baby sucking hand/fists..? y?

[nat_84]

Just out of curiosity really...

Can anyone explain to me why my litlle girl loves to suck on her hand/fist? She tends to spit her dummy out and start sucking on her fists... Why is this? (She's 11 weeks) x

[Psychick]

Hi nat :)

I think this is one of those questions that no one can answer for certain. Maybe it tastes better? lol
The only thing I can thihnk is do you breast feed? In which case, her fist is more like you than a dummy, so maybe its more comforting to her?

*shrugs* only a guess though.

[jodie73]

My son is 17 weeks and started doing the same thing at about 8 weeks and he's still doing it, he's happy so i just let him get on with it. He'll probably start teething soon as my other four children did exactly the same thing.x

[ethanryan]

my son now 18 months started this from about 12 weeks i asked the health visitor she said it may be a sign of teething or maybe he is hungry. we were advised to start him on a little solids. we gave him a couple of spoons in the evening to start then after a few weeks we started giving him breakfast too. by the time he was 16 weeks he was on 3 small meals a day and had stopped sucking his fist. it may be worth a try. most of the books suggest they dont have solids till 4 to 6 months but all the baby jars say from 3 months.

[redcrx]

Hi Nat,

Loved the pics, thanks!

Perhaps she just prefers her hand to her dummy, or maybe she is starting to teeth and can get to the painful bits easier with her fingers.

see if you can get a gell filled teething ring or something, that may help

I wouldnt suggest giving her any solids unless there are other signs that suggest she may be hungry though.

[annie0000]

The most likely causes would be wind, teething or hunger - in that order!

[aims1202]

It could be any of those suggestions, although not sure about hunger! My boy did this from a very early age, he wasnt intrested in a dummy at all and always spat it out, he was trying to suck his thumb and eventually managed to do it at about 10 weeks. I thought it was great as he had his thumb when he wanted/needed it and it didnt fall out! Babies suck to soothe themselves and i dont think theres any problem with it.

[bex401]

My 6 month old daughter still loves to suck her fists,even when she has had a big bowl of veg & a full bottle,she also loves to suck peoples fingers ,if she gets the chance.She has a dummy too,but only when she is tired.

[spanner7853]

the babies I know thatg do this are usually hungry or thirsty.

[ojread2]

As every single baby does it, could it not just be a developmental stage they go through? I think, and it's just my HO, that is a hand to mouth thing getting ready for self feeding.

Personally I do not think it is down to hunger as babies can do this after a feed as well as in between and just before. *Could* be teething but again, as all babies do it at around the same age and not all babies teeth at that age, I think not.

[nat_84]

Thanks everyone for your fabulous answers and suggestions. It was just curiosity really... not really a huge concern as she's not harming herself.

She's still doing it and "blowing bubbles" LOADS, but she;'s very content and happy and if she was hungry or had bad wind i'm sure she'd let me know about it!!lol.

Thanks again x

[pixie_woo]

Hi Nat

Just wanted to say that Spencer sucks his fists & blows bubbles too. In the afternoon the drool just pours out of him, so much so that I've started to pop a bib on him.

I asked HV about it as I thought he could be starting to teeth early but she said that its a normal thing that all babies start to do as they come up to 3 months old. Apparently its to do with exploring their mouth as they prepare for solids. I'm going to start Spencer on solids at 17 weeks.

Hugs to Mia x

[nat_84]

Ah thanks Pixie! Hope Spencers keeping you as busy and entertained as Mia is keeping me! lol. xxx