Most babies start to eat their hands from 2 to 3 months old, and some will eat their hands after more than one month.
Eating hands marks that the baby's psychological development has entered a new stage - the differentiation of finger functions and the initial hand-eye coordination stage, which is a signal of intellectual development. During the newborn period, the brain is not yet mature and cannot direct its own little hands. With the development of the brain in 2 to 3 months after birth, the baby begins to show hand movements. At this time, the baby sees the hand as a very interesting toy.
Putting your fingers in your mouth seems to be a simple thing for adults, but for a baby, it means that his motor muscles and muscle control ability have made great achievements in cooperation with each other. This requires the coordination of four reflex behaviors: bend the arm into a small arc, relax the motor muscles and extend the fingers, search and put the hand into the small mouth, and start sucking. What a complicated and amazing skill this is for babies! Parents should not blame the baby, but should be happy for him!
Eating fists and fingers are often mistaken by parents as the baby is hungry or not full, but this is not true! This is a healthy way for babies to soothe themselves. The famous psychologist Freud believed that eating activities are the best and most important way to obtain satisfaction in infancy. Babies aged 2 to 3 months are in the oral pleasure period. If the need for sucking is not met, it will affect their physical and mental development, leading to irritable and depressed negative emotions. If parents can observe carefully, they will find that when the baby feels uneasy, irritable, or nervous, eating hands will calm the baby's mood. Some babies will suck their fingers to seek self-comfort and fall asleep again when they are in a light sleep state. In short, hand-eating is a psychological need and a transient behavior during the baby's growth process. Under normal development conditions, babies will not develop the habit of sucking their hands, and parents do not need to worry or try to stop it.
The positive and appropriate approach taken by parents at this time is to often put a thin flower bell stick in the palm of the baby of 2 to 3 months old and let him grasp it. The opening of the bell may take a few seconds. Parents should not be discouraged if the clock is thrown away. If you do it repeatedly, the baby will gradually extend the grasping time. If parents hold the baby's little hand and shake it, the flower bell stick in their hand will make a sound, which will stimulate the baby's interest in watching and grasping the toys in the hand; for babies 3 to 4 months old, parents can hold the baby's little hand to touch the brightly colored and colorful toys in front of them. When the baby is 5 to 6 months old, parents can hold the baby in front of the table and encourage the baby to take the initiative to reach for the toys on the table. When the baby's small hands are enough, As your acquisition skills develop, you will be more interested in touching, exploring and understanding various novel objects and toys around you. In this way, the baby's little hands will be too busy to take care of eating.
If a baby over 1 year old still sucks his thumb all day long and is silent and sluggish, parents should pay attention to it and find out the reasons: whether the parent-child relationship is harmonious and whether the parents have too many restrictions or demands on the baby. If the child is too strict, the baby will not have a happy life; if the mother gets along with her for a short time after going to work, the baby will be left out... Relevant surveys have found that young children who lack parental care and spiritual comfort are prone to develop the habit of sucking their hands. At this time, eating hands can comfort the baby and release tension and frustration.
The best solution is for parents to spend as much time playing games with their baby as possible, give him more love, and take him to play hands-on games: clapping, braiding ropes, hand shadow games, etc. Clapping your hands while saying children's songs and playing with the shadow of the little white rabbit scratching its ears, your baby will never tire of it. If the baby is in a good mood and has something to do with his hands, he will naturally not eat his hands.
Finally, I would like to emphasize that parents should be understanding and tolerant of their baby's hand-sucking behavior and should not forcefully interfere. When seeing older children sucking their hands, do not repeat "Why are they sucking their hands again?" Not only is this ineffective, but it will strengthen this behavior and even affect the baby's normal emotional and psychological development in the future.
If the child still sucks his fingers when he is three or four years old, the mother and father should take the baby to consult a psychologist. Together with the doctor, they can analyze the reasons why the baby sucks his fingers and correct them according to different reasons. For minor cases, the father can be guided. The mother takes measures such as meeting the baby's emotional needs, and then decides whether to use behavioral modification methods based on the situation.