# Eating sand, dirt, chalk, stuffed animal stuffing, and more!



## Natalya (Jun 18, 2004)

Hey everybody-

I work at a daycare and care for a 2, almost 3 yo girl. She eat and gnaws on eberything! As the title states, she eats sand, dirt, I've even found her eating a peice of chalk and peices of cotton fuzz. I've heard this is a sign of nutritional deficiency. Any advice? Any where else I can look for more info at?


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## Pookietooth (Jul 1, 2002)

I think that pica (sp?) doesn't always involve such a wide range of things, but many of those sound like it. Try to google infant pica and see what you get. Hopefully others will have more info. It's an eating disorder, actually.


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## grnmtnmama (Jun 14, 2004)

a friend of mine has a toddler that was doing the same thing, turns out she was really deficient in iron. you should advise the parents to take her to the doctor and have her tested.


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## sohj (Jan 14, 2003)

magnesium is another thing that might be lacking.

A lot of people are mag. defficient. There's lots of it in nuts.


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## thoesly (Dec 23, 2003)

Just want to second the suggestion for testing. Deficiencies can't always be corrected with diet. Sometimes, the body has trouble utilizing certain nutrients. My own son is deficient in a couple of nutrients that he gets quite a lot of in his diet.


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## kamilla626 (Mar 18, 2004)

This link might be helpful:

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/welco...ions/pica.html


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## runes (Aug 5, 2004)

Pica. As a pp stated, it usually signals iron deficiency. HTH!


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## MamaFern (Dec 13, 2003)

my son and i eat green clay when we are craving it..my SIL introduced us to it..

you can get it at a health food store..just mix it with water and drink it up.. its soo yummy and helps your body digest food better and it contains tons of minerals..

what she is doing does sound like pica.. i suggest clay but her parents might freak! people think im very strange when i eat clay







s


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## Leatherette (Mar 4, 2003)

There is also a more serious condition called Praeder-Willi, which has an onset between ages 2 and 3. Does she eat tons of food and never seem to be satisfied, hence eating non-food items?

L.


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## Natalya (Jun 18, 2004)

She isn't a big eater and seems to be satisfied with what I would consider a normal amount of food.

I will talk to her parents about getting tested. Could pica be a genetic thing? I found out her brother used to do the same thing all the time, especially with his boogers.

Thanks ladies!


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## mom2tig99Nroo03 (Apr 24, 2003)

my dd chews on books and crayons routinely. she will be 2 in a couple of weeks


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## mom2tig99Nroo03 (Apr 24, 2003)

but her iron has been good every time it was checked.

we have a wic appt on the 8th, am sure her iron will be checked again...


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## baileyandmikey (Jan 4, 2005)

i would say its pica too, iron defieciency. I had to laugh at the green clay! We would probably do something like that too.


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## aniT (Jun 16, 2004)

My DD did that. Turned out she was anemic. I believe this was caused by drinking too much milk. Milk inhibits the absorption of iron. I cut back the milk and she was fine.

A child that age should be drinking no more than one cup of milk per day. Too much milk may also be why she is not a big eater. Full from all that milk. Something to think about.


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## Natalya (Jun 18, 2004)

Oooo. Milk. I never even thought of that. We will DEF. stop the milk, because that's pretty much all the kids drink during the day. (For some reason they don't dig juice that much







)

I'm such a wimp, I never have the courage to tell her mother what I have found out. I feel funny telling another mother what to do with her child. I think I might be annoyed if my daycare provider was telling me what to do. What do you think?


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## aniT (Jun 16, 2004)

If a child must have juice at all, they should also have no more than 4oz a day. Too much sugar. Plain water is best, but of course children like things with flavor.

The mother may be under the false assumption (as I was) that milk is good for her child. Milk: It does a body good you know. My ped didn't even tell me that milk might be a problem. When i called them because the iron they perscribed said not to take within an hour either way of milk and I told them my dd drinks milk constantly and what was I suppose do, I was told just to give her the iron and not to worry about it. Ummm hello! I had to find out on my own it was the milk that was causing the problem.







Just discuss your concerns with the mother. You are with her dd all day so she should want to know what you think. Just don't push if the mother decides to do something else.


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## grnmtnmama (Jun 14, 2004)

don't feel funny about telling the mother what you found out. just find a nice way to say that you've been concerned about what her dc has been doing and that it could be a sign of this or that. it just shows that you care. my ds is at the babysitters 3 days a week, and I really love the fact that she loves my ds enough to always let me know her observations and opinions.


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