Why does a five-month-old baby suck his fingers?

Many babies of new mothers have the bad habit of sucking their fingers, which causes great distress to many young mothers. When the baby is five months old, he has the habit of sucking his fingers, and even the parents’ dissuasion is of no avail. So why do babies around five months old have the habit of sucking their fingers? Is it because they like it? Why is it so difficult to stop the babies from doing this despite the adults’ strong persuasion? Let me tell you the reasons and whether to stop it.

Parents don’t need to worry if their babies under 2 years old suck their thumbs, because sucking thumbs is a sign of the baby’s intellectual development.

Coming into the world from the mother's belly, the baby is strongly attracted to external objects. However, the brain of a newborn baby is not fully developed and the brain's positioning system is not yet mature. Therefore, putting hands in mouth to eat is still an impossible task for babies at this stage. As the baby grows older, the functions of the fingers begin to differentiate, and the initial hand-eye coordination function also begins to emerge.

Around five months old, the baby will begin to show hand movements, and he will often wave his arms and have fun playing with this big "toy". When the baby can really put his hands in his mouth and chew them, it means that the baby's motor muscles and muscle control ability have cooperated and coordinated with each other. This is a signal of the baby's intellectual development, and parents should be proud of their baby's behavior.

Sucking fingers is also a need for the baby's psychological development.

When the baby is five months old, he is in the sensitive period of oral sex. Many babies at this stage like to sleep with their mother's nipple in their mouth or biting their hands. Having something in their mouth will make them feel more secure, but if their needs for sucking, licking and chewing are not met, they will feel uneasy and develop negative emotions such as irritability and depression.

Famous psychologists Freud and Erikson believe that the baby's thumb sucking activity also includes a natural reflection of human sexual pleasure needs. The sexual pleasure here is just an emotion similar to adult pleasure. Sucking fingers can eliminate the baby's anxiety, irritability, tension, and has a calming effect.

Forcing the baby to stop sucking his thumb will cause the baby to develop a rebellious mentality or psychological trauma.

According to foreign research, if the baby's behavior is forcibly restrained during this period and the oral sensitive period is not treated correctly, he will be more likely to develop an aggressive personality when he grows up. Boys are more likely to be violent, while girls are more likely to gossip and make sarcastic remarks.

Therefore, if a five-month-old baby sucks his fingers, parents do not need to worry too much and there is no need to stop it. Thumb sucking is a normal developmental stage and psychological need in the baby's growth process. Most of the time, it is a behavior that occurs at a specific stage, and they are unlikely to develop the bad habit of sucking their thumbs when they grow up. All parents have to do is wash their baby's hands frequently and keep the baby clean and hygienic to prevent bacteria from invading the body and causing unnecessary injuries.