Baby is fisting it...What does it mean?

[Truckerdoo]

Avett spends 1/2 his waking hours with his fist shoved down his throat. What does it mean?

Someone told me he may be on the verge of cutting a tooth (b/c he has also not been sleeping and drools a ton).

Someone else told me it means he's hungry, but he does it after he has been fed a full 4 oz (which is usually the amt that satiates him)

Any thoughts? ARe your babies fisting it?

[evinmom]

Everett has been doing that a lot lately. Even when he is not hungry. If I try to nurse him he gets upset and clamps down with his gums (ouch!). I don't think he's teething yet though. That would be totally weird. My oldest was textbook and got his first teeth at 6 months. It took DD 8.5 months to get her first. I'm not expecting Everett to get teeth until at least 6 months, and I don't remember either of the other two fisting it all the time when not hungry at any age. I think for Everett he just wants to suckle and I won't give him a pacifier so he's trying to use his hands.

[Truckerdoo]

I give Avett a pacifier all the time tho - sometimes I have to shove his fists out of the way to do so!

[4Blessings]

Yep, fingers, thumb, or entire fist. No paci here. I think she just likes to suck on something all.the.time.

[yentroc]

Ds is doing this too, I just assumed it was a sensory thing/finding his own hand.

[Katsmamajama]

We're in the same boat as Proud as well. Grace has anything from a finger or thumb, or up to her whole fist shoved in her drooly mouth. She thankfully learned that shoving all her fingers in her mouth is a bad idea! She can be fully fed, and still do it-- I've even had to move her hand out of the way so she could finish nursing before!

DD1 cut her first tooth right around this time, so I have a feeling DD2 is following suit.

[nina_yyc]

Elliot does it too. I like it! It seems to calm him down.

[HappyFox05]

Mary does that too. I just figured its a sensory thing or she likes to suck.

[Tattooed Hand]

R does it too and is also drooling. I think she is teething because she is full, bites if I try to nurse her and seems soothed when I stick my finger in her mouth and rub her bottom gums. She shoves finger, fists, sometimes both fists in her mouth. She tries in her not very sucessful way to suck her thumb too but most of it seems to be gnawing, almost desperately. Sometimes she tries to stick a thumb in her mouth while she is nursing (not when she's really hungry though). She spends plenty of time on my breast, so it's no lack of that, though I don't use a paci.

[Nicole915]

Ellie is doing this too. The best is when she has all her fingers in there, and is trying to babble at us.... so funny. I don't think she's hungry, because she's just as likely to do it after nursing as she is any other time. We guess that she just likes her fingers. Just the idea of teeth coming in is terrifying!

[NSmomtobe]

My doctor said it was a sign of teething but that it can take 2 months for the first tooth to come through after this starts.

[doclegs]

Emma just started doing that this week... drooling all over the place and gnawing on her fist/shoving it in her mouth and down her throat practically. There's no sign of a tooth that we can see but who knows!

[evinmom]

Based on the fact that so many of our babies are doing this at the same time, I'm chalking it up to a common developmental milestone.

[Truckerdoo]

Originally Posted by evinmom

Based on the fact that so many of our babies are doing this at the same time, I'm chalking it up to a common developmental milestone.

I'm going to go with you - makes the most sense.

[Tattooed Hand]

hm, so maybe it's not teething (because at the end of the day, what do I know?!). It's so helpful to have mom with babies the same age to run these things by!

[onyxravnos]

Originally Posted by Proud2BeAnAmerican

Yep, fingers, thumb, or entire fist. No paci here. I think she just likes to suck on something all.the.time.

[Brisen]

Originally Posted by Tattooed Hand

R does it too and is also drooling. I think she is teething because she is full, bites if I try to nurse her and seems soothed when I stick my finger in her mouth and rub her bottom gums. She shoves finger, fists, sometimes both fists in her mouth. She tries in her not very sucessful way to suck her thumb too but most of it seems to be gnawing, almost desperately. Sometimes she tries to stick a thumb in her mouth while she is nursing (not when she's really hungry though). She spends plenty of time on my breast, so it's no lack of that, though I don't use a paci.

Baby is 4 months, I didn't think it could be teething, but with all the drool and how happy he gets when there is pressure on his bottom gum, it sure seems like it. Plus when we take him out, people take one look at him and say "Oh, he's teething!"