My Son Eats Mud

[TASmith]

Yesterday, my son saw the family dog drinking from a puddle. Now he goes to each one, dips his hand in, and tries to eat the mud, and cries when you stop him....

.....

Discuss.

[B u r l]

I used to eat worms. :3

[TASmith]

... That doesn't help!

[ArtZealot]

maybe mud tastes good. Have you tried it?

[B u r l]

I'm pretty sure it tastes good, as long as it isn't the gritty kind.

[J Wilson]

Sometimes a kid just has to learn for himself.

When I was a kid seeing my first sparkler, I was intrigued. I needed to touch it when no one was looking. Needless to say it was hot, and I never grabbed another one...

Actually, I think some cultures do eat mud, so I doubt it's harmful.

[TASmith]

Tell that to my wife ;)

EDIT: Tell that to my wife, then duck!

[kev ferrara]

What's coffee and tea but dirty water?

[George Abraham]

Some pregnant woman also eat mud as a craving, maybe it's related.

[SoufMeng]

Actually, I think some cultures do eat mud, so I doubt it's harmful.

Yeah Haitian people among others.

Thats called geophagy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geophagy).

The many possible health benefits of geophagy remain under study and are much debated. Many scientists believe that it is only harmful, while others argue that there may be adaptive benefits to the practice, since humans and animal alike have engaged in it for thousands of years.

[sketchfreak]

Ooops, I eat lots of mud during childhood, I can't remember any illness from eating mud...I drink urine in childhood too! (sorry I can't remember urine taste!!!)

[FraserMcT]

You should go about adding vegetables to all of the puddles and mud piles, that will stop him!

[Tetrodotoxin]

I've heard, that eating mud prevents you from developing allergies. I think it was some study about kids growing up around cow-barns...

I would really prefer having eaten mud in my childhood to the extreme hayfever that's starting to crawl up my eyes, nose and lungs this time of the year... Well, it exempted me from military service over here in Germany, but if someone gave me a time machine and a wheelbarrow full of mud... :yum:

[Taj]

What's coffee and tea but dirty water?

Yeah, but coffee beans and tea leaves =/= shit, broken rock, slate, clay.

[madster]

If he wants to drink mud from a puddle like the dog, serve him kibble (FRESH!) in a bowl on the floor, and don't let him get up on the couch, and put a blanket down on the floor in the corner for him to sleep on...When he wants to play, give him just a ball, or the dog's toys...

Then explain to him, that if he wants to insist upon acting like a dog, you will have no choice but to treat him like the dog...

Make sure you have REALLY yummy food (his favorites, if possible) on the table for YOU to eat. And when he starts crying, tell him to go lay down, like you do the dog. When he cries even more, simply tell him that HE has to make the choice. Either he drinks from nasty, muddy puddles like the dog, and then gets to live like the dog, OR, he acts like YOUR son, a HUMAN BEING, who stands on 2 legs, and eats GOOD, YUMMY food, and sleeps in a nice, warm bed...

If he's old enough to misbehave, he's old enough to figure it out for himself which is the more desirable situation...

If he chooses "dog," induldge him for a day, then get counselling for him... ;)

~M

[Dave_]

Depending on his age it would only be a problem if the mud was eating him.

[Serpian]

Teach him how to smear mud on canvas instead.

[VulgarDragon]

Ahhh....that bring back memories. I used to play around in mud puddles, feeling the mud squish between my toes and making mud pies. I don't think I really ate mud, but I did get it all over myself. I also used to go swimming in the river and the waterhole. Maybe you should strip down to your shorts and spend some quality time with your son in the mud puddle and show him how to make mud pies?

[Jason Rainville]

My little sister ate sand all the time when she was a baby/toddler, it got to the point where we couldn't take her to the beach. She even chewed on decorative candles. We have a little snowman candle and a witch candle, both missing their noses and parts of their heads...

[alesoun]

There's a saying here that in your life you'll eat a bushell of dirt. Try not to worry.... I used to prefer Plasticene (Usually spat it out, though)

Just try to persuade him that it's more fun to jump in puddles and make splashes.

If he hasn't actually tasted puddle water yet, one sip should be enough to put him off. Just try to choose a cleanish puddle. Kids are resilient, or none of us would be here......

[DeadlyFreeze]

Take him back, he sounds defective.

[Ilaekae]

I ate coal when I was two. It's a thing called "pica." Most 18 month to two-year-olds do it at some point, and it could be eating anything that isn't nutritious, like mud, chalk, dirt, dog/cat shit, cigarettes, etc. Just make sure that he sticks to "clean" areas if you see him doing it. All kids do it and only get hurt if they accidentally ingest something dangerous. Mud doesn't sound dangerous unless you have donkeys or such in the area (worms).

It's normal, and only becomes a problem if it lasts longer than a month. If so, it could be linked to developmental problems but that would have to be determined by a trained psychologist/pediatric specialist.

[TASmith]

"You should go about adding vegetables to all of the puddles and mud piles, that will stop him!"

He likes vegetables, so that'd just encourage him.

"If he wants to drink mud from a puddle like the dog, serve him kibble (FRESH!) in a bowl on the floor, and don't let him get up on the couch, and put a blanket down on the floor in the corner for him to sleep on...When he wants to play, give him just a ball, or the dog's toys..."

Now that you mention it, he does play with the dog's toys. Yesterday, when I was out with him, I had this little red ball, and every time Andrew started to go where the mud is, I threw the ball down our little road (free of cars) and said, "Fetch!" and it got him running back where it's cleaner. He also sleeps in our bed at night. But, I don't think explaining things to him will help much, as he's only two, and he still isn't speaking. He only understands one or two words - "num, num" and "zakyvaj" which means "wave goodbye". He waves really well.

[c-hsu-run]

Eh, I used to catch spiders and popped them in my mouth when I was a toddler. My mom saw me doing that and screamed.

Now I'm paranoid of spiders to this day. :(

[LORD M]

Mud can contain a huge amount of different bacteria which our western stomaches cannot handle - compared to many people in africa who have no other option then to drink muddy water and have evolved immunity towards it and doesn't get the same consequences as our western stomaches.

So it worries me a bit that a two year old eats mud, just please try and keep him from it so he doesn't get sick.

[TASmith]

obviously. We don't let him, do it, he just wants to. I guess I needed to clarify that.

[Clochette]

Give him some Cacolac (http://www.gensheureux.be/site/wp-content/uploads/cacolac.gif), it looks like mud.
Or just show him how the family dog licks his own ass, and hope that it will make him stop acting like this dog, if it dosn't... then actually take him back :D

As a child i ate a lot of suspicious things, like sawdust, a piece of my grandmother's bible, dog food and probably mud. :yum:

A friend of mine ate a full pack of chalk, because of that story of the wolf who eats chalk to get his voice softer and come in the sheepfold. XD

Edit : Haha i had fun reading this thread :

633889

[Ashtonw]

Give him a cup of coffee and tell him it's mud. That'd get me to stop.

[Carnifex]

it's normal for children...just distract him and put him onto something else,like others said...playing with it,jumping on it.
i used to eat earth,my sister pebbles. mum would just wriggle them out of our hands,we got it at some point :)

[NickGuy]

god made dirt and dirt dont hurt

[Jazz]

TASmith, Does he like chocolate pudding? ...Though that may not help, but if he notices it tasting better than mud, maybe he'll want pudding instead. And you can better control when he gets that! :D I hope.

...I loved picking gum off the ground and eating that. And I've had a pica, too. I liked jewels. :D Oddly enough, I didn't like Ring Pops, though. o_O

[karmiclychee]

I don't know if I ever ate it, but Playdough always had this really nice smell to it...

I licked hand lotion once, it looked like something that would taste okay - I learned really quick that just because something looks good doesn't mean it'll taste good.

... like wet dog food. That stuff looks SO good - and I've been a vegetarian for 12 years now.

[Psychotime]

... like wet dog food. That stuff looks SO good - and I've been a vegetarian for 12 years now.

Lolz. I've eaten DRY dog food. It has no flavor, but then again, dogs have a stronger sense of taste...

[Bill]

As a child i ate a lot of suspicious things...


Can't help but picture Frogs and Snails here. :D

[Ashtonw]

I don't know if I ever ate it, but Playdough always had this really nice smell to it...

Playdough does not taste nearly as good as it smells. I learned this as an adult because as a child I knew I was not supposed to eat it. But now I'm grown up and I can do silly kid things that I wasn't allowed to do when I was little... like taste playdough. It's really salty and gross. But it does smell great. :yum:

Once when I was in grade school, though, I had a craving for beef jerky, but the only jerky in the house was for the dog. My mom said go ahead and try it.... it was disgusting. D:

[alesoun]

It passes..... give him a week and he'll find something else to tease you with.

They're curious about the world, so they try things out.

btw, I GUARANTEE he can understand a lot more words than he can say yet. Just keep saying, meaning and reinforcing "No". He may not be able to say "why?" yet,- but that's the reason he's testing you.

One day you'll look back and laugh..... probably when he's 13 and wants to drink beer! ;)

[Max Challie]

haha yeah, i remember when i was still in hawaii, i'd play in the mud. Then, on sunny days, I'd get the hose, make some mud, and play in it for four hours. I think I got it out of my system then.. of course there's construction workers etc, I think they're like grown-up kids playing in the mud.

Relax; I'd be more afraid of a white-picket fence than nature ;)

[Clochette]

Can't help but picture Frogs and Snails here. :D

Hehe, Bill read the end of my sentence :
"...like sawdust, a piece of my grandmother's bible, dog food and probably mud."

I find that eating a bible is much more suspicious than eating any invertebrate ! :P

[gutss]

give him playdoh instead. tastes much better.

[FranciscoShreds]

Heh... I think i remember eating a cockroach when I was young.

[Rist]

Parent Counselling zat way! --->>