This is something new and I would think that this would have been something she would have started as an infant but not for a 2 yr old. Just recently she has her fingers in her mouth all of the time. Sometimes its just the index and middle finger together and other times its all four fingers (except her thumb). She was cutting her 2 yr molars a couple of months ago and thats when I noticed her doing it but assumed she was doing it b/c of her teeth. Well now all of her molars are in and she is still doing it. I worry that this is becoming a habit and I certainly don't want her doing this all of the time. Does anyone else out there have a child that does that or know why they would be doing that?
I think all my children did this at that age. My youngest is two and does it alot. My 8, 7, and 5 year olds no longer do it, so eventually they *do* grow out of it =) I wouldn't worry.
My son had a phase where he did that too. He already had his molars, so it wasn't teething. He would run around all day with all four fingers in his mouth. I didn't make a big deal about it unless we went somewhere (germs) and he eventually quit doing it. He does it every once in a while now when he's upset about something, but not very often. Hopefully it's just a phase.
My 2 year old does the same thing. He isn't a true finger sucker (he actually uses a pacifier we should probably drop). However, he is still getting molars. It may just be one of those passing phases...I don't understand toddlers. :)
Make sure she is getting enough fluids. Some kids will put fingers in their mouth to get the salt off from their sweat. Other kids still need to suck and if that is the case she will need to have something you can eventually take away. My daughter still needed to suck but I flat out decided to take bottle, pacifier, every thing "suckable" and she strted sucking her fingers and she is deformed because of my stubborn decision. Anytime she is stressed out, depressed, worried, etc...I catch her asleep with her fingers in her mouth. She is 30.
My daughter did that too at around the same age. We aren't sure why she started it, but it lasted about 6 months. When we would see her with her fingers in her mouth, we made a point to tell her that big girls don't put fingers in their mouths. She wanted to be a big girl so she would stop for a day or two and then do it again. I noticed when we made a big deal out of it she would do it more. Just take it slow and easy. Eventually your daughter will move on to another phase.
J.
