What is a common treatment for mild agitation in infants during active alert states?

Sucking on hands is a common treatment for mild agitation in infants during active alert states because it serves multiple calming purposes. This behavior is a natural reflex and instinctual mechanism for infants, offering a source of comfort through self-soothing. Sucking can also help to regulate their sensory input and provide a means to cope with overstimulation, leading to decreased agitation levels.

In active alert states, infants may be experiencing heightened sensory awareness and can become easily unsettled. Sucking on their hands engages them in a familiar behavior that is reassuring and may help facilitate a return to a more relaxed state. This self-comforting action allows them to express their intrinsic need for oral stimulation, which is a normal developmental milestone for infants.

While other options like feeding, swaddling, and rocking can also be helpful in managing agitation, they may not specifically address the immediate self-soothing mechanism that hand sucking provides. Feeding can be more suitable in cases of hunger rather than agitation, swaddling might not always be desirable for an actively alert infant, and rocking, while soothing, requires external input and may not foster the infant's ability to self-soothe as effectively as hand sucking does.