DS's Thumbs in the middle of every spoonful

[AussieSim]

My DS is nearly 7mths. I started introducing solids @ 4.5mths, following the GF weaning book as a guide as he is a GF baby. The problem is that he tends to follow the spoonful of whatever food I am giving him with sucking his thumb (left or right he doesn't care). I have him in a high chair and the harness helps prevent his messy hands from coming into wider contacts, but he still makes an awful mess of himself.

At first I wasn't concerned, thinking that at least he ate everything I gave him, but after more than a couple of months of this I am starting to worry. My PIL's are freaked out whenever they see him at meal times. It seems to be worse when he is tired. If he is really hungry and is having one of his favourite foods then he only puts the thumb in briefly and then withdraws it quickly to get the next spoonful, but if he is tired and doesn't particularly like the meal than I extract his thumb with a resounding pop and insert the spoon - which is inevitably quickly followed by the replacement of the thumb. I try to prevent his thumbs from making it back in but with juggling spoon, bowl and two quick little hands I haven't had much success.

I think I might have trouble buying a strait jacket in his size so any suggestions will be gratefully received.

What about putting a plaster on each his thumbs at meal times, maybe the odd texture will put him off and after a few days of this he'll stop.
Mind you it's probably wouldn't be nice taking them off as it might hurt his little hands.
I'm sure there will be better ideas coming soon.

So, he's eating fine, you are quite happy, but your PILs aren't? then there's not problem. Ignore the PILs (smile sweetly) and carry on with your happy, well-fed son. He won't suck his thumb like this forever. Relax. People feel very free to be critical but you don't have to take any notice of them.

Don't see why this is such a problem - and IIRC at 7m GF has a baby eating before sleeps so he's probably just tired. In a few weeks when he starts on finger food you'll be grateful that he has got such a good grasp of the hand to mouth action In the meantime, move the highchair away from anything touchable and buy lots of cloths to wipe him up.

My DD who is now 8 months did this too when she first started to get solids at around 6 months. I thought that it maybe had something to do with the fact that she associated getting food with sucking (she was bf) so I just left her to it. As time went on, I think she has realised that putting her thumb in her mouth after every spoonful means she gets food slower so has started to take it out more and more. Her breakfast and lunch are normally done with no thumb at all! So, it does wear off, it's just up to you if you want to cope with it until it does!!

Yup, mine did that too. Mucky little angels, aren't they? I ended up giving her things to hold, such as teethers or fat trainer spoons, and she gradually stopped. Still tends to stuff her hands into her mouth after each mouthful if she's particularly tired, though. I think that at first it's just that the feel and taste in their mouths is so stimulating.

My Ds did this too and it went on for what seemed like ages...

He's 13 months now and hasn't done it for months. In fact we'd forgotten all about it until I came across a photo of him the other day of a spoon advancing towards him with his thumb firmly in place. I think it must be a breastfeeding association.

He's always been a fantastic eater and sleeper and only uses his thumb now to show us he's ready to go to bed

Like everything with babies, it seems like an age at the time but it soon passes and this is just 'one of those things'. Personally, I think it looks rather cute!

Hi, my 10month DD is a thumb sucker, when she's tired, bored she sucks her thumb. Trouble is this also extends to feeding time as she's not a big eater. I always have to prise the thumb out to get the first mouthful in, if the thumb doesn't go back in we're off, but if it does it generally means the meals over and she has to wait for the next meal as its only a battle to get her to eat. I've just put up with this routine now, there's nothing I can do to stop her sucking her thumb, only time will tell! Like the sound of the plaster thing though, might give that a try one day! Good luck though!

It makes me feel so much better to hear about other babies who have been through this phase too . I tried giving him another spoon to hold on to at lunch today and it helped quite a bit and I brought his tea forward by 15mins and gave him his favourite food (pumpkin & rice) and all in all we had a much less messy day. Thanks for pitching in.

I try not to care what the PIL'S think, but they are pretty persistent with the 'your dh and his sister never did that' and I get the feeling that they think that if I ever let them babysit him then they would be able to cure him in a jiffy. Meanwhile I don't let them babysit because they think all of my parenting ideas are strange - like not giving him cake with cream or fluffy white bread rolls with nutella etc.