Why does my son eat crayons

It was one of those photo frames that you put on the fridge. It looked like somebody had spat out a hamburger. It was in pieces. What was that like? A parade of medical students and doctors came to see him because it was so unique. What exactly is sensory processing disorder, and how is it related? People actually have seven senses. One is the equilibrium of your balance, another is the feeling of where you are in space — how close I am to things. My son could not feel where he was, so he would run into walls on purpose just so he could feel.

He would react to touch. He loved swinging; he would swing for a good hour. As an adult, you learn how to get control of it. He loses any sense of personal space when he starts having his problems. If he has a bad night, he asks for this really heavy blanket to put on his body to calm down. He craves being touched. He wants to be held all the time. He craves that feeling of being smothered.

Being smothered is a feeling he craves. So the normal response is to ignore it, I think. How do you manage it on your own? What sort of things is he likely to eat, and what situations do you have to avoid? For example, he eats his shirts, so his clothes are covered in holes. You know how cigarette smokers get holes on their shirts because they ash on themselves? You can imagine what his shirts look like. He finds alternatives: He chews the collars of his shirts.

We have a Kleenex procedure. I have to control his toys. Yesterday, he was lying on the couch and I was working on my computer. His Wii remotes are all chewed up. We often have to replace remote controls because he eats the buttons. He eats the whole pencil, so thank goodness they no longer make them with lead. That really alarmed me. The box. The wrappers. The straws. The lids. The toys. Thank God, the toys are plastic. When he goes to birthday parties, they love to give those little goody bags.

For instance, plastic toys. That must be tough for a 9-year-old. How does he cope? Well, we worked out a plan: Instead of gifts, we ask for donations to the Brookfield Zoo. He loves animals. And we use the donations to adopt an animal. When you do that, the zoo will send a soft stuffed-animal toy as a thank-you. He loves stuffed animals, and he can chew on them safely.

I only know what he does with them because sometimes I see him with the toys in his mouth. But interestingly, I think he regards them as friends, so he kind of spares them. Those toys just might be his best friends. When it comes to schoolwork, there are challenges. He eats crayons, lots of kids do, but he really gets into them. I have to replace them all the time.

What To Do If your child is choking on crayons, call right away. Poison Information Toxicity Level. Minimally toxic. Also Known As. What It Is. Eating crayons can cause an episode of vomiting, diarrhea, or choking. What To Do. Eye Exposure. Not Finding What You Need? Have Urgent Questions? So the behavior isn't usually considered a disorder unless a child is older than 2. Pica usually improves as kids get older.

But for people with developmental or mental health concerns, it can still be a problem later in life. Doctors can help parents manage and stop pica-related behaviors.

For example, they can work with parents on ways to prevent kids from getting the non-food things they eat. They may recommend childproof locks and high shelving to keep items out of reach. Some kids with pica need help from a psychologist or other mental health professional. If these treatments do not work, doctors can also prescribe medicines.

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