Holy Hands in Mouth Batman!

Toni79

DD is 12 weeks.  For the past 2-3 weeks she has become very effient at getting her hands in her mouth!  Before this, she only put her hands in her mouth when she was hungry.  Now, if she is awake, her hands are in her mouth.  At first I thought it was still her hunger cue.  But I've found that sometimes I offer to nurse when her hands are in her mouth and she refuses to nurse - ok, she's not hungry?  Other times she'll nurse for a while and then stick her hands in her mouth - ok maybe she's done?  Then other times she'll nurse on and off, switching between sucking on me and sucking on her hands - apparently she cont decide which one she wants?!?!

I've also noticed that she doesn't nurse as long.  She used to nurse for 20 minutes on each side (40 minutes total).  Now she'll nurse for 8-10 minutes on each side (15-20 minutes total).  And sometimes she'll only take one side for 10 minutes.  I'm guessing she's getting more effient at nursing and getting her erge to suck from her hands (instead of getting that extra sucking time from me).

Her frequency is also all over the place.  She used to nurse every 3 hours during the day, but now sometimes she'll go anywhere from 1-4 hours between feedings.  However I am probably offering more frequently becasue I'm missreading her cues.  So she might be getting more "snacks" in throughout the day.

It's just so frustrating!  Sometimes I can't figure out if she's hungry or if she just wants to suck.  I hate waiting for her to cry.  I know I can always offer to nurse, but its even more frustrating when she refuses to nurse because sometimes that makes her cry (usually screams like "mommy I was perfectly content sucking on my hands.  Why are you  putting your boob in my face?!?!?".)

Anyone else having this problem?  Is this just a phase?  How long will this phase last?  (Probably forever since I know babies are constantly putting things in thier mouths). 

I'm also returning to work in 2 weeks (DH will be watching her for a few weeks).  I'm concerned that if I'm having trouble reading her cues, he will too.  Also, I don't want DH to waste BM - offering it if she doesn;t want it.

Sorry, lots of questions in this post!!!

TIA