For more years than I can remember, Josiah has sucked on his hands.  It started when he very young and has progressively gotten worse. What was once a minor annoyance has now become a major frustration.  Those hands touch everything before being shoved in his mouth. Then they touch his face and his hair.  Sometimes he looks like he’s just gotten out of the shower, his hair is so wet.

When he reaches out to grab your hand, or push you away, it’s almost always with soggy fingers. We’ve tried redirecting him and distracting him.  We’ve tried offering other things for Josiah to chew on. A few days after he was hospitalized I bought him 2 dog toys and a baby teething necklace, all of which he promptly shoved in the drawer.

We’ve tried gloves and arm restraints to deter him when he was a toddler. They were short term, temporary solutions. When the gloves came off, the hands went right back in. We’ve tried every topical sauce we could think of to extinguish his desire; garlic, onion juice, hot sauce. Josiah licked them all right off and continued to suck his hands.

For a while we tried putting Aloe gel on his hands, many, many times a day.  At one point, under direction from a behavior specialist, we made Josiah wash his hands every single time he sucked on one.  We practically lived in the bathroom. It didn’t work.

This boy has an intense desire to shove his fingers to the back of his mouth and chew on them. He will shove his beads back there to chew on and at home he has picked up Mocha’s dog toy to chew on, hence my rationalization he just needed his own. To me it makes sense to teach Josiah a more socially acceptable behavior to meet such an intense need.  To save his calloused fingers from further damage; to protect the raw and peeling skin between his thumb and forefinger from infection, Josiah needs a replacement behavior.

This is where you come in.  We need answers.  I’ve searched the internet for years. I’ve counseled with some of the best of the best in terms of shaping behavior.  We’ve tried every potion and lotion, tip and trick offered up and still Josiah sucks on his hands.  To me it makes sense to teach him to chew gum.  Gum can be shoved to the back of his mouth and gnawed on for hours on end to meet that need.  His hands would heal, they would stay reasonably dry and for goodness sake, he would stop picking up so many disgusting germs.

How do I teach that?  Without him swallowing it or rejecting it altogether, what does the process look like?

Have you faced a similar situation?  Does your child chew on his hands?  If so, HELP!  What did you do and how did you do it and can you please move in and teach Josiah a replacement behavior?  I’m not joking here. Someone out there knows someone who has already figured this out.  Please share this with anyone you might know that could offer some advice.  If your child no longer sucks on, chews on or licks his hands, I need to know what your miracle cure is.

I will happily repay you with a lifetime supply of cake balls, cupcakes or sculpted fondant cakes for your trouble.