The two benefits of the baby entering the "hand-eating period" are 1, which is a signal of the baby's intellectual development.
The baby's entering the "hand-eating period" is actually a signal of the child's intellectual development, which represents the preparation stage of the baby's finger function differentiation and hand-eye coordination.
For a baby whose brain is not fully developed, the hand is just an external thing and does not belong to the body. Babies aged 4-7 months will explore new things by sucking their fingers, so they will "eat their hands".
When the baby clumsily sucks the whole hand from the beginning, and then skillfully sucks some fingers or one finger, it is actually the performance of the baby's brain intelligence development.
2, can help the baby calm down.
Babies like to "eat their hands", which is actually a manifestation of inner insecurity. And sucking fingers is actually a form of baby's self-comfort and self-satisfaction, so this is why when parents don't let the baby eat fingers, the baby will be anxious and cry.
The baby of 2-3 months is in the period of oral pleasure. If you stop your baby's need to suck, it may lead to anxiety and even lack of trust. Therefore, for babies in this period, "eating hands" can also play a role in calming emotions.
Three disadvantages of children entering "hand-eating period" 1. They may be infected with bacteria.
Many treasure mothers don't let their babies eat their fingers, mainly because they are worried about "getting sick from the mouth." In fact, this kind of worry is also reasonable.
Babies in the exploration period are very curious about the outside world, so they always like to grab things from the east and the west. However, these items will inevitably be contaminated with some bacteria. These bacteria will pass through the baby's hands and then eat into the baby's stomach, which may affect the baby's health.
2, affect the development of baby's teeth
In the process of eating hands, the baby will inevitably touch the gums. If the baby meets the teething period when eating his hands, it is likely to lead to the baby's tooth dysplasia.
Because babies are always used to putting their hands in their mouths, squeezing developing gums for a long time is likely to affect the normal development and shaping of gums. Deformed gums are difficult to correct, and may even affect the baby's face value. Parents must pay attention.
3, leading to the baby's dependence.
"Eating hands" is one of the ways for babies to relieve their emotions, especially when the baby is in a strange environment or extremely unsafe state, the baby will comfort himself by eating hands.
When the baby is in a state of insecurity for a long time, it will rely more on eating fingers, hoping to gain more sense of security, but excessive dependence is not a good behavior, so parents should face up to this problem, meet the baby's physical and psychological needs, and help the baby get more sense of security.
Generally speaking, the baby's "hand-eating period" will end after 8 months, and may last until about 2 years old at the latest. If the baby still has the habit of "eating by hand" after 2 years old, it is necessary for parents to take some measures to help the baby get through the "greedy period".
The behavior of "eating hands" has a positive impact on the baby's physical and mental development in the mouth, so as long as the baby does not rely on it, parents do not need to deliberately stop the baby's behavior, but if it affects the baby's health or normal development, it is necessary for parents to intervene.