My Baby keeps sucking her fists

[shinyshilling]

My daughter is 12 weeks old and is feeding on SMA from a bottle. She's a really good, laid back baby who sleeps through the night so I'm not too worried but she keeps sucking on her fists all the time and every time I approach her or play with her, she opens her mouth really wide like she wants a full beef dinner! She was a big baby when she was born 8lb 13oz and is big now too (haven't had her weighed recently but at the last count she was 13.5lb) I was feeding her at approx 3 to 4 hour intervals what she seemed to demand which was different amounts, never under 150 ml or above 200ml, but recently I've uped all feeds to 200ml and the feed before bed and first one in the morning to 250ml. I think maybe I just need to progress on to the second stage milk, but do I give her the same amount or reduce it? Could she just be exploring her hands? I am a bit concerned about her being too big as people keep remarking in a rather suprised way at how big she is...What does everyone think? Thanks.

does she have a dummy? All babies have a need to suck - breastfed ones usually satisfy theirs whilst feeding (and that's why they like to take their time), but obviously it's different for bottle fed babies.

She doesn't have a dummy. People have suggested them, but I have resisted because I wondered if it was just making a rod for my own back...it dropping out and getting dirty or having to wake in the night to put it back in when she sleeps through already and the whole thing of having to wean her off it at a later stage??? I don't mind her sucking her fists but I was just concerned that I wasn't feeding her enough but at the same time don't want to overfeed her! Is it bad for babies to suck fists or thumbs?

not bad at all..my daughter is 15wks and is currently lying on the floor sucking her fists. IT is completely normal. Babies at this stage put everything in their mouths as it is how they explore things. Dont worry about it. If you are worried about how much she needs to feed then possibly try sma white as it is thicker. Just make up the same amount of formula you would normally and see how much she takes.

I think it's a typical developmental stage..it's through mouthing that they learn about the world around them and discovering hands and feet is part of that. They do also chew on hands for comfort and when teething.

The mouth is the most sensitive part of the body for babies. They use it to explore the world around them. When born they have no control over their heads, arms and legs. Then they gain a bit of control over their arms and the first thing they can actively explore therefore is their hands. When she gets a little older, she'll start sucking her feet too - when she gets better control over them! And then it all comes together when she can start grasping and then everything she can get her hands on will go in her mouth!!

This is the point when you will post "Why do I bother sterilising everything when I have just found her eating worms in the garden?" LOL!!!!

Thanks all. That's very helpful.

shinyshilling, i think the sucking the fists is normal!all mine did that, regardless of the way they were fed. by the way, my baby is similar to yours, she was 8lb 10 born, and is now 13lb 12oz at 13 weeks old. the hv said she is between the 75th and 91st centile, nothing wrong with that! do you know, i think people expect to see the baby still looking like a newborn when they bump into you 3 months later.i just say to them, "well 3 months has passed you know, did you really expect her not to grow!"time flys by so fast and babies grow so quickly, sounds to me as if your baby is doing just fine.

DD (7 weeks) is doing this and she's breastfed. I tried her with a dummy in desperation one day and she actually reached up and removed it. And then shoved her fists in again.

DS1 did this and found his thumb at 4 weeks and DS2 never did it at all. Must be that some babies are "sucky" ones and some arent I guess!