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chewing
Hi Diana,
I've read that chewing helps kids concentrate (as illustrated by kids who chew their athletic shirts!) ... so the fabric chewing may be a way to relieve stress or a way to concentrate or both.
When responding to a habit we want our kids to break, it's important to accentuate the positive ... so we want to reinforce positive behavior rather than punishing negative behavior.
If you think the idea of chewing gum might be a good transition to breaking this behavior, when your son chews gum rather than his shirt, give him lots of verbal positive reinforcement.
Also talking with him about stress and giving him ways to work with stress might be a good idea. As adults, sometimes we don't realize how much kids experience stress. My son used to grind his teeth at night ... I could hear him and I knew it was his response to feeling stressed.
What are some ways you deal with stress?
What are some ways we can help our kids to deal with stress?
Let's brainstorm a list ~
talk with a friend
take a walk or a run
what are your ideas?
Nancy
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