I originally thought, isn’t it just a matter of quitting eating? What's the problem? Just don't let her eat it. Reality slapped me in the face! The difficulty is comparable to Tang Monk’s Buddhist scriptures! I wanted to give up several times!
1. The harm of children eating their hands for a long time is too great!
On the eve of my child's first birthday, I discovered that she was addicted to eating her hands: she wanted to eat when she was sleeping, when she was hungry, when she was bored, and when she felt uncomfortable...
Excessive sucking for a long time resulted in a big callus on her fingers. ; The long-term fixed thumb-sucking posture also caused one of the upper teeth to become crooked.
Falling asleep by eating your hands is not conducive to establishing healthy independent sleep habits. Because I suck my fingers while sleeping, I often keep my mouth open even after falling asleep (I basically won’t sleep with my mouth open after I quit sucking my hands). If this continues for a long time, I am worried that it will affect my appearance. (Opening your mouth to breathe will make you look ugly)
At this point, I realized that it was time to stop her from eating my hands!
I got a big callus on my right thumb from eating my hand!
Eating with hands makes the upper teeth in the front row grow crooked
2. Stop eating with hands and explore the stage
According to the reinforcement theory in education , if the baby reprimands and criticizes her as soon as she eats with hands, it is easy to cause negative reinforcement. , causing the baby to be rebellious, which may in turn aggravate hand-feeding.
So I discussed with my family and occasionally turned a blind eye to her hand-eating behavior.
I observed that her drooling increased, indicating that she had new teeth coming out. Itching during teething can also lead to hand eating.
I remembered that I had bought a mushroom-shaped teether when I was a little month old, so I found it and wanted to use it to relieve her tooth itch, but she didn’t want it.
So I bought teething sticks and gave them to her to chew on during the day. The effect is there, babies eat their hands less frequently than babies, but they still have to eat their hands when sleeping, and not giving them food can even seriously affect their sleep!
I introduced comfort towels again. But facing the unfamiliar comfort towel, she didn't seem to catch a cold, and she threw it aside after playing with it for a while.
seems to have to cooperate with some other methods.
3. The first official move: the shy method
asked a friend for advice, and she suggested using the shy method. So I mobilized the whole family to shame the baby when she ate from my hand.
However, when being embarrassed, the baby just looked at the adult, turned a deaf ear, and only focused on chewing his right thumb.
tried several more times, but she still went her own way, and the first attempt ended in failure.
Okay, I'll think of another solution!
3. The second official move: taking ugly photos
Some people say that you can try to take ugly photos of your baby when he is eating his hands and show them to her. Just do it, while the baby is asleep, click. When I woke up the next day, I showed it to her and explained while looking at it: "Baby, do you think who is this? Is it you? Oops, eating hands is so ugly, isn't it? We don't want to imitate the baby in the photo. , Let’s not eat our hands, okay?”
However, after seeing the photo, she turned around and ate her hands again. I repeated the above operation several times, but it still didn't work.
Alas!
The ugly photos I secretly took while my child was sleeping
4. The third official move: the picture book method
A relative said that her child successfully stopped eating his hands after reading the picture book.
I happened to have a picture book on hand. The story is that the little pig always eats his hands and eats bacteria into his stomach. As a result, he needs to get an injection. The little pig said that the injection of and hurt so much that I never dare to eat it again. Hands on.
With exaggerated tone, expressions and movements, I told this story to my baby several times.
She still loves to listen to stories, and she will receive feedback during the listening process, such as repeating one or two words, or making some questions, sighs, etc.
After telling this story before going to bed, I put a comfort towel into her hand, and then she fell asleep just like that! hey-hey!
however! The picture book method only worked once!
Later, I continued to tell the story and even adapted it into "Little Piggy had no friends who wanted to play with her because she was eating her hands. After she stopped eating her hands, she had many friends to play with her." After hearing this, she still said "eat"!
So, I decided to buy the picture book "I Don't Eat My Hands Anymore".
This book says that if you eat your hands, the calluses you grow will turn into a face. The pictures and stories are a bit scary, and some children were even frightened to tears.
Because of this, many children no longer dare to eat. It seems very effective.
At first, I was worried that the child would be frightened and cry.
I told the story vividly and pretended to be afraid of the cocoon in the book (I called the cocoon a monster), but she turned out not to be afraid!
What was even more ridiculous was that when I saw a picture in the book, a little girl was sucking her finger. She immediately imitated others and put her hand into her mouth...
I had no choice but to give up the picture book method.
Why is it so difficult to stop being a bitch?
5. The final official move: Wear gloves
I have no choice but to use physical isolation as a last resort, that is, wear gloves. This is the last resort I can use.
gloves are a bit expensive. Buy online, wash and wear.
At first, the child refused to wear it. I coaxed her and said: Look, it looks so beautiful when it is worn! As he talked, he winked at his family members, who also said cooperatively: "Wow, it's so beautiful. Let me wear it too." Then I put it on successfully.
The glove blocked her right thumb and she couldn't eat it. She tried to pull it off anxiously, but she couldn't pull it off.
I also took the opportunity to tell her about picture books and use toys to divert her attention.
After several times, she finally chose to coexist with the gloves.
Wear it even when sleeping. I couldn't eat my fingers anymore, so I stuffed the gloves into my mouth. But the taste has changed and it is tasteless.
So he cried and ate for a while, looking at me helplessly the whole time.
I encouraged her and said that when the baby grows up, he can sleep without having to eat his hands. She started crying.
I could only lie on my side and hug her, touch her and add some words to comfort her. She gradually became quieter.
In the darkness, I found that she couldn't eat with her right thumb, so I ate with her left index finger. So I ordered another pair overnight that can be worn on my index finger, and I wore the two pairs together.
I can't eat with both hands, and I'm still moaning before I fall asleep. Only by pillowing on my arm can I restrain my urge to put my hands to my mouth, and I have to hug him to sleep to stop me from crying.
But at least, wearing gloves seems to be helpful!
The child wore gloves on both hands
6. Two episodes during the wearing of gloves
Episode 1: After wearing the gloves for a few days, I suddenly found that the little finger of the baby's right hand was red.
consulted a friend. She suspected that it was caused by friction with gloves. She suggested taking off the gloves first and observing. Later it was confirmed that it was mosquito bite , and it was cured after two or three days of medication.
After your hands are fine, continue to use gloves.
Episode 2: After only two days of wearing it, the baby developed a high fever!
Seeing her unable to sleep and crying in pain, he felt that rings and the like were not suitable for practice at this time, so he took off his gloves again.
I had a fever after three days, so I put on gloves again.
is really full of twists and turns!
7. Seeing results
After wearing it for about ten days, the calluses on my hands were healed.
She has become more and more accustomed to the existence of gloves, and does not resist them. She even occasionally brings them to herself and says that she wants to wear them.
Slowly, I eat my hands less and less during the day. I no longer need to eat my hands to fall asleep at night, and I no longer put my hands into my mouth when I wake up in the middle of the night. I have developed a good sleep habit of just lying down to fall asleep, and I no longer open my mouth after falling asleep.
took almost two months, and at the age of 13.5 months, she basically stopped eating. No need to wear gloves anymore. She will occasionally eat her hand just to ask for attention. If you respond positively, she will stop eating immediately. But if there is no response, she will come closer to you, put her hands in her mouth, and watch your reaction with her eyes. So, every time at this time, we will give her more attention.
At this point, I announce that I have successfully quit eating my hands!
is so great!
After all, these ninety-nine and eighty-one difficulties were not in vain!
Eight, written at the end
My experience is, first, if you have a baby who eats his hands at home, remember to wipe the baby's hands frequently to avoid bacterial infection. 2. Whether you need to stop eating your hands: No need to interfere if you are young.Subsequent judgments will be made based on the baby's teething situation and the severity of hand-eating. Third, try to analyze the psychological factors behind the child's hand-eating, then choose a suitable method according to the child's characteristics, and finally try more. Fourth, be patient. Patiently coax and accompany patiently. It is not easy for adults to quit a habit, let alone for young children? This is a big challenge for the baby, and the process may be tortuous. We need to understand the child, encourage the child, and accompany the child through this level.
Does your child like to eat his hands? How did you do it?
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