Tongue Sucking??????? Self soothing???

[Lara's Mum]

my 8 week old has been sucking her tongue now for the past three days... everybody around me insists that she is hungry but she is on 3 hour EASY and i know she's not... is this some form of sel-soothing, like thumb sucking... and is there any harm to it???

[Maddy's Mum]

Mads developed this technique when we took her dummy away...and for her it was definetly self soothing - so I think you are right. Are there any other signs that she is hungry? If not then your little one has done very well in learning this technique so early - well done you!

Dee
x

[millieh]

my 8 wk bb does exactly the same thing, he used to suck is upper lip and now he sucks his tongue. I know he is definitely not hungry as he is also on the 3hr routine.  I believe its a soothing thing since he can't suck his thumb or fingers yet.

[shweta]

My 4 month old daughter has recently started sucking her thumb, its her favourite passtime now. Dont know what ot do, as it irritates me like hell. I know its self soothing, but is it advisable, what if they carry the habit in their toddler hood, when do we stop them sucking.....very confused. She used to sleep on her own, no problems, but now she wants her thumb. Any suggesstions

[Kayna]

My dd used to self soothe with her tongue as well. I could NOT for the life of me get her to take a pacifer. Finally I gave her a lovey and started sticking the corner of it in her mouth to suck. She learned pretty quickly how to do it herself. I started giving her a lovey at around 2 months and also unswaddled one arm at that point as well so she could either suck her hand or try and get lovey back in her mouth. HTH. :wink:

[tmbush00]

My eldest daughter started sucking her tongue to self soothe when learning how to put herself to sleep when she was about 6 mo old.  She's 3 yrs old now and still does it to put herself to sleep. The doctor told us to ignore it  in hopes that it will eventually go away.  We have, and we hope the doctor is right.

[shweta]

Thank you for your reply. Should I let her suck her thumb?? I am so confused. What if it develops into a toddler habit, I believe it must be pretty hard to get rid of it then it is now.

Any ideas.............

[Mom to M&M]

I'm not sure why the thumb sucking would bother you Our DD (4 months) does this and we are SO glad. It calms her and we're not up 10 times putting her pacifier in. Most kids I know will stop sucking their thumbs when they are ready. Personally, I think it's cute and I just keep her hands really clean!