Thumb Sucking

Hi T.,

Sorry to say, there is nothing you can do at such a young age. You will just make your baby cranky and miserable. It is NORMAL for a baby to pacify themselves. The only thing I can suggest to try to limit the amount of time that he does this is distraction. Try to get your baby to grab a toy or something with the hand that he is using to suck with. It still may be too soon, but as he gets older, try to engage in some play with his hands where he is taking his own thumb out of his mouth. I wouldn't make it a big issue.

I can relate. I also have a child that is a thumb sucker. I also have an ultrasound photo of her sucking her thumb! Doctors told us there is nothing we could do but save for braces! She is now 5 and does not do it so much. We will catch her at night sometimes when she is sleeping with her thumb in her mouth, and we pull it out.
Don't make it a big deal even though you hate it. It has nothing to do with you. It will get less frequent as he gets older and mobil and can engage in other activities. Just love him for who he is. Good Luck!

Hi T..
Like you are anti-thumb, I'm anti-pacifier. It drives me crazy when I see a two or three (even 4 - egads!) year-old running around with one stuck in their face.

My dilemma, though, was my first son couldn't find his own thumb when he was an infant, so we gave in and would put the pacifier in his mouth if he started losing it in public places (we called it "kryptonite" because it was the only thing to calm "Superman" - lol). Needless to say, because we hardly ever used it, he never got "hooked," but I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when he *finally* was able to find his own thumb!

With our second, we're lucky because he doesn't need the oral stim to calm down, and never wanted a pacifier. He sucks two fingers instead of his thumb, but he doesn't even do *that* very often.

In the end, you may realize your 4 month old is just "wired" to need the thumb for right now. There are plenty of good "tricks" to get him to quit when he's bigger.

Good luck.
T

I posted a similar question a few months back and got some great responses.

http://www.mamasource.com/request/7564145533170745345

Like you, I have always been against thumb-sucking but my soon to be 11 month old son is still doing it and I've just decided to let him alone. As he has gotten older he has been doing it less frequently-- he went from sucking it every second of the day that he wasn't nursing to only doing it when he's tired. I'm hopeful that he'll simply outgrow it. It's a natural soothing mechanism so right now, your son is just learning how to comfort himself. I hope this helps! :)

I am not sure that there is anything to do. If anyone has any ideas, I would love to hear them as well. I know exactly what you are going through, my youngest (1yr) is also a thumb sucker. He started sucking his thumb at about 3 weeks old. I tried to take it out and put a pacifier in but he would just spit that out and put his thumb back. we were constantly in this battle. I finally just gave in and he has been sucking his thumb ever since. I HATE IT!!!! But I have no ideas of what to do. MY older son took a pacifier and it was super easy to take it away when he was about 15 months, but how do you get rid of the thumb? Anyway, like I said, I feel your pain. If you find something that works, I would love to hear it! Good luck!

Hi T.,
I know exactly how you feel! I have a two month old who will suck her thumb when she is getting hungry and no matter how many times I pull it out so finds it again. I think this young the options are very limited though...I realize that this was no help to you but just wanted to let you know your not alone :)
~D.

Just a thought... Maybe mittens/socks to cover his little hands? I personally did not have this happen to my 8 month old daughter, I was surprised because I really thought all babies sucked either a pacifier or a finger/thumb but she has not done that. I was prepared with the mittens though!! Good luck I hope this works or he just may grow out of it before too long.
I had to edit this because come to think of it she loves tags! She will chew on tags that are attached to anything. WalMart has little blankets that have these tag style fabric sewn onto a small 12x12 inch fabric that is so soft and it comes in pinks and blues. My daughter has both colors and she loves those so much she chews the "tags" on those all the time. Who knows that might help.