General term for actions or things adopted by young children to enhance feelings of comfort, safety, and security. These include sucking a thumb, finger, or pacifier; adopting a transitional comfort object such as a teddy bear or old blanket; and repetitive, rhythmic activities such as rocking or hair twisting. Sucking and comfort objects generally cause no concern (unless one is accidentally lost!), but repetitive physical activities can interfere with the child\u2019s developing relationship with the world, becoming a sort of self-hypnosis. If a child seems to be withdrawing from other activities into rhythmic habits (rather than falling into them when bored or tired, as at sleeptime), and especially if the activities are potentially dangerous (such as head-banging), parents may want to consult their pediatrician for ways to counteract or divert the habits before they become ingrained. Such habits can develop into a psychological condition called stereotypy habit disorder, which may require treatment. Often, however, substantial amounts of loving attention and playtime with parents can turn the child away from rhythmic habits if they have not already become well- established.<\/p>\n
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General term for actions or things adopted by young children to enhance feelings of comfort, safety, and security. These include sucking a thumb, finger, or pacifier; adopting a transitional comfort object such as a teddy bear or old blanket; and repetitive, rhythmic activities such as rocking or hair twisting. Sucking and comfort objects generally cause […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c"],"yoast_head":"\n