Young parents are sometimes horrified when a child of several days or weeks old begins to suck on a fist. The baby's behavior in this case can be mistaken for a bad habit. But doctors often disagree with this statement. A baby sucking on a cam is not uncommon. According to pediatricians, in this way babies are trying to fulfill the natural need for sucking.
Why do babies suck on fists
The sucking instinct is unsatisfied when the breaks between feedings for some reason are more than three hours. Very tiny children still cannot wait so long without the realization of basic reflexes. Bottle-fed babies often suck on their fists too. In other words, the baby just wants to suck for longer.
From a toddler's point of view, a cam is the most comfortable thing for this purpose. He, so to speak, is always "at hand". However, children can try to realize their sucking instincts with other objects - for example, many push a blanket into their mouths or try to suck on a kangaroo belt. This activity most often decreases when the child reaches six months.
How to wean your baby from cam sucking
It may seem to parents that the cam-sucking period has dragged on for a long time. Indeed, there are cases when a child of 3-4 years old continues to pump his fists, for example, at those moments when he needs to calm down.
The opinion of doctors is usually this: when a child sucks a fist or fists in infancy, there is no need to worry. After some time, the baby will stop satisfying his reflexes with the help of foreign objects. But if a child older than a year is not able to part with such a habit, he may have serious dental problems.
It is better to start weaning a child from a bad habit by about two years. You can do this: apply a non-toxic coating with a bitter taste to the child's thumb - most often children suck their fist from this side. It is necessary to find out whether the reason for this behavior of the child can be a psychological problem. Adults, in a situation where they need to calm down, can grab a cigarette or nervously gnaw a pencil, a child sucks on a fist.
You can distract the child from the habit of fist-sucking by offering him an activity where his hands should be occupied. This can be modeling, drawing, exercises for the development of fine motor skills.
When the kid tries to take the fist in his mouth, you can remind him that he is already big, and big children should not behave like that. And in no case should you punish or shame for it. The only thing that adults achieve with such behavior is that the child withdraws into himself, and not only does not get rid of the bad habit, but begins to do it secretly.
