My 5 year old is constantly sucking on her fingers (anxiety)

[PAflower]

My five year old is always sucking on her fingers when we are out. I know it is because she is shy and is feeling anxious but it is gross. I always think about the germs. She has never sucked her thumb or fingers before. But, she is just so shy...
Anyone else have this?
What do you do?

[captain optimism]

I was a 5 year old thumb-sucker (and a teen-aged werewolf! )
Great that you want to deal with the anxiety, but I don't think it's so gross...

...and, shy is okay. By me, anyway. There's a lot of new stuff when you are five, you know? It seems okay that she wants to take her time to get to know her environment. Other, more experienced moms may have better answers. To me, it looks like your task is to be cool about the finger-sucking.