When I lived in the heart of South Philly, it became sort of a standard part of the cooking process to inspect boxes for chewed corners before using their contents. If you think I’m overstating the infestation, please know that we switched from traps to poison after we’d caught 20+ mice and it seemed like there were more critters running around than before.
If I didn’t know better I’d say we had a similar infestation in our house at the moment, but as it turns out, it’s not a mouse, it’s Alethea. There is one food cupboard in our kitchen that Alethea is allowed to play in. We picked that cupboard to not be off-limits for her exploration because we thought there wasn’t anything in there that she could hurt or that could hurt her. Turns out when your kid starts chewing (and swallowing) the corners off of all the cardboard boxes, things that seemed okay for her to play with are suddenly in question.
I’m hoping that all this chewing is only a symptom of her recent teething, but I’m starting to wonder if she is lacking fiber in her diet or something. Has anyone else had a kid who actually seemed to enjoy eating cardboard? She also likes to eat paper as well as leaves and twigs when we are outside.
I think it’s pretty usual and also part of a healthy development for her to be exploring EVERYTHING with her mouth… and I suppose tasting would be a natural consequence, yes? :)
My 18 month grandson chews on anything from news paper [after he seems to read it] cardboard, his fingers or someone elses. I read in women’s day mag. that is how they protect theirself from any harm. The only thing is, when they bite or chew on you their theeth are like little needles.
Roman would, and still does, chew on almost anyting. I don’t think he eats most of it… Yesterday I told him to quit chewing on the dish rag. Seriously. That’s gross. I told him it could make him sick. Taste apparently was not a deterent.