so my 2 month old has a new habit lol.. shes fascinated with sucking on her hand.. she makes a fist with her left hand and sucks on the end of it by her thumb and first finger.. i take it out of her mouth and try to give her her binky and she doesnt want it.. i tried feeding her but shes not hungry.. sometimes she'll even do it right after shes done eating, so i know its not that.. honestly it wouldnt be a big deal but last night she did it until her little hand was all red on that side... now i know iv heard alot of people say that they dont really develop "habits" until they are around 3 months or older.. but is this something i should be concerned about now? .. any opinions/comments/solutions?
-ive even noticed that if shes has sleeves on that are a little long and cover her hand she still does the same exact thing but just sucks on that part of her sleeve
She has discovered her hand and how to get it in her mouth. She saw it, She moved it and now she is practicing controlling it. It is soothing her and keeping her occupied.
This is very normal and soon she will notice something else on her body and will spend time learning about it.
She will be fine, and will move on.
It's normal. She just needs to suck. It's a strong instinct that actually starts to wane around 5 months.
Like you, I wanted my kids to take the paci. It's far easier to take a paci away from a baby than to get their thumb out of her mouth.
It's not really a "habit" until around 5 to 6 months old. After that, yes, it's a habit.
This is my suggestion, because I have a pretty tough opinion about pacifiers and thumbs being sucked on:
Buy several types of pacis and keep trying to get her to take one of them. I did this with my second, who was picky-picky about not wanting a paci. I couldn't take him sucking on my nipples as a paci - he didn't want more milk - he just needed to suck. And I wasn't letting him near that thumb. He finally took one of the pacis. (My first didn't care what paci I put in his mouth - he was easier.)
At night time, I put them both down with the paci in their mouths after nursing. They were still awake when I put them down (I always did that because I wanted them to learn to fall asleep with me holding them.) After they dropped off, they relaxed their hold on the paci. I took it out of the crib. No more giving it back to them for the rest of the night. I let them suck on it while they were awake.
The reason is that I didn't want to have to keep getting up all night to put it back in their mouths everytime they woke a little and wanted to suck on it. If they got used to not sucking during the night, they woke up less. (Only to nurse.)
At 5 months, I took away the paci for good. Yes, he cried and whined for a few days, but that was it. With my second, we were in London when he was 4 months and his paci broke. No paci in all of England was going to do for him - he wouldn't take a one! That was it for the paci! I was sad about that - I really could have used a paci for the 2 weeks we were abroad, but there ya go! He was fussy for a few days, but that was it.
I never used it during the night, so when I took it away, it didn't change their night routine.
Continue to put the long sleeves on her hand so that she won't actually get her fingers in her mouth. And try several pacis - just keep giving them to her instead of letting her have her hand. At 5 months, no more pacis.
Dawn
I would let it ride as long as it isn't hurting her. My DD started to suck her thumb around 3 months old. By 1 year she had lost interest and we never had to curb her away from the habit. It may resolve itself. No worries :o)
Its completely normal for babies to suck on their hands, feet, arms etc . You don't have to worry about it. She is just figuring out her body and how it works!
HI there - hit your library or used book store for "What to expect, the first year" - it will help you a LOT with tons of info on child development.
Totally normal :) The mouth is like a "3rd hand" - they explore the world with it.
This is so very normal. She won't hurt her hand. Being red is just the result of the pressure. Relax. Why the concern about habits? We all have habits. Sucking her hand, even if it's a habit, it's also a phase. She won't be sucking her hand forever.
