Hand Wringing

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Hand Wringing

Posted 6 months ago by Ross

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Ross said 6 months ago

Mia will be 10 months old tomorrow and has recently started playing with her hands; a lot. In particular she holds the fingers of one hand with the other and brings them to her mouth at any given opportunity. While we recognise 'hands to midline' and 'hands to mouth' as a desirable developmental milestones she is displaying this behaviour more than what might be considered, for want of a better phrase, 'normal'.

I have read that this type of 'hand wringing' is stereotypical of other conditions, namely Rett Syndrome, but wondered whether any of you had seen this in your own kids?

Incidentally, Mia started on Keppra around the same time we noticed this change, so it could well be a side effect of the meds.
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Deborah said 6 months ago

Ross,
Ellye did this for the longest time, starting around the same time as Mia. We constantly gave her other small things to hold or try to manipulate and distract her so she would stop. She seemed really absorbed with her hands and it drove us a little crazy and was worrying. At around 13 or 14 months she stopped doing it altogether and hasn't picked back up the habit since. Just try to propose to her as many distractions as possible to interest her in something else and you'll see she'll probably lose interest in her hands before you know it!
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Ross said 6 months ago

Deborah, thanks so much for getting back to me. I'm delighted to hear this is something Ellye grew out of and we will certainly follow your advice of offering as many alternative distractions to Mia as possible.

Once again a parent on this site has come up trumps in offering another reassurance by answering a question that it would be almost impossible to get an answer to elsewhere.

Many thanks again,

Ross
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taylorbug said 6 months ago

Taylor did the same thing but she does not do it anymore. I think she stopped doing it around 11 or 12 months old.
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LeeAnn said 6 months ago

Hi Ross,
Brodie did this at the same age and outgrew it. But for many many months he would put his fingertips to his lips while making a kissing mouth, he would do this ALL the time but as his movement and physical skills improved we saw these repeated behaviours less and less- we distracted like crazy but in the end I really believe it was the fact that his mind moved on to other things developmentally that ultimately lessened the behaviours. He would do these hand things when he was really engrossed in something (tv shows) or when he was teething and had other anxieties going on. We actually still see it come back when he is anxious, we are seeing it more again lately because he is making another big breakthrough in development in learning to mimic emotions. Other toddlers expressing emotions like crying or being mad really sends him into a tailspin and he will pace and slam his hands on the table, at the same time he is studying them and processing their behaviour. Now we see him freak out less now that he has learned better how to express his own emotions, we can now say what is your happy face and he will laugh, and what is your sad face and he will fake cry so he is less confused when he sees these "shocking" behaviours in other toddlers. my point is you will probably see other behaviours that are a sign of our kids being "wired" differently neurologically and don't be too worried that its because of another disease or complication.
-LeeAnn
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M said 5 months ago

My daughter did this a lot too. She does it a lot when she's sleepy, sucking her paci. She sometimes even falls asleep hands clasped like she praying. Quite cute actually =) I was a bit concerned but my OT said that it's actually a good thing she's bring to midline. And i have noticed that she starts reaching more with both hands now towards the toys as to just the one hand.

The rett syndrome thing freaked me out before too (TooOo much google) but i really don't think it is. I've read that Retts is a lot of repetitive hand movements (clapping, flapping, and repetitive wringing), it seems that she's more or less just experimenting, learning and playing!
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Ross said 5 months ago

Thanks guys, we are very grateful for your stories and support.

M, Mia does that exact 'praying' thing too - I agree; too cute!
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Laurie said 5 months ago

Kaylee did this for a long time. I cannot recall how old she was when she started and stopped, but I can say that at 22 months, she is grasping and reaching for things readily, and I credit it to her discovery of her hands. (I do admit, though, that at times it seemed like she was going to pull off her thumbs...so I am glad the stage is past. lol)
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Brianna said 5 months ago

Arin has actually just started doing this also. Glad to see that I am not the only one concerned about this and that she should grow out of it.

Brianna