Dear moms, my 7 month old daughter developed this habit of sucking on her index and middle finger of her left hand 3 months ago. At that time, her pediatricians said its a normal sign of self-soothing. So, I let her do it then. By now, her fingers are almost always in. Sometimes even while she is sleeping. She hasn't started sitting up on her own yet. She doesn't crawl on her belly, but she moves around a lot just by rolling over and over, in all directions. Her fingers are in her mouth even when she does that.
I try to divert her attention with toys, and she explores them, puts them in her mouth for a few minutes, and then she plays with them, and her fingers are in again! And I find it hard to watch and remove her fingers all the time. Sometimes, she gets angry when I try to do that and starts bawling! (
Her both fingers are always red, wet and really tender. I am worried if this'll continue to be a big problem later, and if her fingers and nails will have any damage. Have any of you faced the same concern? If yes, how did your children grow out of it? Was it too hard to break this habit? Should I be worried? Are there any ideas I can try with her?
Thank you all in advance!
Thank you moms, for all your reassuring advices.. :)
Btw, just to clarify my concern, she has her fingers in all the time (for hours together), and not just when she needs to soothe herself. As for pacifiers, she loves to pick them in her hands and play with them rather than leave them in her mouth (sigh!). As a result, her moving and playing are restricted to the use of only one hand most times. Its not a health-concern for me, because when she really wants she uses both her hands. She just remains lazy the other times, happy to keep sucking away.. :)
Anyways, I decided to just let her be, and try to encourage her to play with toys. She only recently started sitting up, and to my relief, she's taking her fingers out more often to push herself up, or to explore her new chair, and her food bowls, spoons etc. Hopefully, she'll be rid of the habit just naturally.. :)
My 2nd DD started sucking her thumb at 3 months and quit on her own at 24 months. It was always raw and red, so I'd just put some aquafor on it. It really isn't a big deal. Lots of kids do it.
As the pediatrician said, this is a normal way to self-soothe. Let her do it. The more you work at taking them out the more she needs them to soothe herself after being upset by your trying to take them away.
Sucking on her fingers will not hurt her or her fingers. She will outgrow it as she learns other ways to self-soothe. If she doesn't have a favorite blanket or soft toy, you could try helping her attach to that by always placing it in her crib with her. She might transfer her need for soothing to it. But if she doesn't it'll be OK.
If you continue to try to force her to stop, it's going to become a power struggle and she'll outgrow it later than she would have naturally.
If she has a method of self-soothing that's working why in the world would you want to take that method away?!?!? Because you don't like WATCHING it? Her fingers and nails won't get damaged. Neither will her mouth. And actually it will help reduce her risk of SIDS if she sucks her thumb or fingers in her sleep and it helps strengthen her tongue and other muscles in her mouth. It's not just a habit, it has several purposes or she wouldn't be doing it.
For now, leave it alone. If it bothers you this much then try offering her Avent pacifiers (orthodontically correct and easy to find, plus they never change the style).
She's fine. She's probably working on teeth now. When she's 7 years and doing this, then you have a problem. Alot of children don't sit up at this age yet. Give her some time. She is still VERY little.
she's so tiny! don't take her fingers away. they're hers! she really will outgrow it. (i know when they're in a phase it seems as if it's forever, but it really really will pass.)
khairete
S.
My kids were never into sucking on fingers or pacifiers and at times I wish they had since it would have made settling them down so much easier! Instead, I was stuck rocking, bouncing, soothing until they were able to figure out others ways to self-soothe. On the hand, I watch my 3-month old niece during the day and she LOVES her fingers. Given that I have my own kids to also look after, I don't exactly have a lot of time to try to get her ready for nap and I know that if she gets her fingers in her mouth, I'm good to go! However, she will have nothing to do with a pacifier. It's either her thumb or her middle & ring fingers. Her parents and I are all ok with this since, like I said, we all know that if the fingers go it, she's in a place where she'll be more able to nap.
We know she'll eventually outgrow it, but for now, it's all good and we won't try to force her to do anything...after all, she's just a baby.
Think of it this way (as my pediatrician once told me when my son wasn't doing what I wanted him to as an infant): your baby was inside you for longer than she's been out. Inside, she had all the automatic soothing, comforting and care she needed. Now on the outside, it's ok for her need a little comfort sucking to make up for it.
She needs a pacifier. She is what I call a "suckie baby". She just needs to suck. Most babys do and she is using what shes got. Try a pacifier and it will free up her hands to start crawling and playing more. She might not even need it for long and it wont become a long term habit. My daughter sucked her middle and ring fingers for a while. She looked like she was giving the Hawaiian "hang loose" sign,,lol. Gave her a pacifier for about a month and then she just quit.
Just try to wash her hands a lot. I have a 7 mo old son, too. My dr said he will be fine and grow out of it when he is ready. Try not to worry too much. Give her time and try to divert her attn as much as possible.
