A mom writes in asking for advice about giving gum to her child. She says her 4-year-old daughter has been begging to have gum, but this mom is worried that her daughter will either swallow it or get it stuck in her hair, which would then need to be cut. She also has concerns that giving gum to her 4-year-old will make her 3-year-old son want the same, and she would rather avoid that annoyance. So, what say you? At what age is it appropriate to give a child gum?
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A member of the community asks:
“What age do you think it’s okay to give your child gum?
At what age do you think it’s okay to give your kids gum? My daughter is 4 and keeps begging me to have some but I’m so worried it’s going to get all tangled up and I’m going to have to cut her beautiful hair. I’m also worried that she might swallow it, which wouldn’t be the worst, but also her brother who is 3 will want some if he sees her have some. What are your thoughts?”
– Mamas Uncut Community Member
Community Advice for This Mom Who Wants to Know at What Age It Is Appropriate to Give a Child Gum
To see what advice the Mamas Uncut Facebook community has for this mom in need, read the comments of the post embedded below.
Advice Summary
The community offered this mom in need a lot of great advice. Read some of their responses below.
“You still need to be cutting grapes for kids as 10 so no way would I let a child younger than that have gum.”
“If it gets in her hair use peanut butter. Save yourself the haircut.”
“Give her the gum. Besides, getting gum stuck in your hair as a kid is a right of passage!”
“Woah. 4 is way too young. My eldest is 9 and that’s still too young in my book. I can’t believe no one is concerned with choking?! Gum can get lodged in the throat making it almost impossible to remove.”
“I think it depends on the child. My daughter is 3 years old chews it and has since she’s 2. She knows not to swallow or play with it. She’s pretty good with it she chews it and when she’s done she throws it out.”
“My kids started getting it around 2ish. First time was Halloween candy! They all do fine. Only had gum in hair once, but that was big brother laughing and it dropped outta his mouth onto his sister’s hair. Not exactly her fault lol.”
“My son was 3 and my daughter 5! I just made sure her locks were up high and taught them how to chew it and trash it when the flavor was gone. Was a life saver because we flew to another state and their poor ears needed the gum!”
“My youngest is 7 and she’s been sneaking it since she was 5. I keep finding gum stuck to things.I don’t have gum anymore because of this.”
“I think it depends on maturity / what they understand. My daughter who will be 4 in Sept will get half of my piece on occasion when I do chew it and she knows she has to hand it to me when she is done with it and never to swallow it. It’s been like that since she was probably 2 and a half.”
“Honestly I think my last kid was still 1 almost 2 when she started chewing it. She swallowed a couple dozen times and I found a couple of old hard pieces, but she is 3 and now chews until the flavor is gone and then spits it in the garbage.”
“My daughter started around twoish. I made some rules. She loses the gum if she takes it out of her mouth. She doesn’t get gum for a week or so if I find it somewhere it shouldn’t be. And when she is finished she must tell me and let me dispose of it.”
“My son was 3 when I let him try gum, I gave him a small piece and had him chew it in front of me, and then toss it once the flavor was gone. I explained to him we do not swallow, we only take the flavor from the gum, and then it goes to the garbage afterward. We tried it repeatedly until he slowly got the hang of it, and now he does fine with it.”
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