Up until recently, I never really worried about what my daughter put in her mouth. Obviously I'm careful to watch her, but she never seemed interested in eating things that aren't food, and didn't do much mouthing when she was little.

But for the last month or so, she seems to be chewing on everything! She's not teething, I give her access to toys that are ok to chew, like teething rings and such, and she knows that she isn't supposed to put just anything in her mouth. Still, several times a day I have to tell her to stop eating the pillows, the books, her stuffed animals, my hair, the walls!

It seems like an absent minded thing, and she does do it more often before meals. I've tried offering her a snack when she's chewing stuff, but that just results in half eaten food smashed into whatever she chews.

What should I do? Mostly I'm concerned about her stuffed squid she sleeps with every night. I crocheted it when she was tiny and can't replace it, and her chewing has already torn through it in one place.