Sensory daughter- touches everything

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Forum -> Children's Health

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amother

Amber

Thu, Mar 08 2018, 5:00 pm

Anyone ever had a child like this?? She touches everything I really can’t leave her alone for 5 minutes. One say she spilled water all over the place and was rubbing her hands in it the other day she got to my salt shaker and spilled it and started rubbing her hands in it I also love baking with my kids and she always manages to get her hands in the batter it is becoming extremely stressful as I have other children in the house as well. Anyone ever had this anything that helped she gets occupational therapy

amother

Seashell

Thu, Mar 08 2018, 5:13 pm

I went to a cheap store and bought her faux fur tops and jackets and a blanket. She only uses them at home but she loves them. I even found a few furry animals online.

When I go shopping with her at the mall, I hand her a furry item from the store to hold onto if her hands are clean..

amother

Seashell

Thu, Mar 08 2018, 5:14 pm

I also let her play with my old wigs. She loves that too..

amother

Silver

Thu, Mar 08 2018, 5:54 pm

Mineral deficiency, especially zinc and magnesium. Leaky gut, gluten intolerance, food allergies. Yeast overgrowth, subclinical infections. Address these issues and symptoms will improve greatly. Therapy will not stick as long as brain is not in optimal shape.

amother

Amber

Thu, Mar 08 2018, 7:41 pm

Thanks! For the suggestions she really doesn’t like the bath for some reason but she can play by the sink for hours I’m hating telling her no about everything she runs after each purell I buy to use on her hands

amother

Black

Thu, Mar 08 2018, 7:50 pm

Some things you can get her: slime, silly putty, play doh, bubble wrap, play sand, squishy stress toys

amother

Sienna

Thu, Mar 08 2018, 8:06 pm

amother wrote:

Fill up the tub and let her sit on the floor in front of it with whatever she likes to play with inside.

Buy tons of play doh. Yes, it's messy. Yes, it's worth it.

amother

Amber

Thu, Mar 08 2018, 8:23 pm

amother wrote:

Some things you can get her: slime, silly putty, play doh, bubble wrap, play sand, squishy stress toys

Yes we have all the above and a really big sand table that has gone all over the place
Anyone with experience know if they ever grow out of it?

Blessing1

Thu, Mar 08 2018, 8:27 pm

Get her play dough, silly putty, sticky sand to play with so she shouldn't look for trouble in the house. A trampoline can also be amazing for sensory kids. Do you have a sensory Brush? If not, get one & brush her twice a day. Ask her OT about excersizes you can do t home.

amother

Black

Thu, Mar 08 2018, 8:35 pm

If she's old enough, have her wash your dishes. That should keep both of you happy.

Tzutzie

Thu, Mar 08 2018, 9:26 pm

I have lots and lots to say on this subject. My kid is very sensory.
If you'd like you can PM me.

FranticFrummie

Fri, Mar 09 2018, 12:57 am

My 14yo is still super sensory, and is obsessed with anything plushy soft.

When she was little, our sanity saver was to take her to Petco. The employees there are awesome. For DD, it was better than going to the park.

We let her loose in the dog and cat toy aisles, and she could touch, shake, squeeze, and make as much noise as her little heart desired. She couldn't break anything, and the store didn't mind at all. When she'd had her fill, we'd take her to look at the fish tanks, which calmed her down and soothed her. We knew it was time to go when she started acting bored. We'd be there probably a little over an hour each time.

This was an amazing outlet for her on cold rainy days!

amother

Cerise

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 6:15 pm

I was like that. It does get better!

I also second the ideas of silly putty (thinking putty is bigger and the different kinds have slightly different textures), play dough, stress balls (not the kind with sand or flour inside, because it will break all over your house at some point), kinetic sand (less messy than real sand), gak or floam (if they still make them). Sensory brushes are important too.

Make 'mystery boxes' - a box with a hole cut on the side or top that she can't see into (put some bendable thin foam or something like that around the hole) and have different things in the boxes - have a box full of buttons of different shapes / sizes / textures, a box full of cotton balls and pom poms of different sizes / textures, a box full of different sizes / textures of string and thread and yarn, a box full of different mini toy animals, with little balls of crumpled plastic cling wrap of different sizes, a box with little pieces of fabric of different shapes / textures / thicknesses, the list goes. . .

I also found that things that had an noise component were best - like bubble wrap. Drove my parents crazy, but they bought me rolls and rolls of bubble wrap and I was allowed to use ti out of hearing range (depending on age, may or may not be ready to be left alone with it). Also gak was great because it made noises (no idea if they still make this).

Making your own sensory toys is also great. Make your own stressballs, or if she's old enough, you could even have her make her own slimes or clay (the funnest one is non-newtonian slime made from cornstarch and water - google it). Baking is also great - they can knead or mix with their hands, and it's productive!

If you have a porch or balcony or backyard, and out door water table or sand table is great (sand table better than sandbox for me, for some reason, ot sur eif it's because it's more direct hands-work).

amother

Amber

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 10:10 pm

amother wrote:

Thank u so so much! U will never believe what she did today it was just one thing to the next and that was with sensory input- rice table and baking/ mixing with hands I feel that she can’t be left alone. Just one question for u as far as discipline... did u get punished for making a mess? I don’t want to be telling her no all day because she can’t do anything about it she feels she needs constant sensory input any suggestions these things can’t be ignored

FranticFrummie

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 10:17 pm

amother wrote:

I wouldn't punish for messes, but I'd have her help you clean it up.

Try stating things like "It's not time to play with the rice right now. We can play with rice after dinner" instead of just saying "no". By designating a time and place for messes, she can learn when it is appropriate and safe to do so, and when it's not.

Give her a box full of sensory things that don't spill or make messes, like soft fur, squeaky toys, stress balls, etc. for those times when you can't supervise a messy project.

amother

Amber

Sun, Mar 11 2018, 10:38 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

Thanks! That’s what we usually do but what about the things they she should ever touch like pulling the garlic powder off the counter while I’m cooking and run to hide so she can spill it out and play with it

busy1

Mon, Mar 12 2018, 12:58 am

Did you try a pressure and or weighted vest? Does she get OT at home or in a sensory gym? Did you try a sendory diet for her?

amother

Cerise

Mon, Mar 12 2018, 6:23 am

amother wrote:

I wasn't punished for making messes. I was always told I shouldn't, but no punishment as it wasn't entirely under my control - but age matters here too. But I had a star chart for going a whole day without spilling anything - I got prizes after a certain number of stars. With good prizes, it helped.

My daughter also does the spilling thing and playing with her hands in it (makes me crazy!), when I see it, I say 'do you think when something spills, you should put your hands in it or clean it up?' I want to make her think about what she should be doing, and then we clean it up together (or she does while I supervise). After doing this for months, she actually voluntarily brought a napkin after spilling something and playing with it (this is progress, because she never would have cleaned it before!).

Teomima

Mon, Mar 12 2018, 7:45 am

I used to be a optometric vision therapist and worked with lots of children like you describe. What we saw was when a child was lacking in virtual perceptual abilities, they'd tend to become very sensory. For example, I could look at a glass of water, know the glass would feel smooth and cool to the touch, that the water would be wet and slippery, etc. But sometimes a child's brain doesn't slow down and complete that thought process, often because they don't instantly interpret the visual cues. This leads to physical contact and interaction with the object and, sadly, often results in misdiagnoses. I can't even tell you the number of children I've worked with who have been mislabeled as ADHD and have managed to go off Ritalin after vision therapy (which isn't to say is not a wonderful medication for those who need it! But I find it incredibly sad when children are misdiagnosed and needlessly medicated when a simple theraputic process was able to resolve their situation. Again, I am not saying this is a solution for everyone, or trying to claim ADHD and sensory issues do not exist, just that sometimes, in some cases, for some children [and adults], there are other, often overlooked, options).

If this is something you are interested in pursuing, I suggest googling for a COVD certified behavioral/developmental optometrist in your area.

amother

Ginger

Mon, Mar 12 2018, 7:53 am

OT should help.

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