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advice on finger sucking please

my 2 week old daughter is proving to be quite difficult to soothe. The only thing that seems to stop her crying and get her to sleep is to let her suck on my little finger. The midwife and health visitor have advised us that this is not a good idea as it's a bad habbit to get into and also for hygene reasons. I've tried a dummy but she's not interested. I'm not looking forward to a night without "the finger" . Has anyone had the same problem? I would be grateful of any advice.

Replies

  • I used to always put my finger in my baby's mouth to sooth him and never thought anything of it. I'm sure it won't harm and she'll prob grow out of wanting it anyway. Just do whatever helps at the time is what I believe - everyone you meet will tell you something different about what you should and shouldn't do. XXX
  • Philip has my finger rather than a dummy, he occasionally has dummy though.

    As long as you wash your hands in a normal hygiene routine i can't see anything wrong with it, after all what did our mum's do with us when we were babies, no ill effects happened to us!
  • My LO has a dummy and wasn't interested in his fingers at all..... until the last couple of weeks (he's 16 wks now) when he is constantly sucking his fingers, thumbs and fists because his teeth are moving, getting ready to eventually make an appearance! I shouldn't worry about it if I were you, if it's what works then it works! xx
  • when evie was younger when she sucked on her own fingers i always assumed she was hungry and fed her. she has a dummy now and it works a treat. i'd definately try using one xx
  • Hi leo likes to suck on material like my top or his bib and when he goes to sleep he likes to suck on the sleeve of his top to soothe him to sleep.
    vikki xx
  • Gracie used to lie on my chest, sucking my little finger to sleep at night. She took a dummy at 3 week, thank goodness, my arm began to ache after a while!
    My hv said it was ok and even if it was 'against the rules' i'd do whatever i needed to soothe my baby.
  • Hi, my little boy used to suck my finger at first until about 4 weeks old and then he got more interested in a dummy! As the others say as long as you make sure your hands are very clean I don't think it is the worst thing in the world.
    If you really want to get them to use a dummy try different types as the teat shapes are different, my lo is using the tommee tippee closer to nature bottles so I got him the dummy that goes with them as it is a similar shape to his bottles.

    Go with your instincts - us mummies usually know best!

    Liz xx
  • When my twins were born we had to stay in hospital for 10 days and the nurses told me to put my little finger in Lillies mouth to calm her, just make sure your hands are clean x
  • thanks everyone. not going to worry about it! it's great to get some reassurance from those who have been there! x
  • Hello, sorry to hijack an old post but my 3 month old daughter will also only go to sleep when sucking my finger. I feel quite stressed that we are stopping her from ever self-settling by continuing to get her to sleep in this way but every time we try something else (shh-pat, spaced soothing etc) it doesn't work as so we resort to letting her sucthine of our fingers again. We have tried to get her to take dummys, very occasionally she will, but no real success. jules - how did things end up with you? 

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