2.11 y.o. DS1 bites his hands when he experiences a strong emotion - excitement or upset. It?s worse when he?s upset than when he?s excited and the more distressed he is, the more he does it. He has constant teeth marks on the backs of his hands now and it?s been going on for a good few months.
On occasions when he?s been really stressed and I?ve been holding his hands to guide him away from a situation he has tried to bite his arm, stomach and legs ? as if he simply can?t cope without biting some part of himself.
I mentioned it at a speech therapy assessment and the SALT suggested it might be due to sensory issues. Googling it has brought up stereotypic movement disorder which sounds like a good description of him but it doesn?t tell me much other than give it a name.
It has got much worse since DS2 was born 5 weeks ago. DS1 has been very fraught in this time (though he loves his brother to bits).
He also flaps his arms like a bird when excited, and sometimes does other repetitive things when excited eg repeatedly running to cuddle me and twiddling my ear (ear twiddling is what he does when bf?ing and going to sleep). He has phases of head shaking too, though that?s only occasional.
He also bites furniture and, when out, fences /gates/railings etc. He doesn?t usually bite or chew small objects in the way that babies/toddlers do whilst at the oral stage.
Other issues he has which may or may not be related are:
- Slight sensitivity to temperature ? bathwater has to be tepid, not warm; won?t wear jumpers indoors; wakes lots in the night if he?s too cold
- Slight sensitivity to clothes ? hates sleeves rolled up, dislikes wearing shoes, won?t wear shirts with collars.
- Always wakes in the night if his nappy leaks. He is generally a very restless sleeper and rolls around lots. Has never consistently slept through the night.
- Often struggles with loud noises ? dislikes handryers and vacuum cleaners (used to get hysterical about them but is better now).
- Dislikes other children and seems to struggle more than the average with sharing.
- Has a strong sense of personal space and panics when another child comes too close (though he generally copes okay with adults now).
- Seems to get more upset than his peers when e.g. another child plays with a toy he wants to use.
- He?s a very fussy eater (not a resistant one though) and seriously messy when eating. He also has numerous food allergies. He is willing to try new foods when encouraged to, but doesn?t often progress to actually eating them.
- Separation anxiety / stranger anxiety since 7 months, though greatly improved now. He interacts well with close family members and engages in ?shared attention? with us. He prefers to talk to other adults through us e.g. asking us about what they?re doing & saying rather than talking to them directly, though he will sometimes do this.
- He has verbal dyspraxia and poor diction partly due to restricted tongue movement (he?s being assessed for tongue tie next week), plus a high palate. He is very verbal, though, and his level of language is generally very good.
- Gross motor skills are okay but not brilliant ? he bumps into things at home quite a lot, and falls over at least 3 or 4 times a day. Hates running, is a really slow walker and generally dislikes exercise. He prefers indoor activities. However, he?s a constant fidget and can?t sit still.
- He drinks vast quantities and wees loads at night (he soaks a nappy padded with an extra sanitary towel and often leaks onto a cloth booster too), even though he uses the toilet before bed. The urine in his nighttime nappy stinks in the morning and when we used cloth nappies, made his skin really sore.
He breastfeeds more than the average bf child his age ? it was very frequent before I got pg with DS2; now it?s not so frequent (3 times a day) but he takes a lot* of milk ? feeds can last 30 mins or more.
Any ideas what this could be, or how to investigate further? We see a paediatrician for his allergies so I want to talk to him about possible causes and what we can do to reduce or stop the hand biting.
(And apologies for the essay! )