Is it Normal for Babies to Suck on Their Fingers?

It's common for a baby to suck his fingers or thumb, even in the womb. The sucking action soothes many infants, and it's normal if your baby regularly pops his fingers into his mouth. If you're worried that letting your baby suck his fingers will make it hard to break him of the habit, you can probably rest easy. Most children grow out of the sucking behavior by preschool or kindergarten.

  1. Why Babies Suck

    • All babies are born with the urge to suck. If babies didn't have the inclination to suck, they wouldn't be able to find food and be nourished, according to the Education.com website. Many infants' urge to suck isn't satisfied by nursing or eating from a bottle alone. These babies fulfill their need to suck through non-nutritive sucking, which means they need to suck on a pacifier, their fingers or their thumbs to meet that need. Many babies suck on their entire fist to fulfill their need to suck. Almost all babies engage in non-nutritive sucking at some point in their first months of life.

    Benefits

    • In addition to enabling your baby to seek nourishment, sucking serves a number of other purposes, as well. Primarily, babies suck on their fingers as a way to soothe themselves. The act of sucking often calms a baby who is feeling stressed or is starting to get hungry. Babies who are tired can also be calmed by sucking on a pacifier or their fingers, according to Paula Kelly, author of "First-Year Baby Care: An Illustrated Step-by-Step Guide." Non-nutritive sucking might also help ease a baby back to sleep if she wakes up before she's ready. According to a 2012 article published in the "International Journal of Nursing Studies," non-nutritive sucking can help ease pain, especially the pain associated with heel sticks, which is how babies have their blood drawn in the days and weeks after birth.

    What to Do

    • Many parents worry that allowing their baby to suck on his fingers will lead to oral damage or prevent teeth from coming in properly. If your child still sucks his fingers into the kindergarten years and beyond, it might have an effect on the shape of his mouth, but you don't need to worry about it during the infant years, according to the AskDrSears website. If your baby is soothed by sucking on his fingers, go ahead and let him do it. Keep his fingers clean, however, so he isn't exposed to germs that could make him sick, Kelly recommends.

    Considerations

    • Most babies stop sucking their fingers between the ages of 2 and 4 years old. The AskDrSears website notes that dental damage can occur after the age of 2, so if your child is sucking her fingers then, speak with her pediatrician to identify ways to help her stop. As your baby gets older, her need to suck will diminish, though many babies revert back to sucking their fingers when they're upset, stressed or afraid of something. Breastfeeding your baby as long as possible is one way to decrease her sucking behavior as she gets older, according to AskDrSears.com. If you're able, try nursing your baby on demand and allow her to suck her fingers in between. This way her sucking needs are met and she's less likely to continue the behavior as a toddler.

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