Children liking to eat their hands is a common behavior. They discover their hands as early as two months old and enjoy sucking them. Renowned psychologist Sigmund Freud referred to the first year after birth as the "oral stage," which is the first foundational stage of personality development. Let me introduce the reasons why babies love to eat their fingers:
Reason 1: Eating hands is a way for babies to relieve "stress"
Do not assume that babies do not experience stress. In fact, they are most sensitive to their surrounding environment. Observant parents will notice that when babies feel uneasy, irritable, or tense, eating their hands can calm their emotions. Some babies use finger sucking as a self-soothing method to fall back asleep during light sleep.
During this process, parents do not need to worry too much. Research abroad has found that if babies are forcibly stopped from sucking their fingers during this period, they may develop a rebellious mentality and tend to have aggressive personalities as they grow up. In short, finger sucking is a psychological need and a temporary behavior in a baby's growth process. It is a healthy way for babies to comfort themselves.
Therefore, parents should not be overly anxious if their baby eats their hands before the age of two, and they must not treat it roughly.
Reason 2: Helping to relieve discomfort during teething
Babies eating their hands within the first year is a normal physiological behavior and an inevitable stage of development. Most infants start sucking their fingers around three months, and it becomes more apparent after introducing complementary foods at six months. This coincides with the peak of teething. The period between three to six months is when babies start to develop their milk teeth, and they use finger sucking to alleviate the discomfort of teething.
Reason 3: Anal stage, babies are prone to eating their hands
Until around 2.5 years old, babies' urination and bowel movements are mostly reflexive. They naturally excrete when they need to. However, after 2.5 years old, the baby's urinary system is fully developed. When they need to urinate or defecate, they send this information to the brain, which then thinks and judges whether to excrete immediately or wait for a while.
This experience of holding it in and releasing it provides pleasure, including the tactile pleasure of the lips. If the baby is in the anal stage, this situation is normal.
Reason 4: Poor appetite and loving to eat hands may indicate a deficiency in trace elements
However, if the baby eating their hands is accompanied by eating paper, scratching walls, poor appetite, yellowing hair, and short stature, parents should not take it lightly. It is best to have the baby undergo a trace element test to see if they are zinc deficient. The ages of 1-3 are a critical period for physical growth, and a zinc deficiency can affect growth and development, requiring timely intervention. After the age of 3, the baby has more contact with the outside world, and it is a critical period for the development of the dental ridge. Parasitic infections caused by finger sucking are more common, which is also a factor parents need to consider.
Therefore, parents should not overly worry about their baby eating their hands and should not forcefully stop them. If parents forcefully stop their child from finger sucking at this time, it may create psychological shadows for the child. As they grow up, they may become anxious, irritable, and lack basic trust and a sense of security towards others.
