Mom Seeking Advice on Thumb Sucking

My pediatrician told me there is no need to stop thumb sucking until they have a full set of teeth. I let my daughter suck her thumb until her first baby tooth fell out. Then she was old enough for me to explain that she had to stop because her new teeth coming in would be "forever" and sucking her thumb would make them crooked and that she may need braces to straighten them out. this motivated her to stop and it was painlessly over within weeks. She is now six and is still losing teeth but her permanent ones are straight and beautiful!

Geez, she's only 4mo., let her suck her thumb. My son who is 15mo only sucks his thumb at night or if he's really tired & ready for nap/bed, he'll suck it. It's a comfort thing for them. Wrap it with what? Take the chance of the wrap coming un-done & having your baby choke, no way! I wouldn't worry about it.

Here's parts of Answer/Question article that I found about a 3yr just starting to suck her thumb:

According to the American Dental Association, thumb sucking does not cause permanent problems with the teeth or jaw line unless it is continued beyond 4 to 5 years of age. As it turns out, somewhere between 85% and 99% of children have finished thumb sucking spontaneously before this period.

As you have observed with your daughter, the most common time for sucking is when children are tired, bored, or in need of comfort. Often these children fall asleep more easily, are able to put themselves back to sleep at night more easily, and sleep through the night much earlier than their peers who do not suck their thumbs.

How do you get children to stop?

Children have control of their own thumbs when you are not looking. Pressure applied against thumb sucking can turn a natural developmental phase into an ingrained habit.

Instead, you want to create an environment where she chooses to stop on her own. You can weaken the thumb-sucking habit by distracting her when you notice her thumb in her mouth. Engage her in a way that she uses both hands.

I wouldn't worry too much about what grandma says...just nod and say thank you grandma.

Sucking is a natural soothing comfort for infants.

But at 4 months old, I wouldn't worry about it at all. At least it is a finger and not the nuk.

My youngest sucks his index finger and middle finger, and everytime he puts his fingers in his mouth I know he is ready for a nap, because it is the only time he sucks his fingers.

I'm not in the same agreement as everyone else. I have a 4 year adopted daughter who came home at age 2 sucking her fingers. We can not get her to stop and due to a gap she has speech issues. I'm not concerned about the teeth as these are baby teeth and her dentist is not concerned yet. However her docter is due to the speech issues. This is a habit that some never out grow as I've seen teenagers still sucking their thumbs. At least a pacifier you can throw away - may suffer some crying until they get used to not having it - but they always have their thumbs and fingers, not so easy to take away which means when they start feeling insecure or tired and bang, they're back in the mouth without them even thinking about it.

An old neighbor kid sucked his thumb so much (as a teen even) that he had a huge lump on his thumb and his teeth and jaw were so bad that it would have taken thousands of dollars to fix them. Unfortunately I don't think he ever had them fixed.

I never thought I'd like a pacifier but I so wished they would have been available to my daughter when she was a baby as I could have weaned her off of it by now. Everything we've tried for the fingers hasn't worked.

M.,
I have a 5 year old son that started sucking his thumb at two years old. I breastfed him as well. Just as your dauughter uses her thumb for comfort at sleeping times so did my son. I really didn't do anything about it other than encourage him not to suck his thumb while he was awake. He gradually stopped sucking his thumb during the last six months or so and rarely does it. I have a nursing background which I relied on my studies of childrens developmental stages for my course of action. I didn't make a big deal of it and had faith in the fact that he would grow out of it.
Take care and have patience...she will grow out of it in her own time.
G. Mother of 8 yer old daughter and 5 year old son.

my son has sucked his thumb since the womb. he is now 3 and we are trying to wean him. babies need oral stimulation and the thumb does that and is comforting. let her suck till she is older.
S.

I have a daughter who is 13 months old now. She started sucking her thumb when she was 3 months. I was worried at first also, but have gotten over it. Babies have a natural need to suck, and that is something I didn't want to take from her. Now, she sucks her thumb every once in awhile, not even every day. If she is extremely tired or very nervous (like immediately after she gets her shots) she will suck it for a short time. I wouldn't worry about it. I've heard that the only problems from thumb sucking will arise if they are still sucking around age 6 and have their adult teeth, otherwise there is no harm. That advice came from my doctor whose father is an orthodontist.

Hi M.,

I just want to second what others have said. Although the rare kid can have problems from sucking their thumbs past too old an age (several years from now), your daughter's thumb-sucking is probably a positive self-soothing behavior at this age (and for the next few years). It may save you from having to rock her to sleep every hour as some parents end up doing just to get a few zzz's! Most kids outgrow thumb-sucking at an appropriate age due to social pressure from their peers at school. So I'd consider the thumb-sucking a good thing, and just look into how to gently wean your daughter off of it IF she's still sucking her thumb several years from now. And yes, if you end up deciding you don't want your daughter to suck her thumb, I wouldn't wrap it--I'd also be worried about the choking hazard. It's such a challenge knowing what to do with advice from the older generations. They had valuable experience, and yet we know so much more (research-wise) now than they did a generation or two ago. The same will be true when we're giving advice to our kids about parenting!

Best of luck to you, and congrats on your little one!

I was a thumb sucker until I was in the 3rd grade, but I am certain I would have stopped much sooner if not for my mother's constant interference and attempts to get me to stop. The only negative effect was it created a gap between my two front teeth, but by high school my new molars had pushed the other teeth and closed the gap - making me wonder what my mouth would have looked like if the gap hadn't been there! Trust your baby to know and get what she needs, thank grandma for her concern and ignore her advice.

Do not wrap her thumb! What if she sucks on this and chokes on it yikes. At 4 months she still needs her oral stimulation. This is a good thing that she can self comfort,and sooth herself, it demonstrates postive emotional development.
M.

Oh piffle, I don't think that's anything to worry about! I sucked my thumb until I was six years old. I only did it when I carried a blanket around, and I remember my mom telling me a few weeks before I started kindergarten that on the first day of school, she was going to take it away. I hid it that morning, but when I came home, it was gone. She later told me she had to tear my room apart for two hours to find it! But I stopped sucking my thumb and everything is fine. I never had to wear braces & my teeth look great. My son doesn't suck his thumb & never used a pacifier, but he will bring his forearm up to his mouth and suck on that when he's upset or sleepy. So I think if babies/kids feel the need, they will suck on what ever is available. Your daughter will turn out just fine!

M.,

Oh my! Tell grandma to relax. My mom is the same way, believes that thumb sucking will lead to braces. Well, let your little baby suck her thumb. She's a baby, she is just comforting herself.
I have three girls, one used a pacifier, yuck! One is a thumb sucker, she is almost 4! My youngest doesn't do either!
I'll tell you what the doctor said to me. Her kids all had different habbits, like mine, and they all ended up with braces.
As long as they don't constantly suck, just leave them be. They will grow out of it. Hopefully before thay are 4!!!
Good luck, and enjoy your little one!!

M.

I wouldn't worry about it until she gets older. My 4 month old sucks her thumb when she sleeps. It's her way of soothing herself to sleep. I figure when my daughter gets to be a year old and still sucking her thumb I'll worry about it then.

The one thing I could suggest would be to try a pacifier at bedtime. My son used to take one at bedtime and that was about it but ever since he started teething, he wants to suck his thumb all the time. I kind of wish he would go back to the pacifier because that you can take away! I've heard that thumb sucking is a hard thing to break. I don't really think it becomes a dental problem until the child is much older and doing it often. Good luck!

My six month old does this too when she falls asleep. It's just a comfort measure, one I'm sure she'll grow out of when she's ready. I wouldn't worry about it till she's one or so. My older daughter did something similar (she sucked on her lip) until she was about 11 months old, then just stopped. At that point she went to bed each night with her blanket and a baby, and that seemed to work just as well. Hope that helps!

Don't worry about it. When my mother or grandmother give me advise, I have to take it with a grain of salt, (accompanied by the occasional margarita.) Your daughter found her own way to comfort herself. My daughter is 3 and she sucks her thumb too, and when I ask her when she's going to stop, she says, "When I'm 5." So,...I'm going to give her until then. If she ends up needing braces, so what. We'll deal with that when the time comes. Some kids who suck their thumbs don't even end up needing braces at all. Some kids who never sucked their thumbs end up needing braces, so don't worry about that now. Let her comfort herself...she won't be going to college sucking her thumb so let it go.