My 4 month old son has recently found his thumb! I am ok with him sucking his thumb rather than the paci - which he hates - to soothe himself. My husband is not - becuase he sucked his own finger until he was 8 years old and had orthodontic problems (I feel that this was his mothers' fault for not monitoring him and working with him to give it up).
Another concern I have is that my son sticks the thumb so far in his mouth at times, that he chokes himself. One time last week he actually made himself vomit! How do I stop him from doing that?
My nearly 6 year old boy has sucked his thumb since the womb. And he has perfect teeth! Leave the child alone!
Let him suck his thumb. He's only 4 months old and there isn't much you can do about it anyway. Babies need to suck on something, especially infants. I sucked my thumb until I was 5 and have perfectly straight teeth. Thank God my mom was smart enough to realize that pushing and threatening a child to stop sucking their thumb will only make them want it more. Most children will naturally give up comfort items when they no longer need them. Just be very aware and watch when he begins to lose interest and that's the time to wean him away from those objects. Good luck!
Nope... My kids didn't use either and never missed out on anything... especially giving up the crutch! I would pull it out of his mouth whenever you see him going for the thumb.
Just 1 Opinion, take it or leave it :-)
Good Luck!
E.
My Mom, traumatized by having to give up her thumb at 4, insisted we use a paci. Long before my daughter started talking, we made a rule she couldn't walk around with it in her mouth. Only had it to sleep. It does cause orthodontic problems much younger than you think. I took the paci away on 3rd bday because my pedi and I both could see the effect.
Nope, not ok in household. Once my daughter found her thumb I would work hard to put the paci in instead of the thumb, per my pedi's suggestion. It is, in our opinion, easier to break a paci habit rather than a thumb sucking habit. My daughter never made a habit of sucking her thumb. She's now 11 months old and only uses her paci at nap/night time, which we will soon drop ll together.
Just my opinion and what worked for us. :)
P.S. there was a sono of her thumb sucking but never a major issue since she was born.
I have 4 children. 2 were thumb suckers and 2 were paci kids. 2 needed braces - 1 paci kid and 1 thumb sucker. The thumb suckers were self soothers and slept through the night by 5 weeks, and slept 10 to 12 hours. The paci kids were high maintenance kids who didn't sleep all night until way past a year. They relied on me to soothe them. My thumb suckers gave it up themselves between 2 and 3 years, and only sucked when they were tired for the most part. My vote would be yes let them suck their thumb.
I say NO.
I have a 3 year old & a 61/2 month old.
My 3 year old began to suck his thumb at 4month and though I didn't like it, I didn't think there was much I could do about it. The pediatritian said it was alright until he's 7 years old so I just gave it up. I absolutly regret it! Now he's completly attached to it 24/7! I can forsee the problems already. BTW - I also had relatives who sucked their thumb until 7/8yrs of age, & I remember how they had such a hard time giving it up & were embarrassed by it.
I learned my lesson w/ my new baby. As soon as she began sucking her thumb I just put a sock or a glove on both her hands at all time (except bath time ofcourse). She tried to suck her thumb throgh the sock but she couldn't get her thumb all the way in her mouth, so she eventually gave up. 2 months later, she doesn't even bother sucking her thumb. My husband is impressed as well as the other moms in my mommy & me playdate group. Wish I'd come up w/ this solution w/ my son, it would have saved me a lot of irritation & potential dental cost that I know is just lurking around the corner.
Hope it helps,
S.
I too had a thumb sucker. I decided to get him hooked on a paci instead, kept looking until I found one he liked. Easier to get rid of a paci than a finger!
Now he's off of all and fine. I think most do stop around 3 or 4 and don't cause any problems with their teeth but if you Google it, you might be surprise just how many continue into adulthood.
Best Regards,
C.
in my experience you won't be able to stop it even if you want to. My son is a thumb sucker. He found his thumb at about three months old. I tried in vain for about a month to stop it. I shared your hubby's fears. My sister was a thumb sucker until about 7 - and my mother tried EVERYTHING she could to stop it. And try as I might, that little boy found his thumb anyway. So I finally stopped letting it bother me. He is four now and still sucks him thumb, but only when he sleeps (he used to do it all the time). His Uncle is a dentist and he assures me that most kids stop on their own by five. It can cause some orthodontic problems, but his uncle says that often , the kids stop the habit on their own before the damage has been incurred.
As far as the gagging, my son did that all the time. It drove me nuts. He would randomly stick his hand in his mouth and make himself vomit. His pediatrician told me it was unrelated to the thumb sucking, that it was an exploratory thing. That many children do it as the try to figure out their bodies. We were glad when that little phase was over. We just pulled his hand out and firmly said no when we caught him in the act. Eventually he stopped, but I think it took our little explorer a while to stop.
I wouldn't worry about it. My 2 year old sucks her thumb. It used to be alot, but now she only sucks it if she's sleepy. They outgrow it faster than a paci and have clearer speech. I watch 2 other two year olds and they are both paci kids. I can't understand what they're saying and I am constantly having to pick them up off the dirty floor, etc. Like the other poster said, you can't do much to stop it. It's attached to him. lol!
Completly normal. I wouldnt' worry about it. http://children.webmd.com/tc/thumb-sucking-topic-overview
He's only 4 months old -- not 14. If it soothes him, so be it. regarding the choking/vomiting, mine did that too. It's pretty much a self correcting behavior. It's a stage. They're just really curious and I wouldn't worry about it too much.
