How to get a toddler to stop eating blanket fibers
Toddlers chew and swallow threads or fabric from comfort items like blankets and sleeves, leaving fibers stuck in their teeth and causing unusual breath odors. Taking the blanket away completely is often the only way to stop the behavior when redirection fails.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Providing alternative blankets or stuffed animals that are less likely to break downDid this help you?
- 2Continuously telling the child noDid this help you?
- 3Offering alternative chew toys with different texturesDid this help you?
- 4Taking the comfort blanket away entirely and hiding itDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“recently it seems like he is literally eating parts of it.”source ↗
“He has threads stuck in his teeth often after a nap or bed and recently his breath has smelled consistently of paint thinner”source ↗
“Has anyone managed to get their child to stop chewing on a blanket successfully, or do I need to just take it away?”source ↗
“my son was doing the same, but with the threads from the socks for some odd reason.”source ↗
“My daughter had the same issues for a while with her sleeves/blanket.”source ↗