eating fists and fussy in the afternoon

vserapio

Hello, rare poster here (lurks everyday though) with a question.

My LO is now 10 weeks old. He received his 2-month shots just last week.  Nurse warned us about the next 48 hours becoming fussy, but LO was fine. Then all of a sudden on the 3rd day after shots, he got fussy in the afternoons and I have noticed he started to eat his fists, and pretty much anything that comes in contact with his mouth! He also got fussy in the afternoon - we have a harder time latching when breastfeeding, most times he would cry. It seems like would start to cry when he's horizontal, unless he's really sleepy then he would just not care.  He's drooling a little bit more than before but not really that much to make me consider he's teething.  Plus he's only 10 weeks old, which is a bit early for that. He doesn't seem sick or anything, I don't think it is an effect from the shots.  He still has his happy baby habits the same - he smiles when he wakes up and when we talk to him, so I don't think he is sick.

I had to give him the binky when he fusses and tries to eat his fists, that calms him down, but I would rather not if possible. Is anyone else experiencing this? What could this be?

goldbu

I read somewhere that the fist eating thing is a normal development thing. He is learning how to self soothe. My little guy started doing it recently also. 

LPQueenie99

Yep my LO does that too. I give her the paci and she's happy, I didn't want to give her one either, but for the sake of my sanity I gave it to her and we are both much happier. Like pp said, they are learning how to self soothe.

Sparks in training!

We had the same issue with fussiness and latching etc. I was heart broken thinking that little one was having nipple confusion. Our doctor said that he will go through growth spurts and will eat almost every hour on the hour and be beyond fussy. 

At times he wont want the bottle, nipple or pacifier, he will just want to cry.

raspberry_bride

DD is currently doing the fist eating thing all the time.  She gets frustrated by it though and the pacifier really helps to calm her down.  She started doing it a few weeks ago and is 11 weeks now, so I hope it will stop soon.

LPQueenie99

Sparks in training!:

At times he wont want the bottle, nipple or pacifier, he will just want to cry.

Same here...it's super frustrating.

beth2882

raspberry_bride:

DD is currently doing the fist eating thing all the time.  She gets frustrated by it though and the pacifier really helps to calm her down.  She started doing it a few weeks ago and is 11 weeks now, so I hope it will stop soon.

This is what we are doing with my DD too.  Only problem - she spits out the paci or it falls out when she is trying to nap, then she is awake and can't get herself back to sleep.  So, either she doesn't sleep and gets cranky, or I have to hold her, or I have to run up and down the stairs 8000 times to pop the paci back in her mouth.  Thankfully this does not happen at night!!! 

raspberry_bride

beth2882:

raspberry_bride:

DD is currently doing the fist eating thing all the time.  She gets frustrated by it though and the pacifier really helps to calm her down.  She started doing it a few weeks ago and is 11 weeks now, so I hope it will stop soon.

This is what we are doing with my DD too.  Only problem - she spits out the paci or it falls out when she is trying to nap, then she is awake and can't get herself back to sleep.  So, either she doesn't sleep and gets cranky, or I have to hold her, or I have to run up and down the stairs 8000 times to pop the paci back in her mouth.  Thankfully this does not happen at night!!! 

This is exactly what she does too.  Combine it with her starting to hate being swaddled and you get a noisy little sleeper (who happens to sleep right beside my bed).  The past few nights have not been fun. 

danandbethg

My LO has been a fist eater pretty much since birth. He only does it when he is hungry, or trying to fall asleep. It's cute since we are starting to use signs (sign language) with him, and the sign for food is bringing your fingers to your mouth. So, when he tries to eat his fists, it's pretty close to the food sign!

vserapio

Thanks for the response everyone! It's a sucky situation, but I'm relieved we are not the only one going through it.  He was rejecting breastfeeding earlier today and I am heartbroken.  I really hope his is just a phase that babies go through!

ibnagy99

raspberry_bride:

DD is currently doing the fist eating thing all the time.  She gets frustrated by it though and the pacifier really helps to calm her down.  She started doing it a few weeks ago and is 11 weeks now, so I hope it will stop soon.

This is us exactly.