When baby eats hands?

A month-old baby loves to eat hands. Is it because the desire to suck is not satisfied?

The idea is that babies have such a high need to suck that they want to suck even when their tummy is full. Seeing a baby gnawing on a finger, the first thing mothers have to rule out is whether the baby is hungry. If your baby is still sucking just after a full meal, it's likely that your baby's sucking needs aren't being met.

Let's do the math together. Babies within 3 months are usually fed every 3-3.5 hours, and breastfeeding for 30 minutes at a time, about 7-8 times a day, which is at least 210 minutes, which is 3 and a half hours. The time is really long up! Baomas who feed regularly must not be frightened by so-called psychologists, thinking that their breastfeeding time is not long enough.

If the baby still sucks his hands after feeding, the likely reason is that the baby is sleepy and has not been fed by the milk, so he changes to sucking his hands to help him fall asleep. This can be clearly observed in some babies who have the habit of sleeping with milk. Reasonably arranging the baby's regular work and rest can effectively help the baby form a stable sleep pattern. The baby must follow the order of eating-playing-sleeping during the day. Mothers need to determine the appropriate feeding interval and arrange nap time according to the baby's actual situation.

Do you think a baby eating hands within 3 months is a sign of exploring the world?

We need to guide the baby to learn to use small hands. The baby's hands often make fists, and they may open when they touch objects. Let him touch objects of different textures and learn to hold them for a while. If you hang some toys where your baby can touch them in his field of vision, he will accidentally touch them with a wave of his little hand. In this repeated contact, the baby can learn hand-eye coordination, and will also touch toys intentionally.

In addition, babies of young months must lie down more and practice neck strength. Babies who have practiced lying on their stomachs from a very young age generally do not eat their hands constantly, because it is not easy to eat their hands while lying on their stomachs, and it is not easy to develop the habit of eating their hands.

Do you think that 4-6 month old babies eat their hands to perceive the needs of the body?

Babies do perceive the world through their mouths, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't set boundaries. We also need to guide 4-6 month old babies to exercise their hands. At 5 months, toys can be placed at different distances, where the child can reach through hard work, let the baby reach for the toy with his own efforts, and do not passively put the toy in the baby's hands. At 6 months, children should be trained to pass toys from one hand to the other. When the baby sits up, if the baby has already held an object in one hand, you can give another object to the same hand to see if the baby will pass the original object to the other hand, if not, you can teach it by hand Baby, usually after a few times the baby learns.

Babies 7-12 months eat their hands to relieve teething discomfort?

After 6 months, most babies have already teethed. When teething, babies will feel uncomfortable. They may bite their fingers, fists or other objects to soothe themselves. At this time, you can bite the refrigerated teether for your child to gently massage the gums.

 

Although the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children over the age of 5 still eat their hands before helping them quit, it is still recommended that parents should stop eating hands before the age of 1, and it is best to quit before the age of 2. The longer the hand-eating time, the greater the harm to fingers and teeth. More importantly, if children over 1 year old frequently eat hands during the day, it will be detrimental to the development of language ability. Hand eating can deprive your baby of many opportunities to speak.

Is it a bad thing for babies to eat their hands?

The development of the baby's brain requires a lot of "sensory stimulation" information, so babies who are often touched and talked to by their parents may be smarter.

Eating hands is exactly the "sensory stimulation" that babies can accomplish by themselves. The younger the baby, the more dependent on the mouth for this kind of information, so he likes to chew on everything he is given. In addition, the baby can take the initiative to put the finger into the mouth accurately, in fact, it relies on the coordination and cooperation of the sensory system and the motor system, which is a happy progress for newborn babies.
When the baby can't be comforted by the mother's nipple, he can replace it with the way of "eating hands", which shows that he has found a way to satisfy himself, which is also conducive to the development of the child's self-awareness.
Just as adults may respond to anxiety by shaking their legs, picking their fingers, pinching things in their hands, etc., young children rely more on simple and repetitive physical tactile movements, and "eating hands" naturally evolves into the main emotional coping mechanism in infancy .
If the baby only eats hands occasionally and does not cause physical harm or cause him to be unaccepted by the people around him, there is no need for parents to specifically stop it. You must know that restraining itself will strengthen the behavior of "eating hands".

However, no matter how old the child is, if the disadvantages of "eating hands" to the baby's growth are more obvious, for example: because eating hands is not accepted by other children or kindergarten teachers, or because the fingers are bitten and moulted, etc., parents should Find a way to get your baby to make some changes.

So how do you stop your baby from eating their hands?

The method varies from person to person, and it is often the most effective method that parents and children try to sum up continuously.
Here are a few examples for reference:

• For hygiene issues, you can avoid the risk of bacterial entry by helping your baby wash their hands;
• Use a pacifier that does not hurt your hands or teeth instead;
• Discuss with your child a fixed time and place for him to eat at will, and hold back the rest of the time and occasions;
• Discuss a code word to remind children not to eat their hands;
• Put a comfortable and elastic elbow pad on the child's elbow joint before going to bed, so that it takes a little effort when the child bends the arm (eating hand); after falling asleep, the arm relaxes and straightens, and the fingers will automatically bounce off.