"Eating" Cardboard Books

I'm sure it's a phase & they'll outgrow it, but good heavens....WHEN? My boys LOVE books. They're a bit obsessive about them actually . They're constantly fighting over them, crawling into our laps to read to them, or reading them themselves (ok, babbling while flipping the pages backwards upside down). We don't allow any 'paper page' books because they rip at them; same as pop ups or flip up tab type books. We do, however, have an abundance of cardboard "board" books in every room of the house!

Within the past 2 weeks or so, the boys have picked up a NASTY habit from daycare. They EAT the edges of their books. They chew on them til they're soggy & then bite them off! They've ruined all our nice books & keep spitting chunks of cardboard all over my carpet (duh, it tastes icky). I'm sure they've swallowed some along the way, too, & have even puked some back up!!!! Ugh....

We constantly tell them not to "bite their books" ("bite" seemed to work better than "eat" or "chew") & are constantly pulling the books out of their mouths & redirecting them to read the book nicely. We've gotten so fed up that books have migrated to top shelves, locked in cabinets, or just plain out of reach. I HATE taking away their books since they adore them so much & we've been reading to them since they were in utero, but how do I get them to stop 'eating' them?

PLEASE give me some hope that this phase will be short lived or that someone out there has devised a master plan to stop the incessant chewing. I'd really like to see some non-knawed books being enjoyed in our household again.........

 

at least your's spit them out... my girls actually chew on it and i THINK they're swallowing!!! i have to take the books away, too, which i hate, cuz my girls love their books, too.

 

I have kept some books out of reach, like paper pages and pop ups and expensive board books. When I see them biting a book, I take it from them and show them (while telling them) that we read books, not bite them. If they keep biting I give them a toy to bite on and get the urge satisfied. I do the same thing when they bite the coffee table.

 

All of our are put away as well! And like the pp said at least they are spitting it out, I think mine just ate them!

 

Ours used to do this all the time!! They would just suck on them....so icky. I can't remember exactly when they stopped, but I know it was a long phase for us!

 

Mine do this, too, especially Karina -- she has digested whole portions of books, LOL. But most of our books were already pre-chewed by Nadia! But yeah, nothing stays nice and new for very long.

It takes some time, but *eventually* they stop doing it....it's hard to see an end in sight, though. I can't really remember when it happens....just like with using actual plates and not throwing them on the floor -- I thought Nadia would NEVER stop doing that, but now she eats like a human (and doesn't chew on books) and has been for years.

 

We have book chewers, too! DD more than DS - she once ate most of the cover off of a cardboard book (really small one) that she was holding in her car seat. When I went to take her out of the car...ewww...soggy paper everywhere!

DD puts his mouth on most everything - including the coffee table. I am doing my best to redirect and take whatever it is away from him, but he is so stubborn!!

Lord help us.....


Jessica

 

My kids did this alot, especially my son. They eventually grow out of it, but unfortunately lots of chewed up books!!!!

 

We put away the "nice" books. I bought alot of books at the last local twin group sale, so they were already "beat up" and cheap. So if they get destroyed, I don't care.

I worry most about some of the books that the plastic seems to peel off (Brown Bear and Polar Bear are both doing this). It seems rather unsafe.

Try to look at the positive side, they LOVE books!

 

Mine like to taste their books too. Like you we only read books with paper pages if I'm holding the book. They LOVE their "monka" book- collection of curious george stories. But I only bring it out once a day and they know mommy holds the book. The others they can tear them apart and I try not to worry to much about it. I tell them not to put it in their mouths and give them other things to chew on, but if I was getting a mouth-full of teeth I'd want to chew on cardboard too.

 

Have you tried the plastic or fabric books. They are great during the teething stages, and the fabric ones can go right into the wash!! They have all sorts of textures and sounds that they make. Mine loved those. We had about 4 different ones that we rotated, and mommy/daddy read all of the other books.

I can't remember when the boys stopped eating their books, but it has been a while now. Lately, they have gotten into the habit of bending the books back so the binding/spine breaks and the pages inside are no longer intact (with the board books). I have mended our favorites, but have sent some to "a better place". I am not sure if anything that the boys have access to will stay in "nice" shape. Any of the pop-ups and pull tabs are out of reach and get pulled out when needed most. I am not sure if they will ever be able to get put on a shelf without getting destroyed.

Happy reading!!

 

My goodness is it nice to hear it's not just MY kids!

Thanks, ladies!

(FYI we have the fabric ones too, but those just aren't as 'interesting' in their eyes!)

 

[SIZE=10pt]Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting about this :bow2:

DD is constantly chewing/eating their books. She'll flip through them here and there...but mostly she just eats them. Just like some of the other lil ones on here, she does actually "eat" some of the cardboard.

Hopefully it's just one of those phases that goes quickly. We've been reading/playing with the cloth/fabric books, but they definitely don't like those as much :lol: It really bites not being able to have all their books out.

April [/SIZE]

 

Oh yeah, mine were big book-eaters too! Especially DS. They've really outgrown it over the last ~6 mo or so, though. When we were in the midst of it, I just let it slide. It's not like we were trying to preserve their board books for a museum or something, so lazy mama says - OK!

I also let them chew up things like paper towel rolls in the hopes of getting it out of their system. (Don't know if it really made a dent or not, though!)

Now there's some occasional chewing, but they mostly "read" their books, and I can even trust them with books with paper (not cardboard) pages. And man, do they love books! DS can be absolutely DYING to nurse, but he won't get started unless he's holding a book - and not just any book, if you don't figure out exactly which one he has in mind, he'll just whine, "Booh, booh, booh." :lol:

 

hahaha, such memories you bring back!!! I have books with entire corners missing :lol: Seriously, it was a phase. My girls also have ALWAYS loved books and to be read too. I think it's great that they love it so much. One of the most common phases around my house during that time was "Books are for reading, not for eating." I must have said those words about 3 thousand times! I would also quickly give them a toy that is for chewing on and tell them, this is for eating, not the books. They do eventually outgrow it. I found that once they had a lot more teeth in, it occurred less and less. I think it happened as they were just outgrowing the overall phase of putting everything in the mouth (which seemed endless, and even now things will occassionally go in the mouth). But that phrase did eventually sink in. I know it's gross and I had to assume that children book makers know that young kids will put them in their mouth so I figured there are no major toxins that can harm them.