Small comfort

Carers need to recognise when a child's self-soothing habit is an expression of distress that shows they may need help, say psychologists from the Anna Freud Centre Infants and young children engage in various self-soothing habits for sheer pleasure to manage separations, new situations or distressing feelings. Thumb-sucking, rocking and masturbating calm the child through the soothing experience of sucking, rhythmic moving or stroking. Other habits such as head-banging or nail-biting can be...