Sticky mess!

Post Reply New Topic

My 5 yr old autie daughter is fixated on everything sticky. spreading out over the kitchen table, all over her clothes, skin, hair etc. every time I turn my back she's into maple syrup, chocolate syrup, honey, toothpaste, glue, vasoline, liquid hand soap and moisturizer. Worst is the tree sap from the big spruces in the back yard. It's making one heck of a mess! Seems to be a sensory issue and a pica issue as she's eating it too. Any ideas on how to redirect or curtail this behavior? Thanks

I'm not a parent so take this with a grain of salt: My Mom didn't restrict what I could play with, she just made me clean it up after. I stopped smearing toothpaste all over the bathroom mirror pretty quickly.

This might sound crazy, but I'd suggest letting her do it, and let her have fun. You can, however, teach her that there needs to be a when, where, and what with, like letting her play at bath time, getting all gooey with something edible in a place that cleans up easy in the tub. You could even use it as a behavior reward, like, if you don't eat with a fork you won't get strawberry syrup in the tub tonight.

In the meantime, you may have to find a way to keep her out of things, and let her know that playing unsupervised is a responsibility that must be earned with appropriate behavior.


Might sound crazy, but I believe this fascination is a phase that will pass sooner if you allow it in a safe way, and rob it of its novelty. If it sounds wasteful or juvenile, i love the scene in Patch Adams where they put the lady in the pasta pool. I personally would go with marshmallows. Good luck.

I disagree with using the behavior as a reward, though. That would spoil all the fun.

This is not "behavior" this is sensory seeking, this is not an NT child. My daughter had the opposite problem she did not like to get dirty, even a spot of water on her shirt and she would freak out. My son was the opposite which made my daughter upset. We got her over the tactile sensitivities around the age 5 and she would sit for hours smearing shaving cream all over the big window or on the floor (if you do the floor be careful they dont stand up and slip and fall)....of course you dont do this on carpeting . I would just put my kids in their undies and we would play and then clean up....clean floor, clean kids, sensory needs met. Even though we had to teach my daughter to get messy its the same thing. We just taught her to change her needs. She would also love theraputty and play doh and squishy toys.

Also until she gets over this and learns to ask or that there is a time and a place for it (the bathtub is a great idea) you will just have to watch her all the time.

I LOVE LOVE LOVED Play-doh as a child (er, "Doh-doh", as I called it). ^

I'm in the camp with the others who have said to indulge her in ways that are less destructive/messy. Tree sap is forever once it dries on an article of clothing so I hear ya on the messy aspect of it. Have you ever made GAK? Google it, you'll find instructions. It has a stickier texture than play dough but is just as easy to clean up. You can make it up and it will keep for a few days in a plastic container before it starts to fall apart and dry out. Shaving cream as liloleme suggested is good. You can blob shaving cream on the table and add dabs of washable paint for beautiful art work that cleans up pretty easy.

If it's just a phase or even if it's going to be a longer running type of fascination, I do think that she will do it less on her own if she knows that she can do it when she wants to and you will let her.

I have a couple of suggestions about keeping things from getting too messy and letting her still have her fun.

Get a big plastic tablecloth from the dollar store, or a big tarp. Put it on the floor in maybe the kitchen. Somewhere so she has room and won't get it on carpet if any gets off the plastic.

Get a few old outfits that are long pants and long sleeve shirts and socks that she can wear while doing it, so it doesn't get all over her skin too much. You can save those clothes for that kind of play and just toss them in the washer afterwards.

Make sure you put her hair up and tie on a scarf before letting her get into it.

Spray her hands with Pam or put Crisco on them first so it doesn't stick to her as much (unless that's part of the fun for her)

Make sure you put something like Noxema or cold cream or something on her face first, even a thick layer of lotion, so it doesn't stick there. Put it on her eyebrows too, you don't want it stuck in there.

For the sticky stuff to use, you can buy things like syrup etc at the dollar store for $1. You can get big containers too. It doesn't taste very good, that's why it's cheap. That way you aren't wasting something your family would actually eat.

I also have a recipe for "salt dough" that I used to make for my kids. It's not really sticky and it's a lot like play doh. You just put it in the oven afterwards to bake it to harden and you can paint it. If you want that, I'll be glad to give it to you.