When I went out two days ago, I met XinXin's grandmother, who lived downstairs, and was preparing to take Xinxin downstairs for a walk.
Xinxin, who is only a few months old, has recently become obsessed with eating fingers, and wants to put his fingers into his mouth and suck at any time, and he also eats with relish, looking very satisfied. Every time, Xinxin's grandmother reacted fiercely, resolutely preventing Xinxin from "eating fingers".
Xinxin said that she mainly has two major worries:
- First, children do not understand things, like to scratch from the east to the west, the hands are easy to get dirty, if you put it directly into the mouth, you will eat a lot of unclean things, resulting in illness from the mouth;
- Second, easy to cause finger deformities and oral deformities, Xin Xin grandma has a niece, more than 3 years old is still eating fingers, often sucked left thumb, much smaller than the right thumb, and there are teeth, very affect the appearance, when speaking also spit words are not clear, pronunciation is not standard.
I have to say that today's little babies are very expensive, and their parents and grandparents are very meticulous, for fear of causing a little bad impact on their children. But in some ways, being too meticulous can drag down the child's normal development.
In fact, our son Leo has also loved to eat fingers since he was a child. To this end, I have consulted a lot of parenting books, and also consulted a childcare doctor, and the results have shown that children eat fingers, which is in line with the normal growth and development process, and excessive prevention often does more harm than good.
Children who are allowed to eat fingers and children who are not allowed to eat fingers from an early age have a significant difference in 4 aspects when they grow up:
1. Incidence of bad behavior
Children eat fingers, is one of the manifestations of the "oral sensitivity period", if the child is forbidden to eat fingers, resulting in the child's oral sensitivity period is seriously unsatisfied, it is easy to cause some bad behavior:
For example, nibbling on shoes, biting people, biting nails, biting the corners of the quilt, biting the cuffs of clothes, liking to take other people's things at will, grabbing other people's things, picking up food that has fallen on the ground, and not concentrating when studying.
2. Hand-mouth-eye-brain coordination ability
Eating fingers is a very simple action in the eyes of our adults, but for small babies, it is not simple.
In the process of eating fingers, children constantly exercise the coordination ability of hands, mouth, eyes and brain, and the child's control of the hand is gradually flexible, prompting the rapid development of the fine movements of the fingers, such as grasping things, throwing things, etc.
Children who eat their fingers tend to have better coordination and better development of refined movements.
3. Brain development
Children first use their mouths and hands to explore and recognize the world, and eating fingers is also a signal of children's intellectual development and the starting point of children's learning.
When children eat fingers, they can strengthen the stimulation of touch, vision and other aspects, at the same time, the brain is also directing the hand, mouth, eye coordination work, stimulating a large number of brain neurons to connect, the brain develops smarter.
4. Inner strength
Sucking and licking will bring children a sense of security, make the heart get great satisfaction and happiness, and the expression will become relaxed and happy.
When children are hungry, unhappy, thinking of their mother, etc., eating fingers can also effectively alleviate bad emotions such as anxiety, irritability, and uneasiness, prevent emotional outbreaks, and be stronger inside, and the child's emotional management ability will be stronger, the emotional intelligence will be higher, and the ability to adapt to school and society will be stronger.
When eating fingers, children who are not forcibly stopped tend to be more confident when they grow up.
Eating fingers is beneficial, parents must remember not to rudely forcibly interrupt the child, do not hit the child's hand and mouth, do not simply and rudely take the hand out of the child's mouth, and do not scold the child.
However, you can't just let your children go.
I was also troubled by my son Leo's habit of eating fingers, but by consulting parenting books and consulting with a childcare doctor, I found the right way to intervene in my child's finger eating.
Eating fingers is good, but moderate intervention is also essential:
1. Ensure cleanliness and hygiene
Children like to eat hands, and many parents may worry about hygiene, and I have had such a worry.
During this sensitive period when the child eats his fingers, I pay great attention to cleaning and hygiene of the child's hands. For example, wash your hands immediately after going out and go home, and when you are at home, you should also pay attention to washing your children's hands frequently to ensure the cleanliness and hygiene of your children's hands.
2. Palliative means are indispensable
You can also replace your fingers with a clean teething stick and pacifier to let the child suck and lick with confidence.
Usually pay attention to let the child eat and drink enough, do not go hungry. Pay attention to the timely addition of complementary foods. During the sensitive period of teething, pay attention to providing children with harder foods, such as apples, pears, etc., so that they can practice chewing.
3. When the child is more than 2 years old, it is necessary to guide it
Under normal circumstances, children in this age group of several months to 2 years old will like to eat fingers, but after more than 2 years old, children will slowly stop eating fingers.
For children over 2 years old who are still eating fingers, we can communicate well with children, tell children about the harm of eating fingers, more encouragement, rewards, verbal praise and reward toy snacks are a good way, in general, most children can successfully quit the habit of eating fingers.
If your child is still obsessed with eating fingers, it is recommended to consult a pediatrician to find a suitable and effective way. Especially if it affects the development of teeth, it is necessary to see a doctor for correction in time so as not to affect the child's appearance and pronunciation.
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