My 11 week old daughter has been spitting out her paci constantly the past 3 days or so and just wants to suck on her hand or a few fingers, but hasn't yet found her thumb....which I don't want her to. Should I let her suck as long as she doesn't find the thumb or keep putting the paci back in her mouth? This sucking is only while she's awake as she uses the paci while she sleeps and keeps it in or it sometimes falls out once she's sleeping and she doesn't care. Any insight into this?
Actually, it's really not a "problem." It'll be OK. I'm with the other moms who said let her do what she is trying to do.
If she is happy sucking on the hand, smile and relax. No worries.
My youngest used to spit out the paci and try to suck the knuckle of his index finger. He only used the paci very very rarely and he was the easiest one of all the boys to get off the paci when it was time.
Why don't you want her to suck her thumb?
I have one kid who is a thumb sucker and another who's a pacifier kid. I'd choose the thumb sucker any day. He can't ever lose it, it does a great job of soothing him.
Babies have a natural suckling reflex which partly soothes them. One problem with pacifiers is that they can be lost, and if the baby can't find it again or if it's completely lost, you're stuck without something to help soothe them.
Our son's 3.5 and only sucks it when he's tired. He used to all the time, but now it's only a soothing mechanism at bed time. Both the pediatrician and dentist agree that he'll likely stop before he's in kindergarten. It's actually be a Godsend when he fell and pushed one of his teeth back significantly. The thumb sucking pulled it back in line.
You won't be able to force a kid to choose one or another as young as she is. She may not like the size or the texture of the pacifier all of a sudden. You might want to get a few to see if there's a brand she likes better than others. If you are breastfeeding, it is really difficult to replicate the shape of your nipple in a pacifier - I honestly believe that's how our son got attached to his thumb.
At that age, our daughter was sucking her thumb, but she abandoned it for a pacifier when I started chemo and had to stop nursing. Like I said earlier, of the two vices, I'd much rather have a thumb sucker than have to deal with getting rid of the pacifier.
Good luck and enjoy every moment with your baby.
Why force her to be dependent on a pacifier? What makes it better than her own hand?
I wouldn't worry about it. There are advantages to a pacifier and there are advantages to finger/thumb sucking. Just be sure she can pacify herself.
Haha I logged on here and your post popped up!! I dont agree with the last mama, a thumb is FOREVER, a paci can be taken away...although I still have not taken Riley's away and hes 2 1/2. Riley's rule now....after the infant stage...is he can only have it when he sleeps. It works for us. But maybe you should try a different paci? I dunno? Good luck!!!
Neither of my children were paci babies. The only use my daughter had for it was to hold the nipple and use the handle part as a teether. The best thing I've read in parenting books was, "Start as you mean to go." My daughter was a major thumb sucker her first five or six months. I was kind of afraid she would always be a thumb sucker. She stopped one day and hasn't returned to it. My son is a "lovey" chewer. If your baby is not wanting the paci, count yourself lucky and eliminate that battle down the road. Babies adopt different self-soothing techniques, thus the term "self." She could just be a really happy, content baby.
I tried to introduce a paci to my firstborn and he was never having it! Even sometimes when he really needed sleep I would just hold one in his mouth until he dropped off and then it would just fall out. Some kids are just not into the whole pacifier thing. So I say keep trying and it she continues to reject it there just isn't a whole lot you can do. Mine would literally throw it out across the room once he got big enough!!! Good luck:)
My daughter never used a paci. She has always sucked her arm (weird I know). I think they will suck on whatever they want and there isn't much you can do about it at that age. My Pediatrician said at that age there isn't much to worry about. They will either break the habit themselves later or you will have to help them. Either way, right now let her do whatever is soothing.
count your blessings! hehehe. we try shoving that thing on babes even when they dont want it only a few yrs later to find that we are trying to take it away. if she dosent really care about it i say she dosent need it. our son was never really one to want one. if he was sucking on his hand it usually ment he was hungery. not sure if its the same for you. good luck.
My kids took neither, but I personally think the thumb is better than the paci.
My almost five month old son doesn't LOVE his binky but I still offer it to him when he needs it. He's also found his hands/fingers and loves to suck on them. While a binky can be taken away and fingers/hands cannot, I would not think at his age you need to worry about letting her suck on her fingers. They are new things she's just learned she has and can put into her mouth. If she doesn't like her binky, then that is okay and I think it's okay for her fingers to satifsy her.
My sons, now 17, did that too. They did not want ANY kind of pacifier. You know, neither did my Daughter. None of them went on to be thumb/finger suckers.
