In our family, my son still needs constant supervision, but there are some methods that we’ve tried over the last few months that seem to be working. You can also try to change, or at least manage, your child’s behaviour. In our home, I ensure that drawers and cupboards containing things like screws and batteries are secured with child safety locks, and always ensure that cleaning products are well out of reach of small hands. If your child does not have access to inedible things that can cause harm, they won’t be able to eat them. My first advice to parents like me, is to go to your closest DIY shop and buy as many locks as you need to! In fact, one of the best ways I found to manage the condition was to baby-proof my home the same way you’d do for a toddler. How I learned to manage pica behaviour with my child He says he knows they’re not tasty yet continues to crave them. It’s when the child simply likes eating these things that it’s harder to stop.įor my son, he doesn’t know why he likes to eat strange things. If there is a medical reason such as an iron deficiency, your doctor should be able to advise on supplements to stop the urge. If your child is eating things they shouldn’t, the first thing you should do is to take them to the GP to be checked out. For them, eating playdough, paper or chalk may relieve anxiety or stress.Īnother reason may be an iron deficiency or a parasite infection. The most common reason is that it’s a self-stimulatory act and the child simply enjoys the taste and texture of the item. There is no clear-cut answer why some children have pica. Luckily, the worst that’s happened so far has been constipation or vomiting but I know that things can get very serious if he eats the wrong thing one day.Īlthough pica can sometimes be harmless, a single episode of swallowing a sharp object such as a nail, broken glass, pin, battery or even very poisonous substances such as swimming pool chlorine tablets can be fatal and surgery may be needed. I’m constantly worried about him eating something poisonous or sharp. I have to limit his time outside so he doesn’t eat dirt and stones and I rarely go to the shops with him.
#Pica syndrome in autism full#
When he was officially diagnosed with pica and autism, I gave up work to care for him full time. We can’t have paintings on the wall because he will eat the paper and crafts are out of the question because I know he’ll try to eat the paint and crayons. I know that he would eat anything he could get his hands on if I let him and it’s exhausting. It’s hard because although he’s six now, he still needs constant supervision. As he’s grown, his interest in normal food has dwindled and he now only eats food of a certain colour and texture and often wants to eat things he shouldn’t. Things like bits of fluff, paper and playdough. My son was two when I started to notice him picking things up from the floor and eating them.
However, when you experience pica with your own child, you quickly realise it’s no laughing matter. Before knowing what it was, I remember ‘eating things’ was something I associated to pregnant women, or I laughed it off as something that’s was a bit funny – there is always a kid in cartoons eating a tub of glue, for example!
Pica is a psychological disorder where people eat non-edible things such as hair, paper, glass, soil, stones or chalk.
0 kommentar(er)
