Pacifier Vs. Thumb

My honest opinion is, you can always throw away a paci, but you can't take away the thumb. My daughter was the same way, so I stayed with the pacifier. She would go around the house and play and when she really got busy she would leave her binky laying around. When I was ready to take it away, I would pick them up and put them in a drawer. Eventually, she was down to one, so I told her then that if she lost that one it was gone. Eventually, that one was lost too. I found it laying around and I kept it too. She fussed about it, but she was two, so I could talk to her and she understood. She went straight to sleep and hasn't asked for it since.

The bottom line is........when your child is all grown up, and you have taught him right from wrong......given him a good education, taught him how to love.....how to be a responislbe, productive member of society........whether he had a paci or sucked his thumb just won't matter. My sister sucked her thumb until she was about 12 (in secret of course), and she turned out just fine. My 11 yo. DD had a paci until she was almost 4........and she is a GREAT kid. My now 9 yo DD STARTED sucking her thumb at age 4 when my best friend had a baby. I know.......I was blown away too.......and I had taken care of a lot of kids already......never saw that occur. Usually, kids that need to suck, really NEED to suck. Whatever you do decide to do (and usually you instincts will tell you what is best) make peace with it, and like someone else already said...make sure all of his caregivers are on board. Also, know that when you make a decision about this........you are allowed to change your mind later.....so do what feels right :)

My daughter never took a pacifier, but my son does. My husband and I had decided that if we had to choose between a pacifier and thumb sucking - the pacifier was definetly the better choice. At some point you will be able to take the pacifier away - the thumb is there forever. My son was about 18 months old before he gave up the pacifier, and we didn't have to do anything specific to break the habit, he just started using it less frequently, now I don't even know where they are! I wouldn't rush things, but maybe try to limit the times he has it to naps, or when he needs soothing. I wouldn't let him walk around all day with it in his mouth. Best of luck,
J.

I would give him the paci. You can always break him of that habit, but you can't take his thumb away, which means it will be harder to break him of sucking his thumb. If he is sucking his thumb when his paci isn't available I would keep the paci around a little longer. He is still young enough I don't think you'll have a problem breaking him of it before he turns 3.

I think I have to agree with the rest and say a pacifier. My son is soon to be 5 months and still uses his. I much rather him have a paci than suck his thumb. He pretty much uses him in the car(he gets to bored) and when he's tired/sleeping. I try to keep it away from him as much as possible since he's getting older. I do reccomend the orthodontic paci's, they are formed better for their teeth.

Wow! I'd rather have my son such on a pacifier than his thumb, because you can break the pacifier habit by taking it away but it's a lot more difficult to break a thumb habit.

With my son, I gave him a pacifier whenever he slept or cried. But I broke the habit before age 1 because I heard the habit would be more difficult to break after age 1.

I know you have to be careful with the thumb habit because a blister can form with all the moisture. When the blister pops, it's very painful and even more painful to disinfect.

When they're young and still on the bottle, I heard you can give them a bottle of water. Bottle of milk is bad because it will rot the teeth, so the only safe liquid at night is water.

I'm not sure what to say and I'm not sure if even any of the above information is helpful! Good luck and I'm sorry I don't have any more advice.

If he sucks his thumb when he doesn't have the pacifier he's obviously not dependant on the pacifier. If that's the case, I would take away the pacifier and slowly start working on getting him to quit sucking his tumb. Good luck!

hi S., in my opinion use the pacifier anything to get him not to suck his thumb. you can take the pacifier away at some point you cant do that with the thumb. it might be like pulling teeth when you have to get rid of the paci. but you would be better off. i have wathced a little girl that at 5 she still sucks her thumb, i have a little boy now that i watch and he sucks his thumb. his mother and i continuely offer the paci but its not as good as the thumb. i would also make sure that if you have your son in daycare or at home with dad that you are on the same page about the paci. goodluck W..

S....if neither is an option, that is the way to go...BUT, if he needs something, definately go with the pacifier. Why?? Eventually, you can take it away...the thumb is always there!! My daughter is almost 9 and is still struggling with thumb-sucking. She has wanted to quit for over a year, and does well while she is awake, but at night she still can't shake it. As a baby, she would not take a pacifier, and at the time I thought that was great...little did I know!! Anyway, in my motherly opinion, I say stick with the pacifier for now. He'll give it up eventually! Good luck.

I personally would prefer the pacifier vs the thumb. The pacifier is something you can always take away later but if he gets int he habit of the thumb that's harder to break because you can't take the thumb away completely. But that's just my personal opinion.

L.

If he will suck his thumb or a paci, I wouldn't worry about it...b/c when you take the paci away, he will just use his tumb. My daughter is a thumb sucker. We weren't going to give her a paci, but she was born premie, and the hospital didin't give us a choice. We started weaning her off it @ 6 mths. She went a long time w/o one, then just after her 1st b-day she just discovered her thumb....she has been sucking her thumb every since. She knows that she is not supposed to suck it unless it is bed time...and she is pretty good about it. You ask her to stop and she will. It is her coping mechanisim...I was a thumb sucker as a child as well. She will stop on her own, just as I did. I remember stoping in kindergarden, b/c I didn't want the other kids to make fun of me.
As long as it is not excessive and doesn't hinder his speech progress, I wouldn't worry about it. But if I were to choose, I would choose a thumb over a paci...for some reason that doesn't bother me as much....but that is just me.
Let kids be kids....

Are his 2-year molars coming in? He may be using the pacifier for that, or if he had a cold his sinuses may have made his teeth hurt. See if he would chew on a washcloth instead.

I would let him suck his thumb, because that will be easier and less stressful to break when the time comes...in a child's view you won't take his thumb away which is most of the problem to getting rid of the pacifier. and if he doesn't stop sucking his thumb on his own when you think he ought to, then you could buy nail biting/thumb sucking stuff. it's like nail polish you paint their finger nails and then any time they put that finger in their mouth it tastes bad...so they stop doing it.

I would choose the pacifier. When it comes time to break them you can take the pacifier away but not the thumb. Many babies who sucked their thumb are toddlers and even school age when they stop. When I voulnteer at my sons school I was shocked at how many kids still sucked their thumbs. My husband was a thumb sucker until he was 5 and his mom said it was very hard to break him because when she wasn't in the room he would stick him thumb in his mouth. I have several friends who had the same problem. My boys both had pacifiers until 8 months or so. Another issue is if you do allow them to continue after their teeth come in most pacifiers are orthidontially correct, thumbs are not and can cause an overbite.