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Cassie 
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Joined: 20 July 2007
Location: New Plymouth
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 Topic: kids licking lips
Posted: 08 September 2008 at 7:56am |
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My little one has just started noticing that she's a somewhat messy eater (we never make a big deal about it) but she wants to be tidier and as a result has taken to licking her lips and all around her mouth while eating to try and get the food off - as a result her lips are getting very dry and sore and it's starting to happen on her skin as well.
What can I do? have started using lip balm on her to help with the dryness and stop it from getting sore, but she won't seem to listen when I tell her not to lick. Is there a good technique I can use or should I just keep reminding her not to lick and hope that eventually she listens?
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Bizzy
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Joined: 01 January 1900
Location: New Zealand
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Posted: 08 September 2008 at 9:01am |
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give her a flannel...or napkin...
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Cassie
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Posted: 08 September 2008 at 9:20am |
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Yeah we do... but she always licks now before we get a chance to remind her. The mess isn't really that bad that she needs to wipe it off, she just thinks it is. We're also struggling with getting her to use a cloth instead of her clothes (lovely habits they pick up at daycare! lol).
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KH25
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Joined: 01 January 1900
Location: Cambridge
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Posted: 08 September 2008 at 9:23am |
My nephew does this (he's 5) but he just does it as a habit and not to get food off or anything. Unfortunately my sister hasn't found any way of stopping him and just has to tell him each time she sees him doing it to stop 
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Kelly, mum to DD, 19Jun06 (26wks 1lb15oz) DS1, 24Oct10 (32wks 4lb11oz) and DS2, 31Dec11 (32wks, 4lb11)
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Cassie
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Posted: 08 September 2008 at 9:27am |
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yeah i am worried she's going to form the habit, have caught her doing it a couple times when shes not eating and really want to prevent it from just becoming a thing she does. Hmm, maybe I should google for ideas. I can see that her lips are sore and i know it must be unpleasant for her.
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Bizzy
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Posted: 08 September 2008 at 9:36am |
i saw something the other day about lips... brainiacs had a segment where they were saying that they are so sensitive and when stuff gets on them it can feel almost tickly..(they did an experiment where they got a man to eat as many sugary doughnuts as possible before licking his lips)...
bit of useless info there sorry.. 
I'm wondering tho if maybe she needs more water while eating to keep hydrated and help keep her lips moist, cause licking them is supposed to help keep them moist not dry them out.
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Cassie
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Posted: 08 September 2008 at 9:51am |
Licking actually does dry out rather than help keep moist, its something to do with the way saliva evaporates (have been reading up  ) so when she licks, it then drys and she licks again and they end up getting chapped - nasty little cycle. I'll try getting her to drink more water and see if that helps any though, and just have to keep reminding her not to do it! Hopefully we can break the cycle before it sets it. It's one of those things you just tend to do without thinking about it I guess.
Thanks for the feedback - oh and I thought the useless information was interesting! lol she might also enjoy the sensation of the tickle when she licks her lips!
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busymum
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Posted: 08 September 2008 at 7:50pm |
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LOL
My Hannah has recently taken to biting her lips - the little by little skin on the edges kind of biting IYGWIM. I've just been telling and reminding her not to, but I'm thinking if it gets worse I may need to get out some chapstick. Maybe that might help Ivy's to get better in the meantime? It would be worth a try to see if she would be "protective" of having lipstick on, ie not want to lick it off by accident.
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ellen
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Posted: 08 September 2008 at 9:16pm |
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My son (who's now 16) did this for years. I gave him lip balm initially but he became addicted to the stuff to the point where he would go through a tube in a few months. It became a really hard cycle that we couldn't break as when he didn't use the balm he licked his lips and they got really sore and dry.
It's just made me realise though that he doesn't seem to use the lip balm hardly at all now so I suppose he's broken the habit himself????
So I'm not much help really - but I would caution on using lip balm too much in case she develops a fixation on it.
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Candkids
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Posted: 09 September 2008 at 2:37pm |
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sarah had a really bad habbit of doing this as a result she ended up with a huge scaly patch that looked like wind burn all around her mouth, i used to smear vasaline all around her mouth before bed and before dinner she hated it greasy taste so stopped doing it.
but . . he school photos looked awfull!!
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 DD 10.5yrs DS 6yrs DS 11mths 5 little angles watching from above
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kids licking lips
