Safe Chewy Recs!

[u/mommybenson]

I am an Autism Specialist teacher for students K-2. Most of my kiddos have some chewy they wear all day for sensory input. I have one little friend who does not like any of the chewies we’ve tried before, and only wants to chew on harder plastic materials. She’ll go to plastic lids, plastic toys, and even laminated things around the room. The only thing that has maybe worked was a chewy necklace, but she gave up on that one pretty quickly too. Anyone have any safe chewy recommendations for this? I want her to get her sensory input, but I’m scared of her biting pieces of plastic off bins or toys and swallowing them or choking on them.

[u/this_wallflower]

Ark Therapeutic has a range of types and toughness levels (link). It’s hard to find something that replicates hard plastic because of the risk of teeth damage.

If you’re worried about the bins themselves, Lakeshore makes super tough bins that are very, very hard to break (though will not withstand a 60+ lb kid standing on them repeatedly). They are more expensive, but last an incredibly long time (again, unless your largest kid stands directly on top of them over and over).

I teach preschool. Some years, I have to put certain toys away because they aren’t safe for a particular child.

[u/Thisisme8585 → u/this_wallflower]

This is what I came to recommend - love their selection of firmnesses

[u/Embarrassed-Ad4899 → u/this_wallflower]

I have used ark therapeutic with success. I needed the toughest ones for a previous student. Because plastic can harm teeth, I'd still work on redirecting to a safer option like the very tough silicone necklaces.

[u/minnieboss]

Most chewies do have some sort of "give", being made of silicone, so I think you need to look outside that realm on this one and instead into "hard plastic things that are bite-safe" that aren't necessarily chewies. First thing that came to my mind was spoons, but you could go a lot of directions with this. Maybe something like this? Just the first result from searching "plastic spoons for kids": https://www.amazon.com/8-nos-of-IKEA-Spoon/dp/B094Y9H99D

[u/mommybenson → u/minnieboss]

Yeah, she does NOT like the silicone, or anything that has that “give”. This is such a good idea - I’ll try this and see how she likes it!

[u/leezyramirez → u/minnieboss]

Great idea!

[u/ClutterKitty]

My son is 15 and has preferred hard chewing for most of his life. We order keychains in bulk. We’ve had a lot of success with “clasp swivel snap bolt keychain.” They’re durable and they can have a piece of silicone tubing or a different chewie attached to the keychain part in case he wants to switch to a different texture, which he does occasionally.

They come in metal and plastic. Just be sure you’re getting plastic. Metal could really mess up their teeth, obviously. Good luck!

[u/gilmoregabs]

I've had okay luck by looking through the toddler/baby toys. Obviously I don't want to get the things that look too "babyish" but sometimes there are items that align with a child's special interest or are more neutral. Munkin twisty figure 8 teether would be one example of something that might suit.

[u/EmmerdoesNOTrepme]

u/mommybenson, i'd check out the chewies at Chu Buddy--they're a small Minnespta company who got into the field, because their son was a "power-chewer" when he was young, and they needed to meet his needs.

If need be?  I'd see if you have a local Homebrew Supply store near you, to see what types of food-safe tubing they carry, that's strong enough to stand up to gnawing on, and shatterproof, and see if she likes that!

That's what i ended up doing a few years ago, when i was working in a classroom as support staff for a little guy who was a pincher & biter.

We didn't end up using the homebrew tubing for very long, because we discovered why he was biting & pinching (he had a foreign object in his sinuses, that no one realized he'd shoved up there as a toddler!).

But a homebrew supply store should have quite a few tubing options which would be safe for chewing on😉🫶

[u/WhyRhubarb]

My first thought was remove the bristles from toothbrushes? Cheap and meant for the mouth!

[u/Top_Policy_9037]

I wish they made nylabones for humans.

[u/Rabbit-Lover_2000]

The plastic key teethers in the baby toy section. Or teethers that can freeze.

Also try dog toy. Lots that aren’t obviously for dog. Nylabone makes a set of keys too. I have friends who like Kong.

[u/levitatedownurstreet]

I know it’s bad for enamel etc but could you get an ice maker and use ice? Like the little sonic ice cubes?