hands constantly in mouth

slowlyspeeding

Lo is almost 11 weeks and his hands are almost constantly in his mouth. I was driving myself crazy thinking that he was hungry but he definitely not. What is going on!?

daisy080187

My LO is doing that too...when it is time for him to eat I have to take his hands out of his mouth so I can stick the bottle in.. (after that he's good to go) but I think he's just found his hands & thinks "oh I can chew on these" I hope this doesn't mean he's one of those kids that sees anything on the floor & says "oh let me stick this in my mouth" lol

mountainkimi

DD does the same thing. She sucks on her hands constantly. She can pretty much get her entire fist in her mouth too. She is also drooling.

Welcome to teething

mkflower3000

DD has also been doing it for a few weeks now. I think at some point they just discover their hands and that's just another way for them to explore and use their body. I also used to think that it was a hunger cue, but now it seems more like a self soothe (before bed) or just something that DD likes to do in general.

acbfreire

mkflower3000:

DD has also been doing it for a few weeks now. I think at some point they just discover their hands and that's just another way for them to explore and use their body. I also used to think that it was a hunger cue, but now it seems more like a self soothe (before bed) or just something that DD likes to do in general.

this. DD discovered her hands and feet, She chews on her hands a lot (drooling a lot too). The feet will be next!

Once they chew on hands for fun, it is not a good hunger cue anymore.

FishNchips1

its a discovery thing.. DD does this too

drbethc

yup...DS is doing this too...at first I thought he was hungry. Although he still does it when he's hungry, he also does it to self soothe.

Excitedbridetobe215

OMG my baby boy does this all the time too lol. He is 12 weeks old, and I thought he was hungry but it's def not a hungry thing, I agree with the pp it's a new discovery, and it keeps him quiet so I'm not complaining too much..yet lol

JessieCupcake

My LO has his hands in his mouth all the time too. I think he's just fascinated by them. He's definitely not hungry every time he does it.

violajack

Yup, at the breastfeeding support group I went to, we talked about how hands in mouth can no longer be used as a sign of hunger. Once they can get their hands there on purpose, they'll do it all the time. I was able to catch my LO practicing a few times. He would hold his hand in front of his face and get all cross eyed looking at, then try to bring it to his mouth. He hit his nose and eye a few times, but started to get his mouth more often. Now he does it when he's getting tired and ready to nap.

SugarhillHnA

It's just a normal stage of development and part of being a baby.  He's found his hands and babies are very oral in the first year.  They put everything in their mouths once they can grab toys and such.