Teen pen chewing

[Anonymous]

Does your teen still do this? She’s 15. All her pens are chewed and it irks everyone in the house because she will chew the pens that are in the common areas of the house.

this morning, she was chewing on one and it exploded in her mouth. She is about to go out for NYE so obviously having a melt down on how to remove all the ink from her lips and mouth. We said “we told you so that this is a bad habit” and now she is adding me into the mix of not helping her. Not supporting her.


But knowing her, she will continue with this bad habit as this explosion just happened in class too in October.

Am I a bad parent for ignoring it. It’s has been years that we have been enduring chewed pens, chew straws on water bottles. Does it ever go away?

[Anonymous]

I might know an adults who still has the urge to do this and might give into temptation every now and then when no one is looking.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried a chew toy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does your teen still do this? She’s 15. All her pens are chewed and it irks everyone in the house because she will chew the pens that are in the common areas of the house.

this morning, she was chewing on one and it exploded in her mouth. She is about to go out for NYE so obviously having a melt down on how to remove all the ink from her lips and mouth. We said “we told you so that this is a bad habit” and now she is adding me into the mix of not helping her. Not supporting her.


But knowing her, she will continue with this bad habit as this explosion just happened in class too in October.

Am I a bad parent for ignoring it. It’s has been years that we have been enduring chewed pens, chew straws on water bottles. Does it ever go away?

I chewed pens well into my adult life- it was for sensory input to help concentrate-- related to undiagnosed ADHD. Chewing pens (I've stopped now), doodling in class/meetings, noise cancelling headphones all help with concentration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does your teen still do this? She’s 15. All her pens are chewed and it irks everyone in the house because she will chew the pens that are in the common areas of the house.

this morning, she was chewing on one and it exploded in her mouth. She is about to go out for NYE so obviously having a melt down on how to remove all the ink from her lips and mouth. We said “we told you so that this is a bad habit” and now she is adding me into the mix of not helping her. Not supporting her.


But knowing her, she will continue with this bad habit as this explosion just happened in class too in October.

Am I a bad parent for ignoring it. It’s has been years that we have been enduring chewed pens, chew straws on water bottles. Does it ever go away?

I chewed pens well into my adult life- it was for sensory input to help concentrate-- related to undiagnosed ADHD. Chewing pens (I've stopped now), doodling in class/meetings, noise cancelling headphones all help with concentration.

Similarly, my kid with ADHD chews for sensory reasons. Would your daughter be open to gum instead?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried a chew toy?

You mean like the dog chew toy? Haha. The sensory chew we tried but she does not chew those after a while. It’s always the ends of all her pens and pencils. Even the hard ones are all chewed up and the soft ones are chewed totally flat.

We really think it’s unhygienic with all the spit and all and then the next day, it’s back in her mouth. It is like a cesspool of germs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does your teen still do this? She’s 15. All her pens are chewed and it irks everyone in the house because she will chew the pens that are in the common areas of the house.

this morning, she was chewing on one and it exploded in her mouth. She is about to go out for NYE so obviously having a melt down on how to remove all the ink from her lips and mouth. We said “we told you so that this is a bad habit” and now she is adding me into the mix of not helping her. Not supporting her.


But knowing her, she will continue with this bad habit as this explosion just happened in class too in October.

Am I a bad parent for ignoring it. It’s has been years that we have been enduring chewed pens, chew straws on water bottles. Does it ever go away?

I chewed pens well into my adult life- it was for sensory input to help concentrate-- related to undiagnosed ADHD. Chewing pens (I've stopped now), doodling in class/meetings, noise cancelling headphones all help with concentration.

Similarly, my kid with ADHD chews for sensory reasons. Would your daughter be open to gum instead?

We tried gum but it doesn’t work. It’s gum +pen chewing.

[Anonymous]

Does she want to stop?

[Anonymous]

I chewed pens and then I saw the movie Top Gun as a teenager. I forget which character twirled his pen but I started doing it too instead of chewing. Years of practice and now I'm a pretty damn good twirler of pens.

If your child actually wants to stop chewing (I don't see it as a problem), replace it with something else.

Here's a tutorial I found online.
https://www.tiktok.com/@ryzingspins/video/7103681325181209902?lang=en

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does she want to stop?

Actually she says she wants to but unconsciously it always lands in her mouth. But I personally I think she doesn’t. It’s like she deliberately seems to want to chew them and chew them flat. Her pen case has maybe 20 pens in them and they are all disgustingly chewed.

[Anonymous]

You seem to only care that it's gross and unhygienic, so ban her from using any pens in the house except hers. Make hers one color and "the house pens" a different color/brand. She can only use hers. If she uses a house pen she has to replace it with her own money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried a chew toy?

You mean like the dog chew toy? Haha. The sensory chew we tried but she does not chew those after a while. It’s always the ends of all her pens and pencils. Even the hard ones are all chewed up and the soft ones are chewed totally flat.

We really think it’s unhygienic with all the spit and all and then the next day, it’s back in her mouth. It is like a cesspool of germs.

Everything going in her mouth will have saliva, if it’s her own I would not be so concerned. Maybe try another chew toy, something that mimics the pen perhaps? I’d be more worried about her swallowing ink. You might also talk to the dentist to evaluate her bite and see if that’s causing underlying issues. Not much that competes with chewing except talking and singing- try karaoke every night maybe…. Maybe eating, popcorn or carrot sticks, things that won’t make her gain weight. You could try things to occupy her hands since she has to hold the pen- cross stitch, crochet, puzzles, That’s the best I’ve got

https://www.arktherapeutic.com/blog/14-discreet-chew-toys-for-teens-and-adults/

[Anonymous]

Oh one more thing- have you tried toothpicks?

[Anonymous]

Bitter apple on the pens. Make her work for it.

https://www.amazon.com/Grannicks-Bitter-Apple-Taste-Deterrent/dp/B001CCNG88

Switch to pencil

Get tougher she'll pens

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You seem to only care that it's gross and unhygienic, so ban her from using any pens in the house except hers. Make hers one color and "the house pens" a different color/brand. She can only use hers. If she uses a house pen she has to replace it with her own money.

Yeah, after so many years, we have given up. We just have our own. Her sister especially has come across so many and she has also given up arguing with her. If she finds any in her pen case with teeth marks, she just throws it into her room.