Hi!
I have a 4.5month old son and recently started to suck his thumb! my husband or I were never thumbsucker. my older daughter was never. this is freaking me out, because I am worried about the bad habit which would be difficult to get rid off!
I have tired to give him pacifier, but if it falls off, then he will start sucking his thumb! he does that when he wants to sleep, so right away i put in his crib and give him paci but knows where the thumb is. I breast feeding him before and now that i have started working, have been on bottles and is doing well on formulas, but not sure if this has anything to do. i know its a natural way to soothe, but i don't want to run into him developing a bad idea and honestly, it grosses me out! :)
please advise :)
Thank you!
I wouldn't worry about it one single bit! I sucked my thumb until I was 7 (no teeth issues), and my little one sucked her thumb but quit on her own at 24 months.
Why are we, as parents, so worried about "breaking" all these "bad habits" our babies seem to have? It is high time we let go of trying to push things that will come naturally, like, potty training, pacifiers, thumb-sucking, still takinga bottle, co-sleeping...the list probably goes on and on. RELAX! They are babies, and they need to learn to self-soothe! I would be ecstatic if our next baby was a thumbsucker. I've had both binkies and thumbs for each of my kiddos, and I can tell you that I prefer the thumb, because they can do it themselves, and you never lose it. My daughter took some gentle encouragement to stop when she was about 5, but we never pushed it before then. And even then, we just told her that if she needed to, she had to do it in her room, and eventually she got tired of going to her room all the time, and she stopped on her own. The ones with pacifiers gave them up between 3 and 4 years old. It is frustrating to me, as a parent, to see other parents taking away these things that help our kids adapt to the world on their own terms. She or he will not go to school with a paci, sucking her thumb, wearing a diaper, etc. It is high time we stop judging other parents for how old their child is while still using a paci, a bottle, in diapers, co-sleeping, or breastfeeding. We're here to help our children cope, adapt, and grow up ready for the real world. Let's focus on the bigger picture. It really isn't something you need to take away from him. Be SO glad he can self-soothe, so maybe, in the middle of the night, he'll pop that little sucker right in his mouth and off to dreamland he goes.:)
ETA: To Cheryl-If you have an overbite, it isn't b/c you were a thumbsucker. We have consulted 3 different pediatric dentists to get the expert's opinions on this matter, and they ALL agreed that until the permanent teeth come in, there is no damage being caused by the paci or thumb. If you allow them to continue once permanent teeth emerge, then yeah, maybe, but otherwise, you need to educate yourself fully to the actual causes of over-under bites. These issues are by and large genetic, and there isn't much you can do to prevent them. Just ask the millions of people who have been treated for an over/under bite that DIDN'T suck their thumb or a paci!!
It's a phase that will pass in about a year.
We were just where you are now and battled our son for several days. Remove the thumb, tell him not to suck on it.
Musta told the kid 50 times a day!
Started looking at the interwebs - and there seemed to be two categories. Parents that sucked their thumb (or know someone that did) later in life (4-8 years) and developed (or blamed) overbites on this. Most people seem to agree that later thumb sucking *should* be addressed as unhealthy.
The other category is babies. Every non-first time mom I've heard that didn't fit in the above category, was pretty non-chalant. They almost universally said it's a phase and related to self-soothing or teething.
So we asked our Doc. He said it was a phase and depending on the day could be self-soothing or teething.
We relaxed, and sure enough it passed. :)
Well our daughter was a sucker in utero (so cute) and then as soon as she was unswaddled - sucked then too.
She is now 3 and still sucks her thumb. We tell her to stop - she does - but then starts back up again. Seems tied to sleeping (tired) and anxiety. We're working breaking the habit - so if you can stop it sooner than later - go for it! :-)
I'm "reformed" thumbsucker, most do grow out of it, I mostly have. I do NOT do it while I am conscience, but I have found evidence that I still do it in my sleep, very very rarely. I have to be MEGA stressed out and near an emotional melt down. I do have an over-bite, but nothing bad. When his teeth start to come in he may stop, if not find a dentist and keep an eye on him. Trying to make him stop may backfire, it did for me.
Good luck.
My son started sucking his thumb when his teeth started coming in at 6 months old and I give him a paci when he is tired and stay nearby until he is a sleep. But during the day I have found that he only does it when he is hungry, so I nurse him. He signs when he wants to eat food, and I think this is how is is signing to nurse. Because once his belly is full he doesn't want anything to do with his thumb.
Try not to worry about it too much the only thing you will want to do it try and make sure his hand is clean around the times you know he will suck his thumb. If it's maily when he sleeps just make sure you wash his hands off even if it's just with a wipe. It is good if he can self sooth.
Good luck and God Bless!!!!
I used mitts/socks on the hands when my kids were babies to discourage this behavior. It worked! They both gnawed on their hands with the mitts on but they couldn't get to the thumb.
And to those who want to discourage this mom from preventing this behavior...it grosses her out and it is her child. She gets to discourage/allow the behavior she chooses.
my almost 5 and 7 year old still suck their thumbs. My kids are the most stubborn kids you will ever meet. EVER. I have tried everything I can think of and they will not stop. They don't do it out in public thank goodness! If your son is going to be a thumb sucker, I don't think there is anything you can do to really stop him. My kids refused a pacifier. I have been trying to stop this for years with no luck.
I sucked my thumb for quite a long time - into the 5th grade. Although, luckily for me, only at bed time when I was tired, as I got older, but all the time when I was younger. I never had bad teeth or anything that is so feared (never needed brases, in fact). It's a joke in my family now. Not to worry, it will all shake out.
A couple of years ago I would have agreed with Penny N, but having been a thumbsucker myself until about age 6 and knowing the overbite I now have as a result, I say you need to try to nip this in the bud as soon as possible. Don't wait for teeth to come in - by that time the habit is so ingrained that it will be that much harder to break.
I really don't know how to break the habit in such a young baby, but just want to say you should look into it and gently try to break the habit as quickly as you can.
I now have dentures and it has been very difficult getting the uppers and lowers to come together because of the overbite!
Keep offering the pacifier when you see him sucking his thumb. That's about all you can do. Also offer him teethers, he could be starting to teeth.
