Hello all. My son who just turned 8 months has this strange habit of sucking his thumb while he eats. I've never really been a big pacifier mom and neither of my two kids have taken a liking to them. My son seemed to like it more than his sister. He's a GREAT sleeper and has been since he was just a few weeks old (unlike his older sister). The thing with him is he likes to suck his thumb, but he only likes to do it sometimes as a way of comfort, especially at night to help soothe him to sleep of if he's in the car and I can't get to him he'll suck his thumb again out of comfort and to help soothe himself. But ever since we started solids at 6 months he will barely have a bite of food in his mouth and his thumb will be with it too. I've tried placing my hand over his arm while he eats to help prevent the thumb from going in, it works most of the time, but it sometimes makes him upset. He also eats like it's going out of style! He's a big boy, 8 months, 20.6 lbs and very long. What do you all think is happening? Why is he sucking his thumb? Has anyone had this happen to them? He also likes to suck his thumb and pull at his hair when he's eating too. Any thoughts or suggestions would greatly appreciated. Thanks!
A.
THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed to my question/concern. It seems to be an overwhelming agreement that this is normal and there is nothing I should worry about. As most of us moms know, we are always wondering, (and sometimes worrying) about our kids. Are they getting everything they need from us and their environment to help them grow to be wonderful, healthy, smart children. My little guy eats like a pro, can't complain about that, he will easily put down at least a cup of vegetables (I make his own food) and then eat whatever fruit puree I have on hand. We've tried the puffs but our fine motor skills and pincer grasp are not there yet. But we're getting better at it. Every child is different and its absolutely amazing to learn and grow with your children each day. I will talk to his pediatrician at his 9 month check up and ask him as well. But I'm not going to stress about it. I'll just continue to do laundry as we continue to make a mess of our sleeves and pants as we suck our thumb! He doesn't have teeth yet, so the his gums may be sore, but he also may not be able to truly swallow his foods, as some of you all suggested so thumb sucking maybe helping him. Thank You again for all your advice.
A.
Has he been eating any finger foods? Do you think he's ready? My daughter starting putting her fingers/thumb in her mouth while eating around 8 months or so and I found that it was because she wanted to feed herself. At that point I wasn't giving her many finger foods so I tried giving the little Gerber puffs after a few bites of baby food and it seemed to help.
Both of my children suck fingers. When they first went on solids they both put their fingers in their mouths to help with swallowing I think. I know it is messy and we tried everything including trying to tie down their arms. Nothing worked except out growing it. Both stopped when they actually had to chew their food and got teeth. So there is an end in sight for you. Hang in there.
Hi A.,
I just wouldn't worry about it too much....He's still just a little baby.... He'll probably just outgrow it... My son sucked his thumb VERY often during infancy....He didn't do it while eating, although he was exclusively nursed for the first 14 months......
One day he just stopped, and hasn't given it a thought since!
Good luck.....
B.
my little girl likes to twirl her hair when she's sleepy, but someimes she'll pull it...HARD...just to keep from falling asleep. she used to gnaw on her fingers when she was cutting teeth to make her gumms feel better. kids have funny little quirks and habits when they are babies that most of the time they grow out of. maybe he likes the texture of the food in his mouth and he sticks his thumb in while he's eating to feel it. i'd just say, if you see him doing it, gently pull his thumb out of his mouth and say " we don't put our thumb in our mouth while eating." jsut keep doing it consistantly and he'll eventually get the hang of it. and don't worry about to much, it's not really hurting anything a long as it's not actually interfereing with his food intake.
i dunno, maybe it's me....but i don't get the problem? is it bothering him, or just you? i don't see it as an issue. maybe he's not really interested in his food when he does that. dunno. he's only 8 months old; who knows why babies do the things they do sometimes. mine used to do this weird blinking thing at the table.
anyway. soothing is a good thing-- if he found a way to soothe himself, yay for him!
not meaning to sound snarky, honest, you know how email is. i'm just honestly not seeing a problem here. but then i don't see an issue with paci's or thumbs either.
good luck,
P.
My son used to suck his first two fingers the first few months after he started on solids, too. He only sucked on his fingers when eating, though. I thought it was because he was used to sucking down his milk and it seemed to be a natural reponse to a foreign way of eating. I don't think it lasted very long, the last I clearly remember him doing it was on his first birthday and that is because I have it on video! He is now 2 1/2 and does not stick his fingers in his mouth anymore. So anyway, my advice is to let him be, he will probably grow out of it :)
I have no experience with the behavior, however, I would check to make sure he is not having problems with his digestive system. It sounds like he probably isn't, but I would check to be safe. If he is doing things that are typically comforting behaviors for him while he is eating he may be having an upset stomach while eating or a sore throat and is soothing himself.
Hi A.,
My little girl is now about to turn two. She is a thumbsucker too, ever since she found her thumb at four months old. She also likes to twirl her hair (imagine little baby dreadlocks on the back of her head from the twirling whenever she wakes up LOL)... Anyway, Savannah too sucked her thumb often while eating. I noticed that she would suck her thumb more when she was tired, or if she was really hungry and trying to soothe herself while waiting for her food to make her tummy feel better. She would also get frustrated if I tried to keep her thumb from her mouth because she needed that comfort. I found if I gave her a spoon to hold herself she would often get distracted by the spoon instead of sucking her thumb and that would let me feed her. Of course she often tried to suck on the spoon, so I would just make sure to pop it out fast enough to give her a bite then let her chew on the spoon again. Doing this she learned to eat with her spoon very quickly and she started feeding herself sooner rather than later.
Good luck!
Christi
My son did this as well. He sucked his thumb off and on for the first couple of months he started eating food. It seemed the more I tried to keep his thumb out, the more he wanted to suck it. I took the "let it be" approach. He finally decided it was easier to eat if he left the thumb out of his mouth. Good luck!
One of our 4 kids was a thumb sucker (the last one). I had learned enough about parenting by then (had read everything I could get my hands on that I thought was reliable) and one article convinced me that if something makes a child feel comforted and secure (a blanket, thumb, 'binky', etc) and we try to take away that 'thing', it simply makes them feel more IN-secure and uncomfortable. Try not to make much of a deal of it as long as he's eating well and not taking too long. Fighting with him about it will probably not do much good (as you've probably figured out by now).
P.S. Our daughter started sucking her thumb at 3 months and quit all by herself when she started pre-school at just past 4 years old. We had explained to her that it was making her teeth stick out (she might have needed braces later ANYWAY, but she REALLY needed them and they did wonders for her), but it was cute to see her starting to go to sleep, starting to slip the thumb into her mouth (as usual), then realizing what she was doing and jerking it out. It was her first real lesson in breaking a bad habit and self-discipline.
My daughter did this too. I finally figured out she didn't know how to chew and swallow the food so she would suck her thumb to get the swallow going. She was used to sucking on a bottle and food is a lot different. She outgrew it once she got better at eating (though she still sucked her thumb at other times).
Hi A.,
My son is 9 months now and he occasionally does that too. It seems that he does it when he is tired, but still wants to eat too. I'm not overly concerned about it because it doesn't happen all the time. My little one sucks his thumb when he's tired, so I'm kind of leaning towards that. I wouldn't worry about it unless it really interfers with eating or becomes seriously chronic. Watch out for the cues to see if he is just tired. I think it is something that will pass and I'm not really worried about it.
Good luck!
A.,
I've never seen a baby simultaneously eat and suck a thumb. That's quite impressive! Seriously, he'll probably grow out of it if you don't bring too much attention to it. It's great that you gently put your hand on his arm instead of using force. Have you tried giving him a baby spoon to hold? I wouldn't worry about the thumb sucking too much. My kids were never pacifier babies, or like I call them, "corked babies." You have observed that it's his way of comforting himself; let him. It's natural. Just keep doing what you're doing and keep his hands clean. You're a good mommy!
Dont worry A. my daughter went through the same thing. Unfortunately I had no cure. For the time being you will just have to clean the little monster up after she eats. But on the plus side, when my daughter started eating things she had to chew, she stopped (obviously) or she would of bit herself.lol. My girl is now eleven and in dire need of braces because of her thumb sucking as a child. So if you can break them of the habit now, do it! I still catch her with her thumb in her mouth, she dont even know she is doing it. Good luck!
maybe he has pain in his gums. Eating might irritate his gums. Talk to the pediatrician about it, or a pediatric dentist, and the hair pulling. He might have a headache. Look into giving him a baby massage. It might help him relax.
Hope you find the right answer.
Regards,
D.
My children did the same thing and I believe I read that it simply helps them get the food in and mashed around better - especially when they have no (or very few) teeth. Everything is natural at 8 months, so I'd let it be.
My son and my niece both did this. It is totally normal so there is nothing to worry about. As you well know, eating is a very new, very different concept to your little one. Some children suck their thumbs to help them swallow. They have only had liquids to this point so something with a little texture is sometimes difficult for them to swallow. They will outgrow this stage quickly.
ok-- so i saw your question and said hmmmm. i have a daughter who, at 6 months decided to take out the pacifier, which she was never fond, of and suck her thumb. At first, i giggled. then she began to do it at night to comfort herself. we went on vacation when she was 18 months and she got restless on the plane, so i told her to suck her thumb. she got super sick, (fever, vomiting) while on vacation and began to suck all the time. she continued to suck all the time at home, while playing with toys, etc. she was young enough that i didn't freak out about it, but i saw it as an increasing problem
A little about me: I am a dental hygienist and a 28-yr-old mother of three small children with a husband also in the healthcare field.
so-- i know your pediatrician will tell you not to worry. it is normal, and he will most likely grow out of it. The truth is, he is right. The problem is, I have seen the worst of what habitual thumb sucking can do to your facial structure and the habit it can become. not to scare you with all the things I have seen, but it is not uncommon for 25 yr olds to suck their thumb, because it turns into a habit such as tapping your feet while on the computer--- you don't even know you are doing it. some people suck in a manner that will affect how the roof of their mouth is formed and how teeth will sit. others suck in a way that will not affect these things at all. then you just enter the social stigma of your 12 year old sucking his thumb!!!
enough of that- this is what my husband and I decided. rather than enter all these " what if's " we gave our 19 month old daughter a "special sock" and night time and nap time!! we put a onesie on her and her brother's tube sock over the top of it and very gently used athletic tape around the top and then put her shirt over the top of that. (no tape was on her skin, but she couldn't get her top shirt up high enough to take the tape off) her special sock then became a need for night time-- even when the thumb sucking had passed. it only took about three weeks to see that she didn't need to suck her thumb during the day. we kept the sock going and nap and night time for a couple of months, just to be sure, but she wanted it. i am glad we did it, just because it is now no longer and issue at all and she will not have to deal with that. kids have enough to deal with as they get older. I really hope this helps. It did for us!!
Wow, I might just be the wrong person to answer this question BUT I am 41 years old, a mother of 3, a grandmother of 2. Keep in mind I am 41 years old. I STILL to this day suck my thumb. Why do I do it.....it comforts me when I am tired or scared, when I am ready to go to sleep. I have learned over the years to curtail it at work or when driving. But this is something I have done ALL my life. I remember my mom trying to stop me, my boss trying to stop me...which was a tad funny but we were close knit at work. I had to wear wool mittens, sit on my hands, they told me my thumb would fall off, they said I was sucking all the salt out of my thumb, BUT nothing they did curtail my wanting to suck my thumb. I really honestly believe it is for me a pschylogical thing. I was given up at birth...I was adopted...it didn't work. I just think somehow I did not feel loved. This is not you I am certain, I can only tell you how I was feeling and why I did it. Email me if you have more questions. I pray maybe I shed some light on your situation. A dr. is always good to confer with also.
LYNN
P.S. I saw the other responses and feel kinda foolish for having tried to answer your question. But I guess all experiences may help you in the long run.
