you dislike it, your daughter has hit on a method that helps her concentrate and do her work. So it's not a baby thing she's doing--it's something that has a positive effect on her brain.

 

It sounds like the pencil/pen cap thing is a big pet peeve from your point of view, but not everyoneis as put off by it as you are. I don't know if that helps, knowing that. Chewing gum is a socially acceptable alternative, though, and is becoming more recommended by professionals for concentration.

Edited April 11, 2010 by Laurie4b

[Tap]

There are clear plastic tubes that you can get to put over the end of the pencil so she can chew and not get a toxic mouthful of paint.

 

There are also rubberized pencil caps that go over the eraser that are appropriate for chewing.

 

Chewing on pretzel sticks, carrot sticks, or other crunchy items may help.

 

 

I used to work with a chewer. I didn't care if she chewed on her own pens, but she would get ahold of mine. :glare: I was not so nice about it after the 10 time or so, asking her to leave mine alone. Picking up a pencil that someone has chewed on is like them putting a used piece of chewing gum in my hand...it just grosses me out!:ack2:

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Dog chewie?

 

 

:lol: Im sorry, I shouldnt laugh, but I just couldnt stop it. I did LOL right here in the living room! Yup, all by myself. WOW its late. I have to get to bed.

 

Sorry I really have nothing constructive to say, maybe gum? Or start pulling it out EVERYTIME maybe then she will be more aware?

 

Way past bedtime and I cant sleep

[Ester Maria]

There are clear plastic tubes that you can get to put over the end of the pencil so she can chew and not get a toxic mouthful of paint.

Wow, I had no idea things like that existed! :D Thanks.

 

I guess we'll try first with chewing gum and carrot sticks, then see if I need to purchase similar devices. I won't prevent her from chewing something if she needs it to concentrate, but I'd really like to get her chew something in a hygienic way then. We'll see how it works.

Thanks everyone for your replies and suggestions. :)

[LizzyBee]

Try having her chew gum.

[fivetails]

It's helping her concentrate & relax. I wouldn't make too big of a deal about it unless she's actually chewing pens/pencils that belong to *other people*, or spitting bits of it out everywhere. :tongue_smilie:

 

I'm a chewer. Never pencils, because I don't like the feel of the wood/etc, but I make a right mess out of my own pens & pen caps. [and other things sometimes]

 

If you REALLY really really can't stand to see her doing this... try offering her a sucker - not a plain little flat sucker, something big like a tootsie pop. Plain suckers break right away, but a tootsie pop provides a fair bit of 'chew time' before it cracks. I always take them to the movie theater in my purse. ;)

[athena1277]

I quit putting pens in my mouth when I had one explode in my mouth as a kid. Mouth full of blue ink. In the middle of class. Ewwww!

 

Ok, that may not help, but just thought i would share.:D

[Chris in VA]

Maybe you could transfer her chewing to something more acceptable, like gum, as mentioned, or one of the oral chewing tubes that OT folks have for sensory kids. I think--ooo--blanking out on her name--Laura in China? has her child use the tubes, which are worn like a necklace.

You could put bitter stuff on the pencils but let her chew the alternatives.

[Sputterduck]

I quit putting pens in my mouth when I had one explode in my mouth as a kid. Mouth full of blue ink. In the middle of class. Ewwww!

 

Ok, that may not help, but just thought i would share.:D

 

 

Ugh.

 

I did that, too. It was so embarrassing. I tried wiping out my mouth with paper. Bad memories. lol

[LindaOz]

My dd9 was doing this all the time. You could always tell which was her pencil - the one with the paint chewed off the end :tongue_smilie:

 

So, recently, dd11 decided to do something about it by rubbing chilli on the end of dd9's pencil (mind you, I did NOT know she was doing this). Each time dd9 chewed pencil, her mouth would burn. I felt sorry for her, but it actually did make her stop and think before putting the pencil in her mouth :)

[Laura Corin]

I would give her something else satisfying to chew until she goes through this phase. When she is at home, she could wear a chewy tube around her neck: both my boys have needed to wear then at various stages, then the phase passes and we move on.

 

Laura

[nd293]

If it's a habit that she is happy to break, but needs help doing, have her paint the ends with the stuff you use to stop biting your fingernails. It tastes revolting, and will end any unconscious pencil-biting.

 

Otherwise, I wouldn't fuss, unless she has to take a pencil out with her when she leaves the house! I used to bite on the end of a pen when I used one all day for work. I figure it was a nervous habit, like smoking, but far better for me. Out of that environment, it stopped automatically.

 

Perhaps you could give her something like a string of "worry beads" that she could hold and play with while reading? With me, it wasn't so much about biting on something as having something to do distract me, I think.