Chewing on the Furniture

My son does the same thing to his crib. I couldn't find a crib teething rail that worked with his crib so until I do I took a towel and duct taped it around the crib rail. Now he chews quite happily on the towel so I just have to take it off and wash it occasionally. He doesn't do it to anything but his crib so I can't help you with the coffee table but I think a lot of babies chew on thier crib rail so just find a way to make it safe for him to do so.

Ha! And to think I thought I was the only one who gave birth to a beaver! He did the same thing you are talking about. I ended up making heavily padded slipcover(with ties) to the ends of the crib that matched his room. He still chewed, but shredded cotton was better than wood- he actually did get a splinter in his gum before the slipcover- healed fine, but it was no picinic at the time. I also handed him a designated chew toy everytime I caught him knawing on the furniture(LOL-can you tell we used to have puppies!)
Not to worry- he will grow out of it! but I still have mini chunks out of MY bed...........

D.,
have you thought about getting the padding that goes around the edge of your coffee table, it is used to prevent little ones from banging the head on the corners but it might stop him from biting as well. For the crib they make plastic strips that lock onto the edge of the crib rails, I think they even be called biter strips.

Gummi Crib Rail Cover installs with adhesive strips and removes with a hair dryer. You can cut it with scissors to the size you need and it will stick to wood surfaces, so I am sure it would work both on your crib and your coffee table. We found it at Babies R Us next to the big plastic crib rail covers. It is in a little grey and purple box.

Besides the good ideas already here, make sure he has lots of different, safe teethers. (Before you shop, check www.cpsc.gov for kids' items and see if any teethers have been recalled!) Then go to Babies R Us or other baby stores with lots of choice and get him several teethers so he has different shapes, textures, etc. Get some that are freezable so that gives him a different feel. Hand him one constantly, especially as he's teething so much right now. Have new ones in reserve so if he seems bored with the ones he has, you can present a new one immediately and get his interest before he returns to the wood. I too would be worried about both splinters as well as the furniture varnish he's chewing and licking off along with the wood. As for using a padded cotton cover for part of the crib or the towel that's taped on -- those sound OK but be absolutely sure he can't get a chunk of the filling or covering or tape into his mouth -- that's a choking hazard.

You can get the bitter apple spray or any version of it at Petsmart or Petco or probably any pet store. It tastes HORRIBLE!! But is safe. Double check the label for human safety but if it is o.k. for pets...

Go to the baby department and get him some good teething toys. Babies LOVE to chew on stuff when they are teething. If you get cold teethers, be careful that the contents are safe for ingestion incase it should leak. Toys with large rubber textured things on them are great. Bright colors, noise makers (Rattles, crinkles, jingles) are appealing too. We had a great fish toy that had a rattle type ball in the center and each of the fins/tail were teething toys. We also had a cute set of stuffed animals with a rattle inside and the feet were all teething material. The more texture, the better.

Good luck.
liz

Hi D.,
I've seen products that you can buy to line the edge of the crib specifically for that purpose. There might be similar products for coffee tables. Try buybuybaby (online or in store) in the safety category.

I hope the furniture isn't antique. Antiques can sometimes have lead paint on them and it apparently has a sweet taste. An old neighbor's child had lead poisoning from chewing on their bed and the window sill.

Prince Lionheart has a crib rail that doesn't use adhesive (good for convertable cribs)available at babies r us. I have it all the way around my son's crib. He's 10 months with 10 teeth and chews on everything. I tell him "no" and give him something of his to chew.

My mom use to put thumb sucking stuff on my thumb when I was a kid. I don't know if they still make it or not. I would try something like that on the wood. I know it sounds kinda bad but I would be afraid that he might choak on the wood. Maybe one bad taste and he would stop. Good Luck.

Try painting the wood he chews with the stuff the Pharmacist sells to stop nail biting. I am not sure I would use the stuff for dogs but I expect it is a lot cheaper as long as it is safe it should work. When I was a child you could get bitter aloe, for nailbiters but I do not know if they still sell it.

My eight year old still rests his teeth on his bunk bed, if only I knew what bitter aloe was in French I would be fine.