Should I stop my baby from sucking his fingers when he is three months old? Why do babies like to eat their fingers?

Newborn babies like to suck their fingers, and sometimes they will suck their fingers right after feeding. This is actually a normal phenomenon, not because the baby is not full. Mothers can let the baby do it, but if it is too frequent, you should pay attention. So why do babies like to suck their fingers?

Should I stop my three-month-old baby from sucking his fingers?

Mothers don't need to deliberately stop it. Sucking fingers is a very common phenomenon in infants and young children.

At this time, babies use their mouths to explore the world, which is also called the oral stage. Hands are just foreign objects to babies whose brains are not fully developed, not their own organs, so they will stare at their hands and put them in their mouths to eat.

The baby will start by sucking the whole fist, and later suck one of his own fingers. This is an important signal of the baby's intellectual development. Therefore, when the baby sucks his fingers, the mother should not disturb the baby's happiness casually.

But if the baby sucks his fingers too frequently, you should pay attention. Frequent sucking of fingers will make the child dependent. If the baby starts to grow teeth and still keeps the habit of sucking fingers, it will affect the growth of teeth.

If your baby still sucks his fingers when he is three or four years old, you must provide timely and patient guidance and correction.

Why do babies like to suck their fingers?

1. Physiological reasons.

The baby's simple sucking needs or the baby's hunger due to untimely feeding. Many parents fall into such a misunderstanding that the baby is hungry when sucking his fingers, so they keep feeding the baby. The baby feels sad, but the baby can't tell.

When a baby is hungry, he will look for the nipple while sucking his fingers. If he does not look for the nipple, it can be attributed to a simple sucking need.

2. Psychological reasons.

Babies use their hands as toys because they lack a sense of security or are bored. Parents should spend more time with their babies, meet their needs in time before 8 months, and build a psychological safety island for their babies. At the same time, prepare some safe and clean toys for the baby to play with, so that the baby can have other choices besides sucking his fingers.

3. The baby is in the oral stage.

The oral stage is one of the many sensitive periods of a child. Careful parents will find that the child begins to have the habit of sucking his fingers when he is about two or three months old. At first, he will put his entire fist in his mouth. As his hand-eye coordination ability develops, he can accurately put his thumb in his mouth. After he can grab objects, he will reach the peak of the oral stage and put everything he can grab into his mouth to explore. This is something the baby must experience on his own. If the oral sensitive period is well managed, generally after one year old, the baby will no longer suck his fingers.

What should parents do when their baby sucks his fingers?

1. Understand your baby, meet his or her physiological and psychological needs, and help him or her smoothly through the oral stage.

2. Wash your baby’s hands frequently and keep them clean so that he can eat as much as he wants!

3. Provide clean and safe toys and a good environment for exploration. When babies are 7 or 8 months old, the oral stage is very obvious, and they will put anything they can get into their mouths. Parents should put dangerous items away and put some safe and clean toys around the baby for the baby to explore.

4. Spend more time with your children. With the company of their parents, children are more likely to feel satisfied and safe. Effective company can also reduce the baby's anxiety and depression. From sucking their fingers to eating all kinds of things that can be put in their mouths, it helps them explore the things around them and become familiar with the environment they live in.