Two Questions

Hi Kimberly. I took my son (almost 4 months) to the doctor today for his cold. He is having similar issues with his nose. My doc strongly recommended against the whole nose sucking thing, which was something I had not heard before...(I assume you are using one of those bulb things?) I do not think I am going to be good at explaining his reasons why but it had to do with the nose not being fully developed and it is easy to do damage to it. He said that accidentally hitting a small part right on the inside of the nose with the tip of the bulb is equivalent to us being punched in the nose... That said, he recommends using nasal saline drops. I got some infant ones at Target. He told me to lay my son, Alex flat on his back and put two drops into one nostril. The drops go back through the whole nasal passage and clear it out. It did make him cough quite a bit and almost "choke" when it hit his throat. My doc said this would happen and that it is fine. Alex was a little upset for a few minutes, but got over it quickly. We did the other nostril a little while later. It really helped to clear out his nose! Hope this helps, I would give it a try!

I wanted to you know my baby, who is 2 now, had the exact same issue...I was trying to clear his nose, i would go to the ER, I would got to the drs all because I thought my baby couldnt breath...Then I went to my ENT and they told me that his estation tubes andsinus' were NOT developed yet. That the sucking motion will makes the sound to go away more but theres nothing to stress over and that he CAN breath. I propped him up and let him suck on the binky. And the DR was right whenever he would suckle the sound was quieter. It sounded bad for what seemed as forever, but about 9ish months old he all of the sudden it stopped and I havent heard it since. Now yours might be a different issue, but it seemes simular. So see a ENT and make sure.

K.,
It is much harder to get rid of a pacifier than to suck the thumb. Think of it this way, they can get busy with their playing, and not use their hands. It does not interfere as much with speech. When a child uses a pacifier, they have it in at all times reguardless of what they are doing. They will eventually outgrow the thumb and stop doing it. I have seen kids in kindergarten with a pacifier still in thier mouth!!!
W. M.

I would get more clarification from the Dr. regarding the nose, but it sounds like what you are doing currently is the best proceedure to keep it as clear as possible.
Thumb sucking... sorry I don't know any good way to replace that with a pacifier. I agree with your reasoning that a pacifier can be taken away at an appropriate age. That worked with my two boys, but their sister clung to the thumb and refused the pacifier at all. One thing you do need to be prepared for is that it's possible she will need some speech therapy when she starts school if she pulls on her upper teeth as she sucks the thumb.. which is quite likely. Talk with her dentist regarding the teeth, and get in touch with your school district to find out what services in speech therapy they may offer even before she starts school. You're not likely to stop the thumb sucking so you may as well be as prepared as you can for any negative results that may come from it.

Kimberly,

I'm not sure what you are talking about in reference to her nose? So, maybe you could clarify a little more. Secondly, as far as the pacifer vs. the thumb, the positive with the thumb is that she will self-soothe and you won't have to find a pacifier or keep putting in the pacifier. Most kids will wean themselves of pacifier/thumb-sucking when they are ready. I would encourage her to find her hand/fingers.

Molly

First of all, take your daughter back to the doctor to see if you can get a referral to see a specialist to ENT. In the other hand about thumbsucking, it is hard to break it at such a young age. My daughter started to suck her thumb at 4 months of age. For my understanding is that when a baby find it comforting, it will not break it until they are old enough to understand that thumbsucking isn't age appropriate. My daughter's dad was a thumbsucker too until he was about 3 or 4 yrs old. I think it is ok and for the pacifiers, no matter how hard you try to get her to take the pacifier, she won't feel comforting as she does with thumb sucking. I hope her nose gets better.

Hi Kimberly-

I can't help you on the nose issue but I feel highly qualified to talk about the pacifier vs. thumb debate.

My oldest started sucking her thumb at 6 wks old. Days after that, she began sleeping through the night as she could self-sooth without us. My second started showing signs of being a thumb sucker and my husband insisted we use a pacifier instead. It took a while but eventually it worked. I personally hated the pacifier because she would wake up and couldn't find it so she couldn't go back to sleep and would wake me up. I cannot tell you how many months I would wake to her crying, walk into her room, find a pacifier, hand it to her and stumble back to bed. Here are the pros and cons from my experience: The thumb is always available, never gets lost, harder to wean off of and its also often dirty. Pacifiers are easier to wean off but less convenient. Always have spare pacifiers hidden around the house, car and diaper bag.

Eventually, we began making rules like the pacifiers stayed in the crib and could only be used for naps and bed. At about 18 mos. we began telling my daughter about the Pacifier Fairy and how she comes at night and takes the pacifiers away to new babies but leaves a super-cool present. My daughter decided she wanted the Pacifier Fairy to come but it took 2 nights to succeed. On the 3rd night she fell asleep without it. We tossed all the pacifiers and left an elaborately wrapped present at the foot of her bed for her to find. She was very proud of her accomplishment and proceeded to tell everyone about what the Pacifier Fairy had brought her.

My older was still secretly sucking her thumb at age 4- you can tell by the callouses on the thumb from their teeth. Anyway, she fell at the park one day and hit her front teeth HARD. Suddenly, it hurt to suck. That night we put a band-aid on the thumb to remind her and by the time the teeth stopped hurting, she was basically weaned. She was lucky not to lose the teeth but its not a method I'd wish on anybody.

As for long term, my daughters are now 11 & 8 and both see an Orthodontist. Both my husband and I had braces so we knew to expect it. My pacifier daughter currently has a palate spreader but because her father also had one, I can't blame it on the pacifier.

Another interesting note about thumb sucking. Early on, I was convinced my thumb sucker would be left handed based on how she did some things. My brother took one look at her and announced she would be a 'righty' because she sucked her left thumb- you don't suck your dominant thumb. He was right!

Good luck to you!

this is what i did...i wrapped their lil blanket around their hand. Eventually, and i don't know why but all 3 of my kids did the same thing, they would rub their nose instead of sucking. As they got older, like 1.5, i started to set boundries. If we went out, it stayed in the car, because, LOOK at that dirty floor! It's gonna get so yucky, its SAFER in the car! By 2, it was time to tell the blanky bye-bye, see you when it's time for bed! I think it's easier because they don't risk messing up their teeth. It's so cute as little as 1 or 2 you see how they express their love to you...by sharing their blanky! My daughter sometimes rubs it on MY nose, and i pretend it feels so awesome that i fall asleep! One time, my husband was sick on the couch, and my daughter put her blanky on him...just throw it in the wash after of course but i think its just too cute! They all still have their blanky's and i have pictures of them as little baby's with their blanky and they look back and say, wow, that's the same blanky i sleep with right now! Good luck!

Two guesses:
Do you have a cat? Dog? pet? Perhaps she is allergic. My child breathed fine at night until we bought her a cat who sometimes sleeps in her room. Ever since, she snores or almost snores. My guess is she's allergic but not severely ... not severe enough to get rid of the pets but nice to know so I can keep the cat out of her room at night. Maybe your child is allergic to your pets. Does it happen when your away on vacation from your pets too? Maybe you can let your pets visit grandma for a while, vaccume the bed and pillow real well, and see if it still happens. (I have one friend with an aged dog who sends the dog on vacation at her sisters farm once every couple of months ...but that's to give the pet a break from the hyperactive toddlers.) Just a guess.

Pacifier vs. thumb ... it seems thumb would be the devise of preference since it can't get lost and for self-soothing but I don't know because neither of mine used either. I see someone else asked the same question on this email I got. Maybe they got some good suggestions for you. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.