Expert: ruth kraft - 12/18/2008

Question
Hi, I have a 4month 4 week old baby who now like to scratch her ears whilst feeding. I have checked with the pediatrician but he didnt seem to find anything wrong with her ears. Sometimes I have to hold her hands down because I afraid that she might injure her ears. There must be a reason why she is doing that. Could not possibly be a habit, right?

Answer
Well, I am not sure if your baby is 4 months or 4 weeks... as the question said both... If she is only 4 weeks old its really rather normal for her to do this as she doesn't have much control and its all done by reflexes at this point. She doesn't have much hand control at all. thats why they make little baby mittens... but the reality is, she really doesn't need them. She may get little knicks now and again but these can be prevented some by not cutting her nails. you can file them, but if you cut them, just like our nails they become shorter for a day until they rub down on something...  So if you leave them be they will fall off when they get frail and thats it... if she is 4 months, you would wonder more why she is doing it.  A 4 month old baby has much more ability to control their hands and at that point it could indicate that something is bothering her.. if you rule out an ear infection and the dr isn't worried about it, then theres really not much else it could be. If shes 4 months old, often times babies will pull at their ears when they are starting to get sleepy. So remember that as well :) maybe shes telling you it is time for a nap :)

Hope that helped!