In a new born, the most sensitive areas of the body are the lips and mouth.

As the
newborn starts becoming aware of the environment and his/her own body, the natural
curiosity starts emerging for exploration. The body develops control from top to bottom;
head, arms, trunk and legs. Around 3-4 mouth, the baby starts actively bringing hands to
mouth. Some of the developmental significant benefits are:

 Body image & body awareness - By touching various body parts, the image of our
body is formed in brain which later helps in figuring out how to move our bodies for
complicated events like sports. (like a google map used for directions)
 Fine motor development- repeated movements in infants contribute to
strengthening of muscles used for fine finger movements for feeding and for
reaching and crawling.
 Self-regulation: Bringing hands to mouth also helps in calming the infants. In fact,
this is also seen frequently in-utero as well. Maybe you’ll notice the baby bringing
the hands up to the breast while feeding or as a precursor to sleep. It’s normal and
developmentally healthy for the baby to bring hands to mouth to self-soothe.

These behaviors are normal and in fact a good sign of your child’s natural developmental
progression. All babies develop at their own pace and have their own style of learning.
Some babies suck more than others. Once the babies are sitting up well and using their
fingers/hands to play/manipulate toys, this behavior starts reducing naturally.