Thumb Sucking - Argyle,TX

There is too much to put in this note so my advice would be to go to www.webmd.com and in the search box put THUMB SUCKING and it brings up a wealth of information on this subject. This was the site I used for my grandson who is only 1 1/2 when he started hitting other toddlers. WebMD helped because I forwarded the articles to his mother, my daughter-in-law and she followed the instructions and the hitting stopped. Hope this helps! K., mother of 5, grandmother of 7

J.,

I sucked my thumb at night and remember doing it. I was probably 12 when I stopped. It was soothing to me. I went through more trauma by my parents trying to get me to stop. I never had braces and my teeth are perfect:) I don't think it is such a bad thing. When I had my son, I was well-prepared to be the mom of a thumb sucker, since I was so devoted to it. However, he didn't want anything to do with it. I only think it's a bad thing when kids do it to excess. For example standing in the line in preschool and sucking your thumb. I also think it's terrible when kids are walking around with pacifiers in their mouths when they're 3 or 4 years old.

i agree with most of these moms dont worry about it!! my son sucked his thumb for two weeks when he was about 9 months old but then went back to the pacifer til he was about 20 months old, both of my daughters take the pacifer my oldest im currently in the process of breaking. and yes you can take the pacifer away but you cant take the thumb. but i am personally a thumb sucker and was til i was well about ten, my mom said i stopped for a little bit but when i went back to kinegartden i started back up again, he will decide when they time is right, and when hes older you can ask him to please take the thumb out but other than that there is not much else you can do. please please dont try putting things on his thumb to get him to stop for one its not healthy and two it usually doesnt work. so just relax your little boy will be just fine as a thumb sucker!!

I'm a mother of three, and the first two sucked their thumbs, so I understand your concern. Neither would take a pacifier, no matter how hard I tried. However, my youngest -- 14 months old -- is constantly putting her hands and fingers in her mouth, not for sucking (which was my first fear!) but for chewing. She broke her first teeth at 5 1/2 months, and it's been going on ever since.

Thumb sucking at that age is really not a problem, so don't fret too much if your son ultimately becomes a thumb sucker. You just want to break the habit when he is 3-4 years old . . . essentially, before he starts losing baby teeth. I waited too long with my oldest, and it had a negative impact on her tooth alignment (she's 13 now and has been wearing braces for two year). My 8 1/2 year old stopped sucking her thumb at an earlier age, and as a result her teeth are in much better shape (she still needs braces, but not because of thumb-sucking issues).

Sorry to say- but it is a loosing battle! I forced my dd w/the paci so I wouldn't have the thumb battle. Every time the paci fell out- in went the thumb. Now, 2yo, she gave up the paci at Christmas and now it is thumb at night. I agree w/the other posts- just let him take his time with it, you will both be happier in the long run.

your son is still young i dont think it is anything of a problem just yet. when my children now 13 and 8, were young i was worried about it as well. but i was told by my mother that when ever i saw them trying to suck on it for me to play with their hands. so i did, but when they were asleep you know that seems to be a good time for them to want to suck as well. i would slowly remove their finger from their mouth and just hold their hand as well. it took a while but they slowly stopped that wanting.
so dont worry now if your child is 2 and 3 and still wanting to suck sorry to say but our mexican mothers idea was the chili and yes it does work...LOL

i just talked to my dentist about this issue. thus far, thumbsucking has not caused damage on my 4 yr old, but that's not a guarantee that it won't in the future. in the dentist's opinion, no home remedy will work until the child is ready to give it up. isn't that the way it always works? sigh, one day i will see my little boy smile without a thumb in his mouth.

My sister sucked her thumb until she was in the 5th grade....the 1st dentist my parents took her to in grade school wanted to put braces on her, but a friend of my sister's dad was also a dentist, and (thankfully!) he told my parents that putting braces on my sister at that point would be a *complete* waste of money. Within the 1st year after she FINALLY stopped sucking her thumb, her teeth straightened out on their own. (My parents tried EVERYTHING to get her to STOP, to NO avail!)

Fast forward.....my older son (now almost 17) only used his pacifier when he was teething, and otherwise never put anything in his mouth except for food. Oh, and both the pacifier and the bottle got THROWN the week he turned 1 year! (I looked at my mom and my grandma and said "I guess we're through with 'em!" >grin<)

My younger son (almost 3 now) was putting *everything* in his mouth just about all the time <groan>....so we HAD to keep paci's and teether's on hand until recently. On rare occasion now, he will "revert" back to chewing on things, so I get out the "teethers".

As the other mom posted, you can see that "every child is different", so since your little one is so young, I see no harm in letting him suck on his fist. He may decide to take the paci's later on when he is teething, and figures out that it *hurts* when he bites on his fingers.

CONGRATULATIONS, and Enjoy Him while he is so little! :)

~J.~

I have always consider the idea that God made us with thumbs not pacifiers stuck to our hands. It's there for a reason. It's only been recent generations that have tried to sooth babies artificially instead of allowing their natural bent to take over. Relax about it. I have 2 that use a paci (one for 9 month & the other for 2 1/2 years - big mistake, now she has speech problems), one that sucked his thumb only, and two that never did anything (although my 1 yod seems to be moving toward his two middle fingers.) They all have their own of doing things. As mothers, we can try to control the things we need to control but the rest we are going to have to relax about or we'll go insane trying to control it all (trust me, I finally learned that after my 4th was born.)

God Bless,

K.

My daughter did the same thing when she was a baby she is now 6 and just SUCCESSFULLY STOPPED.. So just let him for now. You can try to keep taking the thumb away it never worked for me and honestly we had to put appliance in my daughters mouth to poke her when she would put her in thumb in her mouth. Believe me I know it's stressful but your baby is so young I wouldn't worry about that at all.

Hope this Helps!

J., after 3 kids all I can say is good luck!! My first only wanted a pacifier, my second hated it no matter what shape. He sucked on his hand for the fist few weeks and then stopped once he learned to self soothe. Then came my daughter, from day one she wanted her hand in he mouth and would scream and cry if I tried to put the pacifier in, I tried for weeks and finally gave up. She is now 18 months and still sucks her thumb, I guess I'll have to deal with the consequenses later. So my point is sometimes they have a mind of their own and we can't change it, so don't get frustrated and stress out if you can't alter the behavior. My doctor said she wouldn't have any dental problems if she stopped by the age of 3.

As has been mentioned, you can't always change the habit. I had one that was a paci baby - several in the crib at night. When it was time to wean the pacis I stopped buying them and they disappeared one or two at a time until the last one and he cried for the nippled (when they were rubber) has fallen to the floor. I told him paci all gone. It took two or three nights but we got over it.

My second was breastfed and didn't want anything to do with paci and only the thumb. She sucked on her thumb up to about 4 and then quit. Gets it honestly from both parents. I don't remember so I must have not done much. Her dad did up to about 4 and quit.

I had a neighbor who did it until 14. She always got teased by the neighborhood kids about it so she finally quit it. Her teeth were fine.

So you see, it could be many reasons why they do it we don't know about; sometimes they do it intrauterine and continue to do so after birth.

Your son will be fine.

I am not a fan of thumbsucking, so I have always used a pacifier, but I know some kids have a mind of their own. My advice...be persistent. My son didn't want anything to do with a paci, but I kept trying and trying and trying, etc(you get the picture:))! At 8 weeks, he finally succumbed to the paci and he has loved it ever since. I like to think in these terms...if your baby didn't want to eat, would you just give up and quit trying to feed them or would you hold out and try and try till they finally gave in and started eating? I know the comparison is a little extreme, but to me, extreme is letting a child who is 3, 4+ years old still have a paci or suck their thumb. They should be speaking by then and telling you if they need comfort, not depending on a piece of plastic. Because you can't just get rid of their thumb, I think the paci is the way to go. It was developed to strengeth a baby's jaw muscles when they are newborns to help them eat more easily, not just to comfort them when they are crying, so don't let it become an excuse, like "little jimmy needs it or he won't go to sleep". I get rid of the paci at one years old and I have seriously never had a problem with it. Sometimes you have to decide what is best for your child instead of letting them decide for you. Good Luck!

J., thumbsucking isn't so bad. If your child is doing it, it is because it is comforting to him. I have two girls; my oldest was born with her thumb in her mouth (literally!). We could see her sucking it on the ultrasound. We never tried to force her to stop-- she weened herself in her own time, when she was ready-- I think she was about 3 when she decided she "wanted to be a big girl". My youngest wanted nothing to do with her thumb, but she loved the paci. Again, this is a comfort for them-- healthy in more ways than it is unhealthy. She didn't give it up until she was around 4, and it took some convincing. We told her we had to give it to her new baby cousin since she was a big girl now, that the baby needed to use it :) There are many creative ways when the time comes, but for babies as little as yours, that time is nowhere in the near future. Let him comfort himself-- he'll be happier and healthier for being allowed to do so. No worries...