Parents regularly notice their baby chewing on their hands throughout the beginning months of early development. Hand chewing is typical for most babies who undergo normal growth. Baby exploration of the world depends heavily on their sense perceptions, which their mouth helps them execute. Massive interest in hand chewing signals three reasons: teething, hunger, or needing comfort. Learning the reason behind your baby’s hand-chewing habits allows you to soothe your worries and adequately guide them throughout their development.
Why Is My Baby Chewing and Drooling on Their Hands?
When babies grow up, they naturally show signs of chewing and drooling behavior. The primary reasons for baby hand chewing include teething behavior, investigative hand usage, and hand sucking for comfort. Learning what causes the behavior allows you to address worries and comfort your baby. Some common causes include:
- Teething
Chewing with accompanying drool typically occurs because babies are teething. The development of infant teeth from 4 to 6 months old creates swollen and sore gums, natural triggers for chewing their hands. Baby relief comes through hand or object chewing, which also helps reduce the discomfort symptoms. Drooling becomes more prominent when their salivary glands are stimulated during this process.
- Exploring the World
Newborns leverage their mouths to discover things in their environments. Young children who touch objects frequently follow up by placing their hands in their mouths to understand textures and sense different sensations. Their sensory development includes this function as its essential element.
- Development of Fine Motor Skills
Babies develop control over their hands and fingers between 4 and 6 months. Hand chewing is a learning mechanism by which babies learn to handle things.
- Self-Soothing
Young babies find hand chewing to be a self-soothing habit. Hand chewing mostly occurs when babies feel exhausted or overwhelmed or require assistance in relaxing.
- Hunger or Comfort
Babies occasionally use hand-chewing during feeding periods because their sensory experiences link to mealtime. Silently chewing hands is a method of getting comfort and a means to comfort oneself.
Does Baby Chewing on Hands Mean They’re Hungry?
When babies perform hand chewing, they might show signs of hunger, yet it does not indicate eating right away is required. Infants carry out hand chewing as they explore when their teeth need relief or feel hungry. Your baby's hunger signs reveal their readiness to eat through active mouth movements and their habit of instinctively touching their cheeks. A baby uses hand chewing as an exploratory behavior that is a comfort tool even if the body lacks food needs.
Does Baby Drooling and Chewing on Hands Mean Teething?
Yes, drooling and chewing on hands are common signs of teething. The painful movement of teeth growing through the gums drives babies toward finding objects to bite because they seek relief from discomfort. This developmental process leads to greater drooling in affected babies. Hand chewing and drooling practices exist regardless of tooth emergence, especially in initial sensory developmental phases.
What Are the Risks of Thumb Sucking?
Many newborns acquire thumb-sucking as a distinct behavior from hand chewing, although these actions differ. Although thumb-sucking in infants does not usually result in significant trouble, extended thumb-sucking past certain ages can present potential complications.
- Dental Issues: Dental problems develop when children extend thumb sucking beyond a specific period because it may lead to open bites or crossbites.
- Speech Development Delays: Speech development. occurs slower when children persistently thumb-suck because the activity stops their tongue from forming its typical resting position.
- Increased Risk of Infection: Repeated hand-to-mouth actions let bacteria from the thumb enter the mouth, increasing the chances of infections or sickness.
Will Chewing Your Baby’s Hand Affect Teething?
Babies who chew their hands won't face any changes to their teething process. Such behavior is a natural solution for babies to handle the pain from teething. Make sure to keep your baby's hands adequately cleaned before they start sucking to reduce the chance of infection or irritation.
Other Risks of Hand Chewing or Thumb Sucking
- Skin Irritation: Ongoing drooling leads to skin irritation and rashes on hand surfaces or around the mouth.
- Potential for Developing Bad Habits: Hand chewing or thumb-sucking behavior can transform into persistent habits that might become challenging to eliminate during your child's development.
What Should You Do When Your Baby Chews on Hands?
Hand chewing is a developmental behavior that young infants commonly display during early physical growth. Parents can minimize discomfort and irritation by implementing some supportive approaches while supporting healthy tooth growth.
The instinctive need for chewing in infants gets resolved when they use teethers to relieve their tender gums during the teething process. New parents must select teethers with easy-grip design elements and diverse textures and ensure these items are completely safe to chew.
Parents find the Momcozy Water Fillable Teether an outstanding product that assists babies during teething. Placing the teether inside the freezer allows it to reach a frigid temperature, providing discomfort relief for sore gums and soothing pain. This silicone teether material gives your baby access to a safe grip while averting harmful BPA. The physical structure of this chewing item activates gentle pressure on the gums while your baby applies it for teeth pain relief.
Introduce a Multi-Textured Teether Toy
Various shaped teether toys deliver sensory stimulation through their textured surfaces, which reduce sore gums during teething.
The Momcozy Baby Teether Toys are excellent examples of such multipurpose teething aids. The teethers offer food-grade silicone materials with safe textures, including shapes that permit easy holding and chewing functions. This tool relieves teething pain while developing children's mouth and small motor abilities.
Keep Hands and Face Clean
Direct hand and mouth wiping using a gentle cleaning cloth can prevent drooling-related irritation and hand-chewing damage to your baby's skin. You can also use a baby-safe protective cream on your child's skin to avoid rashes or chapping while offering protection
against chapping and rash.
Massage the Gums
A clean finger or silicone fingertip toothbrush gently stimulated by the parent helps reduce gum pain and soothes an uncomfortable teething baby.
Offer Gentle Distractions
A baby who becomes bored or overwhelmed will typically start chewing on their hands. Your baby will engage in safe activities by playing with suitable toys or through your interactive games so that they can focus on something other than thumb-sucking.
Is It Okay to Let My Baby Chew on Their Hands?
Yes, it is normal for babies to put their hands in their mouths during their initial months of life. Your baby uses hand-chewing to comfort themselves naturally and explore their surroundings. You must watch for possible hand discomfort or skin irritation, but hand cleaning will suffice. A high-quality safety teether provides a beneficial hand-chewing alternative when hand-chewing becomes frequent or results in skin problems.
Should Babies Suck on Their Hands While Sleeping?
It is safe for babies to use their hands as a method of sucking while they sleep. Self-soothing through hand-to-mouth actions allows newborns to relax once they have reached their first few months. The practice enables infants to drift off to sleep and provides comfort during brief nighttime awakenings. There is no cause for concern if the newborn maintains unbroken skin and can normally feed because hand-sucking is acceptable.
When Do Babies Stop Hand-Sucking?
Babies typically give up thumb and hand sucking during the period from 2 to 4 years of age naturally. This habit of hand-sucking ends at different ages among different children. Some infants conclude the habit at various times, while others maintain it for an extended duration. The hand-sucking behavior disappears because children learn more effective ways to comfort themselves.
When to Worry About Hand-Sucking
Hand-sucking is a normal developmental behavior in infancy and shows health significance, yet problems requiring action may emerge from the habit. Pay attention to hand-sucking in infants if you notice any concerning signs or symptoms; your pediatrician should advise you.
The Habit Continues Beyond Age 4
If your child is still regularly sucking on their hands, fingers, or thumb after age 4, it could begin to affect their:
- Dental development(e.g., misaligned teeth, bite issues)
- Speech articulation(e.g., lisp or difficulty with specific sounds)
- Jaw growth(particularly with vigorous thumb-sucking)
A pediatric dentist or doctor can help assess the impact and recommend gentle strategies to help your child break the habit.
It Interferes With Eating or Talking
If your baby or toddler is chewing or sucking so frequently that it disrupts meals, delays speech, or limits social interaction, it could be a sign they’re overly reliant on it for comfort and may need support transitioning to other coping skills.
Skin Damage or Infection
Excessive sucking or chewing can cause:
- Raw or irritated skin
- Chapped, cracked hands or fingers
- Redness, bleeding, or signs of infection(swelling, pus, warmth)
You should visit your pediatrician when you observe these symptoms to find alternative soothing methods before complications develop.
Emotional or Behavioral Concerns
Thorough hand-sucking or thumb-sucking patterns that escalate when a child feels anxious or when routine changes require medical professionals to provide emotional support while recommending stress-reducing techniques. When this condition appears, pediatricians and child psychologists should help resolve the matter.
Conclusion
Hand chewing occurs frequently during early infancy because it is an inherent element of typical child development. Hand-sucking indicates that your baby wants to explore their environment, ease discomfort from teething, or needs comfort from their hands for self-soothing. Combining clean hands with proper teething tools and gentle assistance enables you to guide your baby through this development step comfortably as they follow their standard growth path.
