Once Abigail and Tanner turned 6 months old we began feeding them solid foods (rice cereal, purees, etc.). At around 7 months old Abigail began sucking the ring finger and middle finger of her right hand. After every bite (and with a full mouth) she would stick the two fingers in her mouth with palm facing up. Food would ooze out the sides and we would have to pull them out (with a audible "pop") for her next bite.
At first we thought it was kind of funny. It didn't look comfortable; her hand flipped upside down like that but she didn't seem to mind. After a week or so it became annoying. Meal time was taking three times as long (it was already twice as long because we were feeding two) as it should because we had to stop and remove her fingers between each bite. I began holding the bowl of food and her arm with my left hand and serving both Tanner and Abigail with a spoon in my right hand. If I let go for once second, the fingers were immediately in her mouth. We tried saying, "No fingers Abby" and blocking her each time she would try to put them in her mouth...but nothing seemed to work. Occasionally she would suck on these fingers when she wasn't in her highchair, but it wasn't often.
This finger sucking phase lasted for about three months (7 months old to 10 months old) and just as suddenly as it began it went away. I am not sure if it was teething related since Abby didn't get any teeth until after her first birthday. I think it was just another one of Abby's many quirks...something that we will share with her when she is older.
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