help my baby is addicted to sucking my finger

[eclairep]

he is 4 months old and will only go to sleep sucking my or my husband's finger. he hates all the dummies i have tried and spits them out. i know you will just say stop giving him your finger to suck, but sometimes it's the only way to calm him down during the day too or prevent him going completely hysterical for up to 2 hours (we have tried that). does anyone have any suggestions how to encourage him to suck his own thumb or finger, or of a dummy that he might take?

[TooTickyTheAppleMuncher]

I think it's sweet. Enjoy it while it lasts - it will stop all too soon.

[lulunaticmama]

try the dummy ! it is sweet, but won;t be sweet in a years time!! i was always really wary of rocking baby to sleep etc...i would try to encourage him to sleep without your finger....and try a dummy...he'll probably scream , but possibly a habit you might want to try and break sooner rather than later....

try different shaped dummies?

[marmee]

My ds did the finger-sucking thing too, until about 4-5 months when he found his thumb. We did end up with some stupid situations where I was standing by his cot with my finger stuck in his mouth for half an hour. I encouraged him to find his thumb, just gently guiding it towards his mouth, then got all worried that he would end up addicted to it! He stopped as soon as he needed his hands for other things.

[fluffyanimal]

Don't worry Eclairp, my 7mo ds loves to suck my finger to go to sleep. He will also suck his thumb quite happily - I'm sure your lo will find his thumb soon too. I don't think it's a bad way to get them to sleep - especially if he's equally happy with your or your husband's finger. Once he finds his own thumb then you can start trying to put him down awake and see if he will settle himself. These things come with time.