Strange thing to do???

**Adiamond** · 22-01-2010, 07:57 PM

Hi, I mind a little girl who will be 2 next month she is a lovely little thing

. Every morning she has a big paddy when mum says bye but as soon as the door shuts she is fine. I noticed in her dirty nappy (sorry tmi) a while ago that it contained fibres

I mentioned it to mum and she said she had noticed it too!!! Anyway it turned out she has been eating the hair off her new dolly

, since she came back after xmas the nappies have contained more of this and I was so shocked what I saw her do yesterday!!! She has got a beret hat that is knitted she sat on my chair and I saw her shredding the threads off this hat then ate them OMG it wasn't just a few it was a ball of fluff!!! I told her that it wasn't nice but she sat there and did it again!! I told mum and she said "oh I know she shreads everything and either eats it or puts it up her nose or in her ears" do you think I am overreacting? I have never known this before, it seems like a comfort thing she does but I am worried she will end up poorly. Has anyone got any suggestions as to what I can try and do to nip this in the bud?
Thank you x

TheBTeam · 22-01-2010, 08:08 PM

Really sorry no idea, but didn't want to read and run, you could put all of her soft stuff away and only give her plastic!

**georgie456** · 22-01-2010, 08:20 PM

The 3yr old I care for used to eat hair when he was younger. It started when he used to cuddle into mum and twist her hair around his fingers and chew it for comfort. I had to make sure I removed all me dolls with hair as he was only 18mths at the time and didn't really understand why he shouldn't do it!

Needless to say he has grown out of it now, but through research I sdid read that eating hair is not great because it sits in the stomach and can cause big hair ball type things.

As to what you do....I would make sure anything she can shred is out of sight for a while. I've prob been no help sorry!!! I'm sure someone will be along soon with some more helpful advice

**Adiamond** · 22-01-2010, 08:21 PM

Thank you, I try not to let her have softy fluffy things but she pulls the fluff off her clothes my cushions even lays on the floor and pulls it off my rug

she hunts out the fluff!!!!! lol x x x

**nannymcflea** · 22-01-2010, 08:29 PM

I remember watching a tv programme about a girl who ate her hair. She ended up in hospital having an op to remove it from her stomach, because of serious complications it was causing.

I'd try and distract her but not exagerate the situation.

Plus not give her anything that is obviously edible!

Like this!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312588,00.html

**helenlc** · 22-01-2010, 08:46 PM

Originally Posted by nannymcflea

I remember watching a tv programme about a girl who ate her hair. She ended up in hospital having an op to remove it from her stomach, because of serious complications it was causing.

I'd try and distract her but not exagerate the situation.

Plus not give her anything that is obviously edible!

Like this!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312588,00.html

I was going to say this - they literally can get a hair/fur ball in their stomach. Mum needs to take this a bit more seriously I think.

Can you distract her when she starts to pull something and hand her something else - something that cannot be shredded? Or literally just distract her and engross her in playing with something else?

**madredann** · 22-01-2010, 08:52 PM

I know in this case it is probably a comfort thing but in older people isnt it a vitamin deficiency that makes people eat non-food stuff e.g coal, its called Pica