I have a 10 weeks old baby girl, which is a doll and with very good habits, I bottlefeed her, she eats 6 ounces every 4 hours, and she sleeps all night, her last bottle is around 10:00 - 11:00 pm, my husband and I feel blessed. But lately she discovered how to comfort herself and she sucks her hand, and fingers until they get red...and she forgets to cry for her bottle....or she fells asleep on her own.
My question is: Is better to give her a pacifier instead letting her suck her hand?...she is eating less than before and I don't know if this is normal because of her succking habit. Please advise me.
She cannot forget to cry for her bottle honey, if she's hungry in her tummy, she will let you know. She probably enjoying suckling and it is calming to alot of infants. Put little mittens on her hands so that she does not get used to sucking her thumb and if she is fussy and has already had her bottle, give her the pacifier. Ahhhhhhh 10 weeks....how precious.....CONGRATULATIONS!
Yes yes yes. You have got it exactly right.
Give her a soother.
I am NOT a fan of these (quiet the reverse actually) but she needs it right now ... and may possibly need for a couple years.
YES you would be wise to prevent here sucking her hand or fingers, especially since she is sucking herself raw!
This habit once ingrained can sometimes go on and it's a massive problem for many reasons when they are older. The soother can be taken away. The hand can't.
Simple really!
Congratulations on your daughter, and good wishes
A
N.,
I would not worry too much about it affecting her nutrition. Bottle-fed babies tend to eat more than they need to because the bottle flows more readily anyway. If she's hungry, she'll eat.
As for paci vs hand...I feel it is a good thing that she has learned to soothe herself. My 5 1/2 month-old, also re-discovered her thumbs/hands at about 10 weeks old. (She was sucking her thumb during one of her ultrasounds, but did not do it during the first two months after her birth.) While it doesn't bother me, my husband HATES the habit and always pushes her hand away. My baby is undaunted though, and just goes right back to it.
For me, the issue lies in "the long-run". "If allowed to suck her thumbs/hands now, will she stop at an appropriate time in the future, or will she be 14+, in high-school, talking about boyfriends and sex, while sucking on her bulbous thumb in class!" (This is not a made-up situation!! I actually witnessed this!)
Anyway, what we do with our little doll is give her the paci whenever possible. We don't stress about her sucking her thumb/hand (Not even my husband) but we try to minimize it by offering the paci also. This way, hopefully, it won't be a long-term habit. She does take it, but whenever she needs some soothing she goes to her ready hand since we fail to read her mind.
Hope this helps. Congratulations on your little one and good luck to you!
-I.
I believe it's easier to get them off the habit of pacifier than their own fingers/thumb. Two of my boys used pacifiers till age 4. After age 3, we told them they can only use it before nap and bed time. By age 4, they were totally finished with the pacifiers. We just threw them away.
I don't think it would be this easy with their thumb/fingers.
It is good for her to learn to self-soothe by sucking her hands instead of the pacifier. This way she doesn't need someone to come replace the pacifier if it falls out. She can soothe herself. And its great if she falls asleep on her own doing this. We're still praying for our 5 1/2 month old to do that! Not sure what to say about the red fingers. I do notice though that babies' skin gets red at the smallest thing and usually goes away pretty quickly.
me personally i have 3 children and all 3 of them were on a pacifire till they were 2 years old. i personally think it helps alot cause like right now i am breaking my 20 month old off of it i honestly don't think sucking on their fingers or their hands cause they start now than it will be harder for you to break them from that than the pacifire
I would advise letting her sooth herself. In my experience, my son had a pacifier and my daughter did not. My son is now 5 and still puts everything in his mouth, much more than his 3-year-old sister. I think it is because I let him have a pacifier instead of letting him sooth himself. I would also check with your pediatrician to make sure that she isn't losing weight. If she is, then your pediatrician may suggest something else. Good luck.
