Reasons why children suck their fingers

If your baby is three or four months old, he will start sucking his fingers. It is very difficult to control children's finger sucking. It is a habit of theirs or a manifestation of hunger. Therefore, parents should wash their babies' fingers more often to prevent bacteria from entering. So what exactly causes children to suck their fingers?

Sucking fingers has different meanings for babies under six months old and for babies over six months old. Babies under 6 months old suck their fingers purely to satisfy their sucking needs, which is particularly obvious in formula-fed babies and hungry babies. The sucking reflex is an innate and unconditional reflex. When the lips of a baby under three months old are touched, it will trigger his sucking reflex. This reflex is an instinct to maintain survival and is particularly excitatory. Therefore, babies, especially those under three months old, often use fingers as stimuli to satisfy their sucking needs, showing that they particularly like sucking their fingers. Breastfed babies can suck milk to their heart's content and have more time to satisfy their sucking instinct, so finger sucking is less common among breastfed babies.

For bottle-fed babies, their parents will not let them suck on the empty bottle after they have finished drinking the milk in the bottle. Therefore, they have relatively fewer opportunities to suck, and thus it is more common for bottle-fed babies to suck their fingers. When the baby is 3-4 months old, as the sucking reflex gradually disappears, the baby's desire to suck begins to gradually weaken. When the baby is 6-7 months old, the phenomenon of sucking fingers will naturally disappear. If the baby continues to suck his fingers or starts to suck his fingers after 6 months, it is no longer to satisfy the need for sucking, but a manifestation of a masturbation need. Babies after 6 months are emotionally fragile. They are afraid of leaving their parents and familiar people around them, and are particularly attached to their relatives. At this time, they have their own initial demands for independence, so they often suck their fingers when they are tired, nervous, depressed, or separated from their closest people. They use sucking their fingers to comfort themselves. After 8 months, babies suck their thumbs much less than before. But if you always suck the fingers of one hand, long-term sucking of fingers is a signal and we need to intervene early. Other normal ones do not require much intervention. Always sucking one finger is a signal. When playing games, the child plays with one hand while eating with the other hand. This habit may be delayed until the child is three or four years old.

The reason is that the mother does not respond to the child well. If the mother responds to the child frequently, the child will rarely suck his/her thumb. This is a psychological treatment, which aims to disrupt his thumb sucking behavior. The best way is to eat one hand first. Once the hook is opened, the child will be able to accept it. If you suddenly stop him from eating, he will definitely not accept it. Eat the others first, and once this one starts to loosen and this hook loosens, start to put his hands together. He may feel safe when he eats it. If you give him an oral massage first, he will naturally stop eating.

If children over five or six years old still suck their thumbs, we will use a mouth guard. Children of that age know that sucking their thumbs looks ugly, but they just can’t control it. Now that I am in the senior class, I have to eat only when no one else does. I feel scared after eating, and uncomfortable if I don’t eat. Older children wear mouthguards and they want to change the situation themselves. Their mothers are helping them wear the mouthguards and they have to accept it. Eating your fingers is like smoking opium, and the feeling must be the same as wrapping your hands around your mouth. Once it becomes an iron hook, he will feel pricked as soon as he eats it. Without that feeling, he will naturally not eat it.

The above article explains in detail the reasons why children suck their fingers, so it is best to find a way to prevent your baby from sucking his fingers, so as to avoid tooth deformation, abnormal changes in facial appearance, and psychological pressure.