my daughter is 8 months old and sucks on her index and middle fingers of her left hand, usually when she's ready to go to sleep, when she's stressed or bored, or when she's cutting a new tooth. but the habit is worsening. when/how do i break her of this habit???
2006-08-14 09:26:34 · 25 answers · asked by funmama 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
I would not recommend trying to make an 8 month old baby stop sucking their fingers.
Two of mine were born sucking their fingers, the third was sucking on his arm and had a blister when he was born.
It makes them feel better and it is not going to harm them or you. Matter of fact, she uses this to comfort herself.
Be glad she knows how to comfort herself.
My daughters have gorgeous teeth and at 28 & 20, neither suck their fingers
Let her comfort herself and do not bother yourself or her about it.
2006-08-14 10:19:21 · answer #1 · answered by jwright2 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Worsening as in how? To the point where it is causing injury? I used to suck my thumb when I was little- every night when I went to bed. It was a comfort habit that helped me fall asleep. I used to do it so much I would get callouses on the knuckle of my thumb. Eventually I grew out of it with time...probably when I was six or seven. I have no scars or anything from it and my teeth are fine also.
If its not really detrimental then I would say let her do it for comfort sake because she's gonna grow out of it eventually. If its bothering you during the day then you could just start taking her fingers out of her mouth whenever you catch her. If she is injuring herself at all then possibly try vinegar or some other foul tasting thing. The problem with vinegar or hot sauce is that it could upset her stomach and you could end up with a bigger problem. Good luck!
2006-08-14 09:37:33 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh god, If she is teething you must get her a teething ring to bite on. She is going through some pain and discomfort with those teeth coming in one by one. That is what it is. Children do get a very uncomfortable feeling when teeth come in, so they need to bite on something to get the pain to subside. It is perfectly okay for them to bite on a childs teeting ring.
If you are worried about her sucking on her fingers later on, evern after her teeth came in here is my solution, but right now I don't think you have to worry about that problem, she is way to young to worry about her sucking on fingers long term, and I am sure this has to do with the new teeth.
I used to suck my thumb until I was about 2-3, then my mom decided to encourage me to suck my thumb, and she would suck her thumb too when I was about to go to sleep, after a couple of times of doing this, I realized she was nuts and I stopped.
I think they do this practice with children, who don't realize, that what their doing, is not right. Like if a todler bangs open and close, the kitchen cabinets, you go and do it, and they will realize how dumb it is and stop.
The hot peper or hot sauce does not work and is extrememly dangerous for a child that age, I had it done at 3 and I just wiped it off and kept sucking on.
Good Luck
2006-08-14 09:47:24 · answer #3 · answered by Chris 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You don't! My daughter has the "I Love You" suck...her middle and ring finger. She's almost 13 months as has been doing this since 4 months of age. I thought that when she started to get some teeth that this would subside....nope! Your daughter is her own pacifier. This will stop eventually....or put some "stop that bite" on her fingernails. It tastes terrible. Good Luck!
2006-08-14 11:09:43 · answer #4 · answered by Mom of One in Wisconsin 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That's what my daughter did when teething. try a pacifier or just let her suck her fingers. What's so bad about it? I'd worry more if she were sucking her thumb older than age six. That could cause buck teeth and most likely braces.
2006-08-14 09:34:41 · answer #5 · answered by nonya 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Is there something wrong with this??? It her way of self calming. If it becomes a problem later I would deal with it then. I don't see it as a problem now. Infants suck on fingers, its what they do. Just keep them clean and away from nasty things.
2006-08-14 09:34:53 · answer #6 · answered by dpjejj 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you want to put your baby to sleep in 20 seconds you must get the "Instant Baby Sleep" MP3 sound track. Here is their official web-site: http://www.instantbabysleep.net
The sound track gently produces energy over the full human hearing spectrum with an embedded pulse that gently eases the brain to the Alpha state well known for drowsiness and sleep induction.
2014-09-25 09:50:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I wouldn't be too concerned at this age. Part of it is for comfort part of it is habit. 8 months isn't a big concern
Stay away from pacifiers, nothing wrong with them. But if you misplace one, you'll be going out at midnight to buy one. I know from experience.
2006-08-14 09:33:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Don't !
it's normal for a baby to do that.
Babies also want to touch everything , to put things in their mouth....
that's normal too.
don't stop your baby from doing that,that's its way of exploring the inviorment.
2006-08-14 09:37:30 · answer #9 · answered by @neverland 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have tried lots of things and cant find anything that works either. My daughter is 6 and still sucks her thumb.
2006-08-14 10:43:30 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋