Sucking on hands to point of gagging?!

[charli87]

Hey all

Chloe is 11wks today, since around 7wks she has loved to suck on her fingers. Well this has gradually progressed to trying to fit in her whole hand sometimes both hands at the same time
I don't think its teething as she doesn't seem in pain at all, she's not hungry, I've also tried holding teething rattles by her mouth but she has no interest in them.
Does anyone know how I can stop her doing this as now she is trying to get two hands in she sometimes looks like she is about to gag

Thanks

 

[JessicaAnne]

No advice on trying to get her to stop, but Evie does it too and get's to the point of gagging. Maybe she's just exploring? as long as she's watched when she does it I guess she'll be alright and soon get bored

 

[SophiasMummy]

sophia does this but after a couple weeks of putting her fingers so far back she was gagging she suddenly stopped putting them so far back, she still sucks on her fingers/fists but also has an obssesion with soft toys and putting them in her mouth to suck on now so i let her do that with her lamaze caterpillers feet as she like the crackly sound they make and her soft rattle i just keep an eye on her with it xx

 

[BunnyFace]

Its developmental i think My LO used to do it to the extent she was sick a few times. She still chews her fingers but she has more control now she doesnt shove them quite so far down

 

[smokey]

Its all part of experamenting and exploring, soon as they realise its not such a great idea they grow out of it.
That is untill they reach 6/7 months and realise they can get a reaction out of you doing it and start doing it again just for the shear hell of it

 

[Carlyp1990]

katie does this too... i try to replace her hands with her dummy but in the middle of the night i get woken up by the sound of her sucking her fingers really loud in her sleep so i hve to get up and sneak her dummy in instead lol xx

 

[xnmd1]

no advice, sorry, but read the other day that this is sometimes a sign of GERD , not sure if she has any other symptoms of that though xx

ETA: it's not the sucking on the hands that is a sign of GERD ( that's developmental ), but doing it to the point where it seems LO is trying to gag themselves is a sign.

 

[charli87]

thanks everyone glad to see its not just Chloe that does this.

xnmd1: I dont think she does it to make herself gag, I just don't think she realises what she's doing just yet.

 

[minties]

Thomas does it too, they don't have very good control over their arms and hands at that age so I don't think they are trying to gag. Just that they want to suck in their hand deep into their mouth like a boob or bottle.

 

[rainbows_x]

Ava does this, she will be there, hand in mouth & start gagging! She won't be quick to take her hand out either, just carry on gagging! She is a massive hand sucker though, constantly in their!

 

[Kitty23]

Bless her if your worried about her gagging could you try a dummy? Maybe she wants to suck? xxx

 

[CormacksGirl]

Adam used to do this too, he did eventually grow out of it!!x

 

[MrsNovBaby]

no advice, sorry, but read the other day that this is sometimes a sign of GERD , not sure if she has any other symptoms of that though xx

ETA: it's not the sucking on the hands that is a sign of GERD ( that's developmental ), but doing it to the point where it seems LO is trying to gag themselves is a sign.

Didn't know that, LO sucks his fingers and gags and has GERD, thanks for the info xx

 

[xnmd1]

no advice, sorry, but read the other day that this is sometimes a sign of GERD , not sure if she has any other symptoms of that though xx

ETA: it's not the sucking on the hands that is a sign of GERD ( that's developmental ), but doing it to the point where it seems LO is trying to gag themselves is a sign.

Didn't know that, LO sucks his fingers and gags and has GERD, thanks for the info xx

no problem

 

[terri21]

Charlie does this all the time and he gets frustrated if i move his hands away and give him dummy/teether. i just let him, i am sur in time he will realise what he is doing and stop sticking his hands/fingers in too far xxx

 

[CMIL]

My son still does this at 9.5 months. When he is eating he will take a mouthful and the fingers go straight in. How he chews like that is beyond me.

As for the gagging, she will learn its not a good idea but I would say dont try to stop her feeding on her fingers! Its a God send when your baby can soothe themself like this. Its great to help them sleep through the night (no dummy = no having to get up and put it back in when they lose it.....fingers are never lost!)