Breaking the Putting Everything in the Mouth Habit

This sounds to me like a sensory integration issue. Not earth-shaking; I have these issues myself. They drive people to want-crave-seek more of certain sensations, textures, sounds, etc., while often simultaneously having an aversion to others. Your son may really want and need more oral stimulation.

I'd approach it by recognizing the need and finding one or a few things that are acceptable and safe for him to chew on or explore with his mouth. Then he won't be tempted to sample every interesting piece of junk that he finds. At five, he can probably help you find nice objects. Be careful about plastics and painted items, which may have toxins that could leach.

To meet my touch "hunger" I lean toward nicely-shaped beads or pendants on a cord. Some would probably be appropriate for mouthing, too. And sensory-integration websites also offer items for oral stimulation that might meet your son's needs.

At 5 your son should be able to understand that he is not to pick things up and put them in his mouth. Have you talked with him at a later time, when you're not feeling anxious about what he's doing, and explained the reasons for not putting these objects in his mouth. If you have been consistent in stopping him and/or taking the object away from him over a period of a few weeks and have talked with him and he's still doing it I would consider if there are other related behaviors, such as keeping something in his mouth most of the time at home. Some children seem to need the stimulation of having something in their mouth.

If this is the case, have him take something with him that he can put in his mouth. My daughter started her kids out on gum around that age. They still swallow the gum some of the time which is a minor concern. Actually, swallowing gum is OK. It passes thru the intestinal tract just fine. My grandson, who has a sensory processing disorder chews 5 or more pieces at a time unless he's supervised.

If he mostly only picks up odd objects while out and you haven't used a consequence other than taking the object away from him it may be time to add another consequence. Some ideas are to put him in the cart so that he has less freedom. Leave the store and go home. How boring!

Please relax some. Terrified is over doing it. I've seen lots of children do this and they do not become ill. In fact, it often seems that the healthiest children are those regularly exposed to the most germs. I agree that you don't want to take that chance but this is not something worth so much emotionally energy. Is it possible that he keeps doing this to see your reaction?

Make him ride in the shopping kart and tell him he can't walk until he learns to leave things alone. He's old enough to understand not to pick things up from the floor.

I agree that it sounds like a sensory issue. You might want to talk with a doctor.

Maybe you should have him evaluated for sensory processing issues. It's really not typical for a five year old to be putting things, especially strange things that don't belong to him, in his mouth. Kids of this age have the wherewithall to know that they should not do that. There's a great place on Sheridan St. called The Brain Child Institute. This does not sound behavioral and if behavioral techniques have not worked on him in the past then I would have him checked out.