Should I be worried about my 2.75yr old's habit of putting his fingers in his mouth?

0 votes

Our son, who's currently 2.75yrs old, has an ongoing habit of putting his fingers in his mouth.  When he was younger, it would be just an index finger some of the time, and now it seems as though he's putting his first 3 fingers in his mouth, up to just beyond the 1st knuckle.

He's not "finger sucking" and never really sucked his thumb, as he had a pacifier at that age.

I began to notice it most at the dinner table, and began telling him to stop just because it was "bad manners" to have your fingers in your mouth at the table. 

But, now that I've noticed it, I've seen him with his fingers in his mouth all the time.  Usually when I mention it to him and say "could you please take your fingers out of your mouth" he just ignores me, as if I haven't said anything, and tihs is unusual for him, as he's usually very attentive.   On a couple of occasions, I've told him to take his fingers out, and physically taken them out, and he just sort of looks at me funny and puts them back in.  After a couple repititions, he sort of gets the point for a few minutes, but they go right back in.

I'm thinking that this is mostly just a "bad habit" and that by pointing it out to him, and telling him that we don't want him doing this, that it'll hopefully resolve the issue, but I know these kinds of things can be sensitive with young ones.

Is there anything to be worried about here?  Should I not stress out about it?

Don't stress out over this. It will most probably pass.  We all need to " zone out " at times. Maybe this is his way of taking a break from all the active playing and learning that he is involved in every day.  There are alot worse things he could be doing !

- Suzanne, Feb 28, 2010
Steve Lacy

"Daddy do it!"
Silicon Valley

Feb 26, 2010

3 Answers

  • 1 votes

    Could he be cutting his second molars?

    I had noticed our daughter doing this for a while (around 2.5 yo) but she stopped all of a sudden and I don't think we told her anything.

    My son was also cutting 2nd molars around this age, and did the exact same thing with fingers. He stopped when all his molars came in (took about 1 month for all 4 molars to come in). I've heard from other parents, about their kids doing the same.

    - sweethi, Feb 28, 2010
    Estelle

    Mountain View, CA

    Feb 26, 2010

  • 0 votes

    Could he be copying someone  he sees as pre-school or elsewhere ? Does your younger child use a pacifier and could he be copying her?
    Suzanne

    Feb 26, 2010

  • 0 votes

    Maybe it isn't a bad habit but something reassuring to him?  Our oldest used a pacifier until he was 4.  He really seemed to need it to sooth himself.  We restricted more and more where he could use it.  We starting by telling him he couldn't bring it outside and ended with telling him he could only use it in bed.  I think there were a couple of interim steps in there as well.  For a year he would go lie down in bed to suck on it if he were having a bad day.

    For your son, I like that you are telling him not to do it at the table.  That will start giving him some practice and self-control not to suck his fingers all the time.  You can expand from there when he is ready.

    Anonymous

    Feb 26, 2010



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