Recently saw a mother in the help, because the recent epidemic is not convenient to go to the hospital, the child can not stop biting his finger, is it because the child is deficient in zinc or what, the mother is anxious and helpless.
Parents do not need to worry too much about the situation of children eating hands, which is a psychological problem that we can divide and treat according to age stage.
Before the age of one: turning a blind eye
For children under one year old, eating hands is a very meaningful thing, especially for children who are in the sensitive period of appetite, they can explore and experience the world through small mouths: how many fingers can eat? The length of the fingers seems to be different? How did a gnawed hand get wet?
By eating hands can let children achieve self-comfort, release stress and negative emotions, increase security, if it is in the teething period, but also help to alleviate the discomfort of swollen gums and pain, so a few months old children, if they occasionally eat hands, we can completely "turn a blind eye", of course, if the child eats too often, in order to prevent the difficulty of withdrawal later, you can try to use a pacifier instead of eating hands.
1-2 years old: Guided
Whether it is eating hands or eating pacifiers, 1 to 2 years old is the time to quit under gradual guidance. At this stage, in the face of the problem of children eating hands, we can no longer completely resign ourselves to it, but we must consciously guide him to help him divert his attention and gradually reduce the frequency of eating hands.
Remember, though, that the way to reduce is by relying on positive guidance, not blunt blocking. Orders, reprimands, and punishments can only strengthen the child's desire to eat hands, making him more insecure, and from the perspective of needing comfort, it will only eat more severely.
Follow the principle when guiding: occupy your hands and divert your attention. For example, when you find that your child eats his hands, kiss or hug him in time, you can also do crafts with him, build blocks, puzzles, draw finger paintings, sing finger ballads, play clap games... In short, do something that both takes his little hand and diverts attention.
After the age of 2: intervention is required
If the child is more than two years old and eats hands frequently, then we have to intervene seriously, after all, the harm of long-term eating hands can definitely be more than one or two points.
For example, it may cause abnormal tooth alignment, affect the occlusal function and jaw development, lead to a series of problems such as "heaven and earth", "earth cover" and pouting, and may also cause breathing, slurred teeth and so on. And if the fingers are sucked excessively for a long time, there will also be cocoons, skin breakdowns, and even finger deformation. In addition, children's long-term dependence on gaining a sense of security through eating hands and self-soothing can also affect mental health.
From any point of view, if a 2-year-old child is still "hands out of mouth", it is necessary to intervene. Here we have to remind everyone that intervention is not to directly prevent the act of eating hands, but to try to find the root cause of children eating hands. For example, going to kindergarten or kindergarten, the sudden return of the mother who has been living day and night, the move to change the familiar living environment, etc., will bring a feeling of tension and anxiety to the baby, and need additional security and psychological comfort. If the child feels lonely, bored, sad, or sleepy, hungry, or uncomfortable, it is also possible to eat hands.
At this time, parents need to first observe, see under what circumstances the child will become more frequent, specifically analyze the psychological state, and then solve it in a targeted manner. For example, communicate with the kindergarten teacher about the child's situation in the kindergarten, find and analyze the reasons together, ask the teacher to help pay attention, and after the child goes home, talk to him more about interesting things in the kindergarten to help him reduce psychological pressure.
If the main caregiver wants to change, be sure to communicate with the child in advance, so that he has psychological preparation, and if conditions permit, you can also "new and old caregivers" to take care of a child together, and there is a psychological transition.
If it is because of moving, changing the living environment, etc., then parents should spend more energy to provide high-quality companionship and help children establish a sense of security in the new environment as soon as possible.
In short, in fact, if you want to solve the problem of children eating hands, you are more often solving psychological problems.