Why do children always suck their fingers?

It is very normal for babies to suck their fingers when they are very young. This is because babies have no awareness or concept yet and it is just a subconscious action. However, some parents find that their children still suck their thumbs involuntarily when they are two or three years old. This may be caused by the child’s subconscious lack of security. Parents should pay attention to accompanying and comforting their children. So, what is the reason why children always suck their thumbs?

Many babies suck their thumbs. This phenomenon is very common and you don’t need to worry too much about your baby sucking his thumbs.

Sucking on fingers indicates that the baby's psychological development has entered a new stage - the differentiation of finger functions and the initial stage of hand-eye coordination. It is a signal of intellectual development. The brain of a newborn is not yet fully developed and cannot control its own hands.

2 to 3 months after birth, as the brain develops, the baby begins to show hand movements. At this time, the baby sees hands as a very interesting toy.

Putting fingers in mouth may seem simple to adults, but for babies, it means that their motor muscles and muscle control ability work together to achieve great success. This requires the coordination of four reflex behaviors: bending the arm into a small arc, relaxing the motor muscles and extending the fingers, searching and putting the hand into the mouth, and starting to suck. What a complex and amazing skill this is for babies! Parents should not blame their baby, they should be happy for him!

Parents often mistakenly think that sucking fists or fingers means the baby is hungry or not full, but this is not true! This is a healthy way for your baby to self-soothe. The famous psychologist Freud believed that eating is the best and most important way to obtain satisfaction in infancy.

Babies aged 2 to 3 months are in the oral pleasure period. If their sucking needs are not met, it will affect their physical and mental development and lead to negative emotions such as irritability and depression. If parents observe carefully, they will find that when the baby feels uneasy, irritable, or nervous, sucking his fingers will calm the baby's emotions. Some babies, when in a light sleep, will suck their fingers to seek self-comfort and fall asleep again. In short, thumb sucking is a psychological need and a transient behavior during the baby's growth process. Under normal development, babies will not develop the habit of sucking their thumbs, and parents do not need to worry or try to stop it.

At this time, the positive and appropriate approach for parents is to often put the flower bell stick with a thin handle in the palm of the baby of 2 to 3 months old for him to grasp. It may be thrown away after a few seconds. Parents should not be discouraged, but do it repeatedly, and the baby will gradually extend the grasping time.

If parents hold the baby's hands and shake them, the flower bell sticks in their hands will make sounds, which will stimulate the baby's interest in looking at and grasping the toys in their hands; for babies aged 3 to 4 months, parents can hold the baby's hands to touch the colorful toys with hanging bells in front of them, and slowly the baby will take the initiative to reach for them; when the baby is older, 5 to 6 months, parents can hold the baby at the table and encourage the baby to reach out and take the toys on the table. When the baby's reaching skills are better, he will touch, explore and recognize various novel objects and toys around him with greater interest. In this way, the baby's hands will be busy and he will not have time to suck his fingers.

If a baby over one year old still sucks his fingers all day long and is silent and dull, parents should pay attention and find out the reasons: whether the parent-child relationship is harmonious, whether the parents impose too many restrictions and too strict requirements on the baby, and the baby is unhappy; whether the mother has little time to spend with the baby after work and the baby is neglected... Relevant surveys have found that young children who lack parental care and spiritual comfort are prone to develop the habit of sucking their fingers. At this time, sucking your fingers can comfort your baby and release tension and frustration.

A good solution is for parents to spend as much time as possible playing games with their baby and give him more love. They can take him to play hands-on games: clapping, weaving ropes, shadow puppet games, clapping and singing nursery rhymes together, and playing shadow puppet games with a little white rabbit scratching its ear. Babies will never get tired of it. If the baby is in a good mood and has something to do with his hands, he will naturally not suck his fingers.

Finally, it should be emphasized that parents should be understanding and tolerant of their baby's thumb sucking behavior and should not interfere forcibly. When seeing older children sucking their thumbs, parents should not repeatedly say "Why are you sucking your thumbs again?" Not only will this not work, but it will reinforce the behavior and even affect the baby's future emotional and psychological development.