# How old is *old enough* for gum?



## momtoS (Apr 12, 2006)

My dd was given gum by someone (MIL) and now asks for it all the time. Thanks to some smart moms on MDC I found out about gleegum which is natural. So I ordered some and the gum making kit. MY mom was totally mad that I would give a four year old gum....so....

HOw old is old enough for gum?


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## frontierpsych (Jun 11, 2006)

depends. If they know not to swallow it, then it's fine. I think most 4 yo's can understand "Chew, don't swallow"


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## Jenivere (Aug 4, 2003)

I don't know how old is old enough but I don't give it to my kids and my oldest is 6 1/2. I give them xylitol mints instead.


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## glendora (Jan 24, 2005)

I wouldn't care about the swallowing as much as gum ending up in hair.


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## Masel (Apr 14, 2008)

In a trying-not-to-be-Kate moment I gave my daughter gum. She chews it for 10 seconds and then swallows it. She 2.5. I remember really wanting some bubblegum ice cream once and not getting it because I could choke.

I had no idea I had so many gum issues.


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## alllyssa (Sep 1, 2004)

My 2 year old chews gum occasionally. I have to watch her with it tho because it tends to get "lost" in the carpet/hair/etc. She does swallow it sometimes, but has only every choked/gagged on one thing - a hair barrett just a couple of weeks ago in her carseat. Scared the crap out of me!


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## MiaPia (Aug 28, 2003)

My daughter started chewing gum when she was 4. We've never had any problems with her swallowing it or getting it in her hair. She loves gum and thinks of it as a big treat.


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## ABrez (Apr 4, 2007)

I guess older than 32. I still swallow my gum.


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## Novella (Nov 8, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *frontierpsych* 
depends. If they know not to swallow it, then it's fine. I think most 4 yo's can understand "Chew, don't swallow"











What's the big deal about swallowing gum? If it's simply that it's considered uncouth, then I'm pleased to call that little bit of hillbilly my own! I come from a family of gum-swallowers. What an efficient and unobtrusive way to get rid of the stuff!









Fear of choking on a lump of gum shouldn't be the problem - if it's big enough to choke you, it's WAAAY to big to be chewing without being really gross to anyone around you.

My kids get gum occasionally. I know they do try to look after it, but too often it ends up falling into the lawn or whatever.

When I see how many times other people's chewed gum ends up under tables or chairs or stuck to my shoes in public, I wish a lot more people WOULD swallow their gum!









(Our kids probably haven't had gum until they were almost 3).


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## aprons_and_acorns (Sep 28, 2004)

My 4 yo son seems to have no problem with gum, but gum gives me the willies so he chews it when I'm not around.


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## cak1207 (Dec 2, 2007)

I nannied for a little girl. Her dad gave her gum all the time. It got to be such a problem she ended up in the hospital with a tube to help her go potty. The gum caused a blockage and she could not pass a bowel movement. She is no longer able to have gum. That is my only worry. As long as they don't swallow and it's not a common thing, I'd be ok. She was 2 btw.


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## candipooh (Jun 22, 2004)

Never! LOL. I hate gum. Well, I personally like it for myself. But I hate dealing with it when children have it. Every once in a while I will let my children, age 9, 7, and 5 have some. But I always seem to get a reminder of why I hate it when I find gum in the carpet or gum in the hair or etc. etc. etc.


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## reece19 (May 21, 2008)

I don't remember how old my kids were when they first had gum. Probably 3? I don't like them having it that young because I don't want to dig it out of hair/off the car seat/off the dog, but the swallowing bit doesn't bother me.

Now, swallowing a piece or more every day would be a different situation, but a piece here or there while I'm around to make sure it doesn't end up stuck in the bathtub faucet (uh....ok, well that happened even when I was watching!) is no problem.


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## onelilguysmommy (May 11, 2005)

when theyre not in cds anymore. man, thats NOT fun!!


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

DD was old enough at three. DS2 isn't. The difference? When ds2 gets gum, it ends up in the carpet. I don't even think about them swallowing it. That's what I do with my gum.


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## kdmama33 (Jun 20, 2006)

My four year old can handle gum. Every time she has a piece, we have a little refresher about the proper places for gum (in your mouth or in the trash, no exceptions). So far, no issues.

As for hair, oil takes gum out of hair, no problem. It's the gum meets carpet bit I'd rather not deal with.


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## angie7 (Apr 23, 2007)

My 2.5 year olds chew gum, have since they turned 2.


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## ann_of_loxley (Sep 21, 2007)

ummm...ive guess its just a wives tale that it takes something like 7 years for gum to digest? lol

I was told never to swallow gum when I was younger because of that.
I let DS have gum once - he just swallowed it (never chewed on it...the purpose of gum I guess) - so I have never given it to him agian. ...though hes never asked. He only wanted some as a pack was on top of the microwave and he kept pointing at it insisting it was chocolate...lol

Friend of mine has been letting her DS have gum since he was something like 18 months old. They taughed him not to swallow it and when he has chewed all the flavour out, he comes to them to put it in some paper towel or whatever so they can throw it away. Ive seen it - I was amazed lol. It never occured to me to have a problem with something like that. I remember when I was three, my sister and I in the back seat of the car pulling our gum around all over the place until it got stuck everywhere...EVERYWHERE! lol.... We were never giving it again after that for a LONG time lol...I can understand the problem with that! hehe


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## Moon Faerie (Aug 2, 2004)

My ds (5 next month) doesn't understand gum. He eats it like candy. My dd (3.5) loves chewing gum. I think she had it first around 3, when she helped herself.


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## mamalisa (Sep 24, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ABrez* 
I guess older than 32. I still swallow my gum.









I'm 35 and always swallow my gum.

My kids have had gum since they were around 2. I'm a total slacker who doesn't worry about too much. Dd loves gum and it shuts her up in the car when she's cranky about a 2 hour drive. Gum is my friend!


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## DevaMajka (Jul 4, 2005)

My ds is 4. I hadn't allowed any gum up to a few days ago, but the other day he wanted an ice cream from the ice cream truck that had bubble gum eyes. He did just fine, chewed it for a while then spit it out. It doesn't surprise me from my ds that he would be able to "chew, don't swallow it"

I won't be giving it to him often, but if he asks for some I'd not be to opposed to letting him have some occasionally.


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## elmh23 (Jul 1, 2004)

When I was pregnant I had to have mint gum (or Altoids) darn near constantly in mouth to prevent me from vomiting. My daughter was 27 months old when her brother was born, and she'd been having gum with me for about 5 months at that part. I never worried about her swallowing it though. I mostly worried about her taking it out of her mouth and playing with it, getting it stuck in her hair, so our rule was it had to stay in your mouth. Also, I never gave her a full stick of gum, only like a quarter or half a piece to limit the amount for her to get stuck somewhere.


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## mamameg (Feb 10, 2004)

Swallowing gum is fine. The biggest concern I would have is them taking it out of their mouth and getting it all over.

My 2 yr old and 4 yr old chew gum from time to time. It's fine. I just supervise them so they don't make a big mess, and I don't allow any running or jumping around with it (same as I do with food) so they don't accidentally choke on it.


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## katheek77 (Mar 13, 2007)

My daughter is two and chews it occassionally, no problems.


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## maliceinwonderland (Apr 17, 2005)

My dd was six before she got gum..and in the last year has been allowed to have hard candies..if she sits next to me..and doesn't move.

She'll be nine in October







:


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## frontierpsych (Jun 11, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *maliceinwonderland* 
My dd was six before she got gum..and in the last year has been allowed to have hard candies..if she sits next to me..and doesn't move.

She'll be nine in October







:

lol, I kinda don't blame you. My little brother was so bad with hard candies, I've lost track of the number of times my parents had to do the Heimlich maneuver on him when he was little!


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

My ds started having gum around 3. We only give it to him at Church during the sermon (so it's a big treat and it keeps his mouth busy so he doesn't make too much noise). We taught him to not swallow, and we have him spit it out when worship is over. It's only been an issue once and we took away the privilege for about 2 weeks and that got the point across to him quite nicely. Never had an issue since.


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## riversong (Aug 11, 2005)

Dd has been chewing gum with no problems since she was two. She swallowed it a couple of times and then stopped. She's never gotten it stuck in anything, either.

Ds is 21 mo. and obsessed with gum. I give him half a piece very rarely and he always ends up swallowing it.


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## LotusBirthMama (Jun 25, 2005)

DD is 5 and has been chewing gum since she was 2. She does fine with it and I have never had to clean it out of hair or carpet.

As far as swallowing it, its fine as long as you don't make a habit of swallowing packs a day. It passes the same as anything else you eat, but it does not digest. Som, I can see a kid swallowing gum on a daily basis getting a blockage. DD is well-versed in gum swallowing dangers. I overheard her tell her cousin, "Don't swallow it! You'll get a bezoar!" (google bezoar if ya wanna throw up a little...)


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## Alicia P (Aug 15, 2008)

According to the AAP kids shouldn't have gum until they are at least 4. It is a choking hazard.


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## Keeping up (Apr 7, 2004)

My kids starting chewing gum (and swallowing - despite our best efforts of 'turning' green if they did) when they were 2 years old.

I am not at all worried about the chocking hazard - the gum we chew (i.e. dentyne etc.) is such a small piece. Bubblegum pieces I guess might be a bigger concern. The little ones only got 1/2 a piece when they were really little. Never ever had an issue with gagging/chocking with any food - but we might have big throats! However, I wouldn't ever consider giving them hard candy - that stuff could be a huge chocking hazard.

I also don't worry about swallowing it either - it just passes right on through!

Stuck in the hair - so a little snip snip - again, no big deal (but it hasn't happened as of yet).

We only have it when we are out of the house -not sure why - so in the car, so haven't had the random pieces stuck to the carpet either.

******

As an aside, the AAP also recommends none of the following ... unless chopped small - I don't necessarily follow this either (aside from hard candy)

Hot dogs
Nuts and seeds
Chunks of meat or cheese
Whole grapes
Hard, gooey, or sticky candy
Popcorn
Chunks of peanut butter
Raw vegetables
Fruit chunks, such as apple chunks
Chewing gum


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## Devaskyla (Oct 5, 2003)

Ds has choked more often on water than on any of that stuff. And never on gum. I can't remember how old ds1 was when he got gum, but ds2 has been allowed to have a 1/2 piece of trident or stride for a long time, probably a year, maybe even more. He turned 3 in July.


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## delicate_sunshine (May 2, 2008)

DS has been chewing gum for a long time, probably about a year or more. He was 3 in April. He swallowed it all until a few months ago and then he just stopped. My mom always told him not to swallow it and he thinks everything she says is gold. He also gets all the stuff on the do not eat list and has for a long time. He just chews hard candy. He doesn't get hard candy all the time, but that's just because we don't have it around. I've never really put a limit on it. When he was younger I would just bite him a small piece off of a larger piece. He's never choked on anything.


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## 34me (Oct 2, 2006)

I think it totally depends on the kid. My ds#1 has been chewing gum since before he was 2. We've never had a problem with it and he's now 12. His brother chewed and swallowed so he didn't get much. Their older sister never asked for it.


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## aniT (Jun 16, 2004)

I have told my kids 12. My 9 year old got some recently and I found it on the floor.







:


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## Marsupialmom (Sep 28, 2003)

I would not have a problem giving a 4 year old gum to chew on. I think all my kids had it by then. But we do have a food/gum rule about not walking around it.

For us my dh and I notice an irony.......

His mom, sil, and sisters never allowed gum they found it in all the wrong spots.

My mom, dad, and step-mom all are anti-gum....and had issues with finding it in the wrong spots.

His oldest brother and us allow it and no finding gum in the wrong places...........well I take that back. My son had to clean the top of the outside trash can because he had it in the car, got out, stuck it to the underside of the lid before my dh could tell him no. "It's in the trash...."LOL

IMO, I think part of it is that since we and my husband's brother allowed it early that we were more aware of our children chewing it and making sure the approprate bahavior was "Just habit".


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## Nikki Christina (Mar 27, 2003)

my 3 year old LOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVES gum. shes been chewing it since she was 2.
sometimes she swollows it
sometimes she leaves me little suprises to find later

shes only gotten it in her hair once & it washed out fine..

she likes to chew it for awhile & then get a new piece, so now i keep the gum & make her give me the old piece before she can have a new one.


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## Irishmommy (Nov 19, 2001)

I so don't see the point in gum. I will have the odd piece if I've eaten something stinky and can't brush, but that's rare.

My kids are 14 and 8, and are not allowed gum. To me, it's stupid and pointless.


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## thixle (Sep 26, 2007)

DD was maybe 18 months when she started chewing gum... she's one of those "weird" kids a pp mentioned that would say "I'm done" and put it in the trash can








She is 3 now and has only left her chewed gum out once, it was on the top of her play kitchen because she was pretending to eat and knows she can't eat with gum in her mouth, lol.
She has commented on how gross it is for people to leave their gum under the table-- in fact, we went out this weekend to a nicer place and she popped her head under the table and made sure everyone in the restaraunt knew there was no gum.

Slightly OT-- I won't give her xylitol, ever because it causes stomach issues with me.


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